ANOTHER YEAR OF AMAZING FESTIVALS
Since Thais love nothing more than a cheerful Even the rainy season cannot dampen the spirits
celebration, the Kingdom’s festivals are always an of the Buddhist faithful in Thailand as locals celebrate
amazingly good time. Early in the year, you shouldn’t the birth, death and enlightenment of the Lord Buddha,
miss the multi-day Chinese New Year, with acrobatic and Buddhist Lent when many men ordain as monks for
lion and dragon dances, along with stage shows of three months.
ceremonial pageantry mixed with pop music in Bangkok’s The rushing and swelling rivers also make
Chinatown and other parts of the country. September and October buoyant times for boat races,
As the cool season gives way to warmer which make waves on waterways across the country. At
temperatures in late January and early February, the end of Buddhist Lent, tens of thousands of people
Thailand’s incredible array of wild flowers are bursting gather on the banks of the Mekong River, outside of
with colour. So don’t miss the Flower Festival in the Nong Khai, to watch hundreds of fireballs fly out of the
so-called “Northern Rose” of Chiang Mai. water. Some attribute these colourful orbs to deposits of
Why not put your full heart into Valentine’s Day methane gas in the bottom of the river, but many Thais
with a truly original wedding ceremony? In the southern believe they come from the mouth of the water-dwelling
province of Trang, you can take the plunge by getting Phaya Nak, or Serpent King, as he pays homage to the
married underwater in scuba-diving gear, or up in Lampang Lord Buddha.
you can ride to your Thai-style wedding ceremony on On a full moon night, usually in November, the
an elephant. waterways of the Kingdom are ablaze with colour once
April brings the hottest weather and one of the again as Thais float small vessels made out of banana
coolest events in the world, as Thais ring in their own leaves, adorned with flowers and smoking sticks of
New Year with water-splashing, the ritual bathing of sandalwood incense, in tribute to the Water Goddess.
Buddha images and the hands of elders, not to mention Known as Loi Krathong, this festival is particularly
temple fairs with dancing, feasting and merry-making. picturesque when you catch it in the atmospheric ruins
Imagine three days of partying-longer in Chiang Mai- of Sukhothai’s ancient city, or in Chiang Mai, where hot-air
with most of the country’s 60 million folks gleefully balloons float into the sky.
joining in. Perhaps the grandest festival of them all comes
With the rainy season in May, the country’s on December 5, His Majesty the King’s Birthday, which
rural folk rejoice in their harvests of rambutan, lychee, is also Father’s Day in Thailand. Colourful shrines to
mangosteen and other fruits with a series of agricultural the world’s longest-reigning monarch illuminate every
festivals, featuring parades, floats and bevies of beauty corner of the Kingdom and such events as the military-
queens. To ensure a decent rainfall for the rice harvest themed “Trooping of the Colours,” and jamborees of
to come, the farmers of the Northeast have a blast by musical and dance spectaculars get crowds swaying in
shooting massive rockets into the heavens. Yasothon Bangkok’s Sanam Luang.
is the biggest and most raucous of the rocket festivals With so many splendid celebrations going on all
but many smaller towns in the Northeast also celebrate year round, no wonder people call it Amazing Thailand!
this ancient fertility and agricultural rite.
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