Water buffalo are used for ploughing fields in Thailand, but at the Chon Buri Buffalo Races they are put to a very different use. Side events include a buffalo fancy dress contest, a healthy buffalo contest, and the Miss Farmer Pageant. The annual Buffalo Race, held around the 11th lunar month -normally in October, is [...]
Warning: Some photos in this article may be disturbing to some readers. Thetsakan Kin Che or Tesagan Gin Je known in English as the Vegetarian Festival, is a Chinese Religious festival held annually during the 1st–9th days, 9th Chinese lunar month. Normally, but not always, this coincides with the Sart Thai festival, though in 2010 [...]
With the three-month Buddhist Lent two-thirds over, the temples in Thailand’s southern province of Phattalung begin preparing for the annual phon drum contest by refitting existing drums or making new ones. In 2010, this week-long festival takes place between the 4th and 10th October, The monks, confined to their temples during the Buddhist Lent Rains [...]
Thailand’s northern capital Chiang Mai is bracing for a repeat of the devastating flooding that drowned the city in August 2005. Following heavy rains further north, and the flooding of the Mae Tawan Valley and it’s world famous Elephant Conservation Camp, plus large areas of Chiang Dao district are reported as underwater today, with a [...]
Following yesterday’s widely reported story of a shift to hardened policy regarding punishments for visitors overstaying their visa end-date in Thailand, several new stories have surfaced that try to rebut the original claims, and a war of credibility has broken out between the kingdom’s foreign-language media services. Unfortunately too, the official sources have damaged their [...]
Quietly held each year is Thailand’s Mahidol Day (Wan Mahidon), which commemorates, on the 24th September, the passing of Prince Father Mahidol Adulyadej, father of Thailand’s current monarch, and the moderniser of medicine in 20th Century Thailand. Mahidol Adulyadej, Prince of Songkla (Somdej Pramahitathibej Adulyadejvikrom Prabarommarajajanok – สมเด็จพระมหิตลาธิเบศรอดุลยเดชวิกรม พระบมราชชนก, Chao Fa Mahidol Adulyadej Kromma Luang [...]
News leaked today indicates the Royal Thai Immigration Police are to usher in a new era of punishment for visitors who overstay their visa or other travel document permitting them to enter the kingdom. There has long been a standing fine for staying beyond the expiry date of the permission-to-enter stamp in one’s passport – [...]
The bathing of the Sacred Buddha in Phetchabun City is a free one day event held annually as part of the nationwide Sart Thai Buddhist Sabbath, which falls on the day of the new moon in the 10th Thai lunar month each year. In 2010, the event occurs on 23 September (dates for the next [...]
