Photo Guide to the Royal Barge Procession

A spectacular procession of royal barges will be on show in Bangkok  on 9th November 2012, as part of the Royal Kathin Ceremony. Representing His Majesty the King, HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will preside over the ceremony at Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn, in Bangkok. He will travel to the temple in a royal barge procession along the Chao Phraya River. The procession consists of 52 traditional style barges arranged in five columns, based on battle formation from ancient times. This is made up of four major royal barges, eight barges with animal figureheads and 40 smaller vessels. The five-column flotilla stretches 1,200 meters in length and 90 across. A total of 2,311 sailors serve as oarsmen.

PHOTO GALLERY 01: Royal Barge Procession >>>
PHOTO GALLERY 02: Behind the Scenes in the Navy Dockyard >>>

The bow of the Royal Barge Suphannahong is made into a head of a Royal Swan or Hamsa, painted with gold lacquer and richly decorated with glass ornaments.

The Royal Barge Narai Song Suban H.M. King Rama IX has a figurehead of the god Narai with four arms bearing a trident, a scepter, a discus, and a conch shell on his celestial transport, a Garuda.

The bow of the Royal Barge Anantananakkharat is made into the seven heads of a Naga, gold-lacquered and richly decorated with glass ornaments.

The graceful prow of the Royal Barge Anekkachatphuchong is intricately carved and gilded in a delicate pattern of small Naga figures.

Ekachai Hern How Barge and Ekachai Lao Thong Barge are Reua Ku Chak to lead and tow the Royal Barge Suphannahong in case it demands extra driving power. Both barges are gold-lacquered with the tapering column figureheads of a cross between a crocodile and Naga known as Hera.

Krut Hern Het and Krut Tret Traichak are Garuda barges with a painted and gilded figurehead of a Garuda holding a Naga, one in each of his hands and feet. A red body is Krut Hern Het and a pink body is Krut Tret Traichak.

Pali Rang Thawip and Sukrip Khrong Mueang are Krabi Barges with crown figureheads of Monkey Warlords, carved and gilded with a green body of Pali and a red body of Sukrip, respectively.

Krabi Ran Ron Rap and Krabi Prao Mueang Man are Krabi Barges with uncrowned figureheads of Monkey Warriors, carved and gilded with a black body of Nilaphat and a white body of Hanuman, respectively.

Asura Vayuphak and Asura Paksi are Asura Barges with carved and gilded figureheads of Ogre-faced birds. Asura Vayuphak’s face, hands and feet are indigo in colour with a purple coat. Asura Paksi’s face, hand and feet are green in colour with a coat of a purple front and green back.

Seua Thayan Chon and Seua Kamron Sin are tiger barges of the Reua Phiket class. The hull is ungilded but painted in the colour and style of a tiger’s body and with a tiger’s head painted on the bow.

Map of where to watch the Royal Barge Procession >>>

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Map of Where to Watch the Royal Barge Procession

A spectacular procession of royal barges will be seen along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok on the 9th November 2012 as part of the celebration to mark the end of the three month long Buddhist Lent. The Crown Prince will be on one of the barges and will travel from Rama VIII Bridge to The Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun). A total of 2,082 oarsmen will row 52 barges for the 45 minute journey along the river. At Wat Arun, the Crown Prince will present robes to monks at the temple as part of the Royal Kathin Ceremony.

During October and early November 2012 there will be a series of rehearsals. The next ones are on Friday 19th October, Thursday 25th October and Monday 29th October. There will then be two full dress rehearsals on Friday 2nd November and Tuesday 6th November. The actual event will then be on Friday 9th November. All dates are of course subject to change. You can watch the procession on any of the dates though on the last day there will be countless thousands of people lining the banks all day.

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At the weekend I was out scouting various places where you could watch the Royal Barge Procession. I have marked these places on the map above. Some of them need to be confirmed and so if you can help, then please post in the comments your own tips. The river will close to boat traffic from about 11 a.m. This is a full four hours before the event is due to start at 3 p.m. at the Rama VIII Bridge. Please alos note that they will also close all public piers so you won’t be able to watch from these. On the final day, the bridges will be closed too.

Owl Art Museum in Nakhon Pathom

If you have any interest in owls then you should check out the new Owl Art Museum (พิพิธภัณฑ์ศิลปะนกฮูก) which is in Nakhon Pathom Province to the west of Bangkok. Here you will find over 1,000 different owls on display. As well as the museum, there is a shop selling owl handicraft and both children and adults can join art classes. On Saturdays there is a craft market.

The Owl Art Museum is about 400 meters away from the popular Thana Market along the Nakhon Chaisri River in Nakhon Pathom. It is open every day except Mondays. On Tuesdays to Fridays it is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. At the weekend it is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.  It costs 40 Baht for adults and 20 Baht for children. For more information and pictures, please visit their Facebook Page.

New Bangkok-Laos Bus Routes Launched

Inter-country bus service between Thailand and neighbouring Laos was launched Monday for two major routes: Bangkok-Vientiane and Bangkok-Pakse to promote Thai-Lao tourism and economic cooperation. Each destination will have one service a day using standard airconditioned buses and the one-way fare for both routes is 900 baht. The route from Bangkok to Vientiane will take 11 hours, leaving Bangkok at 8pm while the bus for Pakse leaves at 9pm and will take 13 hours.

Wuthichart Kalayanamitr, Transport Company president, said that the  Bangkok-Vientiane route will go via Nakhon Ratchasima and the Bangkok-Pakse route will go via Ubon Ratchathani. Wuthichart added that the two routes are an extension of two existing routes while it has another seven routes running between Thailand and Laos such as Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang and Khon Kaen to Vientiane.

Car Free Day in Bangkok on 23 September 2012

Cyclists in Bangkok will be joining with countless thousands of other people around the world to celebrate International Car Free Day over the weekend 22-23 September 2012. In Thailand in the past, only major cities such as Bangkok and Chiang Mai were organizing special car free days. But the last few years many more cities are joining in with activities. If you have a bicycle you too can join the events over the weekend.

The main event in Bangkok starts at the Royal Plaza (statue of King Rama V on a horse) at 8 a.m. on Sunday 23rd September. Over 10,000 cyclists have already registered an interest. If you are feeling ambitious, you can start at one of the meeting points listed below and then cycle to the Royal Plaza in a large group. Registration at these place is about 6-6:30 a.m.

Group 1 Main gathering point: Royal Plaza (King Rama V Statue/Suan Amphorn)
Group 2 Sukhumvit area: Benjasiri Park next to Emporium Mall
Group 3 Phetkasem area: The Mall Bangkhae
Group 4 The Mall Bangkapi
Group 5 Rama 2 area: Thonburirom Park
Group 6 Phaholyothin area: Pratu Krungthep Market
Group 7 Phuttamonthon area: Uttayarn Road
Group 8 TOT Chaeng Watthana Road Laksi
Group 9 Ramintra-At Narong Rd. World Bike
Group 10 Big C Ramintra Road KM.3
Group 11 The Mall TaPra Thonburi
Group 12 The Mall Ngamwongwan
Group 13 TOT Service poit at Klongtoey
Group 14 Suan Luang Rama IX Public Park

The big parade of cyclists will leave the Royal Plaza at 8:30 a.m. and head towards Lumpini Park where the official opening ceremony will start at 10 a.m. Silom and Sathorn Roads are expected to be closed to cars on this day. In addition, all cyclists are allowed to take their bicycles on the BTS Skytrain for free on both Saturday and Sunday.

“Faulty Towers the Dining Experience” at Anantara Bangkok Riverside

Offering interactive dinner theatre entertainment of side splitting British humour, Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa presents Faulty Towers the Dining Experience for six nights from 24th-29th October 2012.

Internationally acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, this madcap dinner show is a loosely scripted, pitch perfect tribute to the original British sitcom, Fawlty Towers. First broadcast in 1975, Fawlty Towers is a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay on the “English Riviera”. The plots centre around tense, rude and put upon manager Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), his wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), a comparatively normal chambermaid Polly (Connie Booth), and the hapless Spanish waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs). Each episode reveals their attempts to run the hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding and eccentric guests.

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience is performed in restaurants and has been touring the world since 1997. Receiving huge critical and public praise, it has been a constant sell out show ever since it debuted at the Edinburgh Festival in 2008. To celebrate the show’s 15th anniversary, Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa will present this highly acclaimed slap stick dinner event from 7:00 pm-9:30 pm at the stylish Brio Restaurant.

Guests will arrive to toast welcome cocktails, before savouring a three course gourmet English dinner consisting of pickled smoked ham hocks and split green pea soup, rosemary and garlic spiked rack of lamb or fillets of turbot, and a traditional British dessert of bread and butter pudding, accompanied by free flowing soft drinks, beer and wine. Diners form the show’s audience and are entertained by a cast of warring waiters. In true Fawlty Towers style, everything that can go wrong does with hilarious consequences, with three talented actors impersonating Basil, Sybil and Manuel, delivering a loosely scripted, richly improvised and interactive theatre performance.

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience at Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa is priced at THB 3,700++ per person, and THB 3,500 including tax for group bookings of six people and more. Advanced reservation between 4 September and 18 September 2012 is priced at THB 3,500 including tax. Special packages with accommodation are also available. For more information and reservations, please call +66 (0) 2476 0022 Ext. 1416, email riversidedining@anantara.com

Cycle Tour during Bangkok Car Free Sunday on 9th September

This month’s cycle event for “Bangkok Car Free Sunday” is taking place on 9th September. This is free for anyone to join. You don’t have to be an experienced rider. There will be some bicycles available for free at the event but numbers are limited so it is best to bring your own. The meeting point is at the Bangkok City Hall (in front of the Giant Swing) at 7:30 a.m. Departure time is at 8 a.m. This is an easy ride around Rattanakosin Island and is suitable for people of all ages and abilities.

Batman Toy Museum in Bangkok

A new museum has opened in Bangkok that I am sure will delight children of all ages. Batcat Museum & Toys Thailand, which can be found in the Bang Kapi district of Bangkok, is a museum that specialises in collections of Batman and other superheroes. With 50,000 items in the museum, it is reputed to be one of the largest of its kind in Asia. The toys are all based on characters in comics, cartoons, TV shows and movies. Batman is obviously their focus, but they also have Superman, Spiderman as well as heroes and villians from Star Wars, The Avengers and Alien.

Batcat Museum & Toys Thailand is open Mondays-Fridays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and at the weekend from 9 a.m. to  8 p.m. Admission is 100 Baht for Thai adults and 60 Baht for Thai children. Foreigners have to pay 250/150 Baht. On Wednesdays admission is reduced to 50 Baht for everyone. The GPS co-ordinates are 13.763863509017186, 100.64535065877064. Click here for a map. Call 02 375 9006, 081 122 5039 for more information.

National Science and Technology Fair at BITEC until end of August

“National Science and Technology Fair 2012”, organized by the National Science Museum, is being held from now until 31 August 2012 at Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC). This is Thailand’s largest science and technology festival which consists of three major activities; science and technology exhibition, edutaining science experience, and science seminar. The fair is open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The event aims to support and encourage the youth and people who are interested in learning about sciences and technologies and to show how technologies have played an important role in everyday life. Furthermore, the highlight of the events are an exhibition in honor of “His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej”, Royal Pavilion, The Father of Thai Science and Technologies, Disaster Prevention, The Bus 4D Simulator, and Earth & Universe.

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Go Surfing in Central Bangkok this Weekend!

If you don’t have time to hit the beach this weekend, then you are in luck as Flow House Bangkok are having a soft launch. Now you can enjoy the California surf lifestyle in the heart of Bangkok with their purpose built wave machine. With this you will be able to do both stand-up surfing and body boarding. The facilities are not fully open yet, but they are inviting people for test rides this weekend. The cost is only 250 Baht per hour. It is strictly first come, first served due to limited space. Opening times this weekend are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Flow House Bangkok is in the A-Square complex on Sukhumwit Soi 26 (see map). It is not too far from Emporium and K-Village community mall. From BTS Phrom Phong it is only five minutes and from MRT Sukhumwit it is 10 minutes. If you go, dress as if you are going to the beach. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have your own board as they have a full selection of Flow Boards and Flow Body Boards for free use or to buy.

13th World Gourmet Festival to be held in Bangkok 3-9 September 2012

Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok will be hosting the 12th Annual World Gourmet Festival at the hotel from September 3 to 9, 2012. Since its inception, the festival has grown in prominence to feature an extraordinary lineup of some of the best chefs from across the globe. Gourmet festivals exist throughout the world, but only Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok brings award-winning master chefs under one roof for a week-long celebration of outstanding food and superb wines.

Chefs currently confirmed to participate are:

• Shiqin Chen, La Rei, Il Boscareto, Piedmont, Italy
• Igor Macchia, La Credenza, Piedmont, Italy
• Michael Mina, Michael Mina Restaurants, USA
• Masa Shimakawa, ONYX, California, USA
• Frédéric Vardon, LE 39V, Paris, France
• Victor Quintilla, Lluerna, Barcelona, Spain
• Galvin Lim, Les Amis, Singapore
• Diego Irrera, 1884 Restaurante, Argentina

Also confirmed to participate in World Gourmet Festival events are Master of Wine Jeannie Cho Lee, who will be conducting a wine masterclass, Eleveur de Fromage Jean-Francois Antony, who will be hosting cheese-tasting events, and a cigar and rum-pairing event with Patoro Cigars and Eastory Rums.

Once again this year, the World Gourmet Festival is proud to support HRH Princess Soamsawali’s Save A Child’s Life from AIDS Project under the auspices of the Thai Red Cross Society. A portion of every ticket price, as well as proceeds from an auction, will be donated to this charity.

Dates for when “Museum Siam” is free during August

Museums in Thailand have been traditionally boring and dull places to spend an afternoon. That all changed with the opening of the Museum of Siam on Sanamchai Road in Bangkok. Located in the former premises of the Ministry of Commerce, the museum is just a short walking distance south of the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. If you have a few hours spare after visiting the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, then I highly recommend that you visit this museum which tries to answer the question, “Who are the people of Siam?” Through a series of exhibitions in different rooms you are taken through Thai history from past to present.

The normal price is 100 Baht for Thai people and 300 Baht for foreigners. But, during the following dates you can explore the museum for free:

• Thursday 2nd August– Asanha Bucha Day
• Friday 3rd August 2012 – Khao Phansa (Start of Buddhist Lent)
• Sunday 12th August 2012 – Mother’s Day