October « 2010 « My Thailand Blog by Richard Barrow

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Archive for October, 2010

Fun and Games at Temple Fair

31 Oct

On the fourth day of the big Temple Fair in Samut Prakan, they always hold boat races on the Chao Phraya River in front of Phra Samut Chedi. They also hold other activities and competitions for the local people.

This is a competition for thatching using leaves from the nipa palm tree.

This is the popular Muay Talay (sea boxing). The loser is the person who falls into the water first.

In this competition, the winner is the person who catches the most crabs without getting bitten.

This is the messiest of the competitions. Here the winner is the person that manages to eat all of the cockles (hoi kraeng) the quickest. They look pretty raw to me!

I will be posting pictures from my DSLR camera over at www.PaknamPhotos.com

- Posted from my iPhone

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Boat Racing at Bang Phli Noi

31 Oct

During October in Thailand, when the rivers and waterways are high at the end of the rainy season, many provinces put on boat racing events.

I have already been to several this month. On Sunday morning I travelled to Wat Bang Phli Noi in Samut Prakan to watch their boat racing.

Unlike the long boat racing that I watched before on the Chao Phraya River, this one was much more fun as we were closer to the action and the races much more frequent.

I will be posting pictures from my DSLR camera over at www.PaknamPhotos.com

- Posted from my iPhone

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Temple Fair Parade

28 Oct

The longest running temple fair in Thailand takes place at Phra Samut Chedi in Samut Prakan. It is so big that they close roads down on both sides of the Chao Phraya River for the fair.

The day started with a parade through the city of the sacred red cloth that is later wrapped around the white pagoda.

The red cloth was then loaded carefully onto a boat and taken upriver to Phra Pradaeng for another parade before coming back and taken to Phra Samut Chedi.

The red cloth was then unrolled for a parade three times around the pagoda. Many people took part in this “wien tien” as it is a good way to make merit.

The guest of honour was the Minister of Interior, Mr. Chavarat Charnvirakul. This was his second visit for the parade.

The red cloth was then taken to the pagoda where it was carefully rolled up.

It was then carried up to the top by a group of men. As you can see from these pictures, none of them had any safety harnesses.

- Posted from my iPhone

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Boat Racing in Phra Pradaeng

27 Oct

October is always the busiest month for me as there are always many festivals in Thailand. Today I went to take pictures of the long boat racing in Phra Pradaeng, Samut Prakan.

This took place on the Chao Phraya River in front of the District Office. I took these pictures in the VIP where the Samut Prakan Governor, wearing blue, was watching the races.

I only stayed a couple of hours. The problem with the long boat racing is that the course is long and so there are long gaps in-between each race. These are pictures showing Bhumiphol 2 Bridge.

- Posted from my iPhone

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Hup Pa Tat Cave

24 Oct

On our way back home from Uthai Thani we made a diversion to see the cavern at Hup Pa Tat. It is about 50 kms from the city.

It was discovered in 1979 by the abbot of a local temple and is promoted these days as “Unseen Thailand”. Back then, you had to climb down the limestone cliff face. But now they have drilled 60 meters through the rock. However, the gong is still tough as you have to pass through this tunnel in the pitch darkness.

When you emerge the other side it is like coming out into a secret garden that has remained hidden for hundreds of years. Indeed, many of the species of plants here are ancient and some are rarely seen elsewhere. Entrance is 20 baht for Thais and an expensive 200 baht for foreigners.

- Posted from my iPhone

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Elephants in Uthai Thani

24 Oct

After the merit making ceremony at Wat Sangkat Rattanakhiri we drove to the other side of town for the parade.

Along Tha Chang Road we came across about a dozen shrines that had been setup outside local businesses. All of them were decorated with elephant tusks which seemed puzzling at first.

I later found out that these tusks were originally used in a Chinese festival that took place every three years. Then someone thought that it would be a good to bring them out for this festival too. This is a picture of the Governor of Uthai Thani paying respect at one of the shrines.

Elephants actually have a history here. During the Ayuthaya period they were sent here to train in times of war. Tha Chang is where they would come to bathe in the river.

- Posted from my iPhone

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Tak Bat Thewo Festival

24 Oct

Over the weekend I went to Uthai Thani, in the lower north of Thailand, for their festival to mark the end of the 3 month Buddhist Rains Retreat.

We arrived at Wat Sangkat Rattanakhiri about two hours before 500 monks were due to walk down these steps from the top of Khao Sakae Krang. This was for the annual merit-making Tak Bat Thewo Festival.

Despite the early hour, there was already 1000′s of people there and more people were arriving all the time. Some people had come when it was still dark just so that they could reserve a good table.

Shortly after 9 a.m. a long line of monks started to descend from the hilltop. Such a beautiful sight. No wonder that this festival is so famous and people come from all over Thailand to take part in it.

At the bottom of the hill, the 500 monks split into 8 groups in order to receive alms from the people standing at the tables. Someone said that there were at least 10,000 people which could very well be true.

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Wat Tha Sung

23 Oct

One of the most beautiful temples in Uthai Thani is Wat Chantharam otherwise known as Wat Tha Sung.

In one of the buildings there is this replica of the famous Phra Phutthachonnarat. Many people regard this to be the most beautiful image in Thailand. The original can be found in Phitsanulok.

The walls and ceiling of this building are covered with mirrors which creates quite an amazing effect. The Buddha image is also reflected onto the ceiling.

On the other side of the road there are more temple buildings. These are alongside the river where you can buy bread to feed some very fat fish. Be careful not to throw too much bread at once as they will fight to eat it and you will get wet.

Also at this pier you can join boat tours along the river. These cost only 40 baht per person and last about 40 minutes. There aren’t set times and the boats will go as soon as there is enough people.

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Sakae Krang River

23 Oct

The main river that flows through Uthai Thani is the Sakae Krang River.

There are a number of different boat tours that you can take. We went on a dinner cruise with Sakaekrang River Cruise.

They took us up and down the river while we ate our food and admired the views. We were lucky that today there was also long boat racing. Many provinces have these at this time of year.

It was interesting to see the river life. Many people here seem to live on floating houses. Some adults were fishing while others were having a siesta. We passed a few kids splashing in the water.

One of the temples that we passed was Wat Uposatharam. The octagonal mondop on the left is unusual as it is a mixture of Thai and European. There are supposed to be some interesting murals here making the temple worth a visit.

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Wat Sangkat Rattanakhiri

23 Oct

This weekend I’m in Uthai Thani to take pictures at a Buddhist Festival to mark the end of the Buddhist Rains Retreat.

This is Khao Sakae Krang at Wat Sangkat Rattanakhiri. During the Buddhist festival tomorrow, first day after the full moon, about 500 monks will walk down these steps to receive alms from local people.

I thought I would find it easy to climb to the top. But I was exhausted after only 200 steps and that was halfway. But it was very peaceful as I didn’t meet anyone at all.

The views from the top of the hill were really great but I thought it strange that there were a lot of people there of all ages. Did they all really climb up the steps? Then I found that there was a road and car park around the back!

The mondop at the top houses a replica of the Buddha’s Footprint. Nearby there is also a large bell which is more than 100 years old. You will also find a statue of King Rama I’s father here.

- Posted from my iPhone

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