Festivals and events in Thailand http://www.thaifestivalblogs.com Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:04:57 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.thaifestivalblogs.com/content/view/226/55/ The famous temple fair in Samut Prakan is now in full swing. Thousands of people are coming every day to enjoy the fun of the fair. And of course, to savour the delicious food on offer. If you are in Bangkok this month, they I do highly recommend that you come down to visit us for the biggest temple fair in Thailand. Today is day four and every year on this evening they hold a candlelight procession around Phra Samut Chedi. Leading the procession was the District Chief. I was there this evening and I thought that I would share some of my photos with you. Festival Blogs - Thai Festival Blogs Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:13:55 +0100 http://www.thaifestivalblogs.com/content/view/225/55/ http://www.thai-blogs.com/images/loykrathong_english_intro.mp3 (http://www.thai-blogs.com/images/loykrathong_english_intro.mp3)Happy Loy Krathong. This song is sung by students from Sriwittayapaknam School in Samut Prakan, Thailand. Click on the play button above to hear the song in Thai and then English. Below is the lyrics for the Loy Krathong song in English. November full moon shine Loy kratong Loy kratong, And the water's high in the river and the klong, loy loy kratong, loy loy kratong, Loy Kratong is here and everyone is full of cheer We're together at the Klong, each one with their krathong as we push away we pray, we can see a better day Festival Blogs - Thai Festival Blogs Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:56:41 +0100 http://www.thaifestivalblogs.com/content/view/224/55/ One of the more unique festivals in Thailand is the annual Monkey Party in Lopburi, about 150 kms north of Bangkok. It was started some twenty years ago by a local businessman called Yongyuth Kitwatananuson. He put on a buffet lunch for the monkeys as a way to say thank you to the animals for all the tourist money that they had brought to the city. This soon became a tradition and is now firmly an event on the national festival calendar. I went there for the first time this year and there were literally thousands of people there. So many that I think they have started to outgrow the limited space they have at Pra Prang Sam Yot temple. These days it is more of a spectacular event as the local administration have taken over the proceedings. There is now a parade through town, cultural shows and vendors selling food and souvenirs. You could go there as a day excursion from Bangkok as it only took us about two and a half hours to drive up there. However, we decided to go the day before and stay overnight as we wanted to visit some other attractions as well. Some hotels were full but we didn't have much of a problem. We booked in advance at HotelsCombined.com (http://www.hotelscombined.com/Country/Thailand.htm). The Monkey Party was due to start at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning. The party is held every year on the last Sunday of November. We were there nearly an hour early and there were already many people milling around taking pictures of the monkeys. But really, you don't need to go so early. In the end, it started a bit late as we were waiting for the Governor to arrive and then for the parade. Around the temple they had set up stands for the "Chinese tables" and also large blocks of ice. These had fruit encased inside of them. Though in this picture you can see some sunflowers which is a symbol of this province. The parade arrived a little after 10 a.m. They brought with them the colourful table tops and dancing monkeys. The governor opened the proceedings by using a mallet to bash open one of the blocks of ice. He then tempted the monkeys down from the temple with a plate of smelly durian fruit. They seemed to like it. Fruit and desserts were then placed on the table tops around the temple. However, as there were so many tourists pushing and shoving to get a good viewpoint to take a picture, the monkeys didn't come down at first. I think next year they will have to rethink their planning. There was plenty of space around the back of the temple. They could have put more tables there. In the end, they had to move the tables closer to the ruins so that the tourists didn't surround the tables. It was great fun but really too many people. I am not sure if the animal activists would agree with the food served at this monkey banquet. I would have to check, but I don't think sweets are that good for the monkeys. But, they certainly had a good choice of food and picked and chose things that they liked. It was amazing to watch them even open a can of Coke. They are that clever. You really have to be careful when you visit this temple. If you are carrying a plastic bag, the chances are high that it will be snatched away from you by one of the monkeys. You don't need to go early for the festival. This year there were four rounds at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Most people went for the first round to see the opening ceremony and to watch the cultural shows. It is a good idea to combine a visit to the monkey party with a trip to the sunflower fields. I will tell you more about this in the next blog. Visit ThailandGuidebook.com (http://www.thailandguidebook.com/central-thailand/lop-buri/index.php) for tourist information, maps and more festivals for Lopburi Province (http://www.thailandguidebook.com/central-thailand/lop-buri/index.php). If you are looking for hotels, you can try HotelsCombined.com (http://www.hotelscombined.com/Country/Thailand.htm). They do the hard work for you by looking for the cheapest deals available. They can sometimes beat other hotel sites by as much as up to 70%. Try their Lopburi (http://www.hotelscombined.com/City/Lopburi.htm) page if you are planning on visiting this area. Festival Blogs - Thai Festival Blogs Tue, 02 Dec 2008 09:00:27 +0100 http://www.thaifestivalblogs.com/content/view/223/55/ The Sunflower Festival in Thailand starts around November and goes on until about February. The best places to see sunflower fields are in Lopburi Province and Saraburi Province. It was Lopburi where we went last weekend to see the sunflowers. Thousands of people from Bangkok head this way at the weekends for a day trip to take pictures in the sunflower fields. For people in Lopburi it has started to become a major tourist attraction. Each farm takes turns in planting the sunflowers so that there is at least one area of blooming flowers during this period. According to latest statistics, there is now 12,000 acres of sunflower fields in Lopburi alone. As well as being a tourist attraction, they also extract oil from the sunflower seeds and of course make tasty snacks. The best places to see sunflowers in Lopburi are in the districts of Phatthana Nikhom, Chai Badan, and Khok Samrong. From Bangkok, we took Highway 1 north through Saraburi and then turned off onto Road 21 a little while later. A short distance along this road we came across two major sunflower fields with beautiful mountain backdrops. We then later turned right onto Road 3017 towards Pasak Jolasid Dam. We had an enjoyable picnic at the dam and then drove back along Road 3017 towards Lopburi. Again we saw plenty of sunflower fields. Some were on the main roads. Others had signs telling us where to turn off. If you have a car and drive around this area then you will surely have no problem. Most farmers will charge you about 5 or 10 baht to enter their fields to take pictures. We found others along side roads which were free. The places that charge admission usually also have stalls selling souvenirs and snacks relating to sunflowers. They also offered tractor and cart rides throught the fields and also a few places had elephant rides. Most Thai people just went to the sunflower fields to take pictures. Usually of each other. If you don't have your own transport, then you could join the special train trip that goes from Hua Lamphong Station in Bangkok to the sunflower fields around Pasak Jolasid Dam. The train goes only at the weekend and on public holidays. It leaves Bangkok at 6.40 a.m. and returns eleven hours later. Prices start from 255 baht and go up to 675 baht for first class. For more information about Lopburi Province (http://www.thailandguidebook.com/central-thailand/lop-buri/index.php), please visit our www.ThailandGuidebook.com (http://www.ThailandGuidebook.com) website. We have lots of pictures of our trips to this province and also maps and lists of hotels. Don't forget to visit our popular forums at www.ThailandGuidebook.com (http://www.ThailandGuidebook.com) if you need any help in planning your holidays. All festivals are also posted on our www.ThaiFestivalBlogs.com (http://www.ThaiFestivalBlogs.com) website. All of these sites are part of the internationally acclaimed Paknam Web Network (http://www.paknamweb.com). Festival Blogs - Thai Festival Blogs Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:52:21 +0100 http://www.thaifestivalblogs.com/content/view/222/ Original post (http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php/2005/12/22/mayry_keet_mad?blog=24) blogged on b2evolution (http://b2evolution.net/). Festival Blogs - Christmas Thu, 22 Dec 2005 01:11:38 +0100