2025年4月13日星期日
2019年4月10日星期三
2018年4月13日星期五
2018年2月15日星期四
2018年1月12日星期五
A colourful and distinctive festival of umbrellas
A colourful and distinctive festival of umbrellas
Witness the beauty of Thai culture at the Bo Sang Umbrella and Sankampang Handicrafts Festival
The annual Bo Sang Umbrella and Sankampang Handicrafts Festival celebrates and recognises the community that creates Thailand’s most famous umbrellas handmade from saa, or mulberry bark, paper.
This year the event takes place from 19 to 21 January, 2018.Legend has it that a monk travelled to neighbouring Myanmar, where he came across unique umbrellas made from saa paper that offered protection against both the sun and rain.
He returned with the production technique and introduced the umbrella to the elders of Bo Sang village, who added their own artistic skills to create distinctive and colourful, but very practical, umbrellas.At first it was just a profitable hobby that supplemented the villagers’ earnings from the annual rice crop.
However, with time, production of the saa paper umbrellas prospered, prompting villagers to establish a handicraft cooperative in 1941 that now organises the annual Bo Sang Umbrella and Sankampaeng Handicrafts Festival.
To-date, Bo Sang umbrellas are made from three different materials, including saa paper, silk and cotton.During the three-day festival, streets are illuminated by lanterns, while hundreds of umbrellas are hung from the rafters and beams of houses and shops. Bands play, while villagers compete to design the year’s most attractive umbrella.
The ‘Bo Sang Beauty Pageant Bike Parade’ presents local ladies with an umbrella in one hand riding a bike with another. Concerts and a food festival compete for the attention of the audience, a mix of both tourists and residents, who gather to celebrate Bo Sang’s innovative handicraft skills.
~The Nation~
Witness the beauty of Thai culture at the Bo Sang Umbrella and Sankampang Handicrafts Festival
The annual Bo Sang Umbrella and Sankampang Handicrafts Festival celebrates and recognises the community that creates Thailand’s most famous umbrellas handmade from saa, or mulberry bark, paper.
This year the event takes place from 19 to 21 January, 2018.Legend has it that a monk travelled to neighbouring Myanmar, where he came across unique umbrellas made from saa paper that offered protection against both the sun and rain.
He returned with the production technique and introduced the umbrella to the elders of Bo Sang village, who added their own artistic skills to create distinctive and colourful, but very practical, umbrellas.At first it was just a profitable hobby that supplemented the villagers’ earnings from the annual rice crop.
However, with time, production of the saa paper umbrellas prospered, prompting villagers to establish a handicraft cooperative in 1941 that now organises the annual Bo Sang Umbrella and Sankampaeng Handicrafts Festival.
To-date, Bo Sang umbrellas are made from three different materials, including saa paper, silk and cotton.During the three-day festival, streets are illuminated by lanterns, while hundreds of umbrellas are hung from the rafters and beams of houses and shops. Bands play, while villagers compete to design the year’s most attractive umbrella.
The ‘Bo Sang Beauty Pageant Bike Parade’ presents local ladies with an umbrella in one hand riding a bike with another. Concerts and a food festival compete for the attention of the audience, a mix of both tourists and residents, who gather to celebrate Bo Sang’s innovative handicraft skills.
~The Nation~
2017年4月12日星期三
2017年1月1日星期日
2016年5月13日星期五
Praying for rain
Yasothon - Praying for rain
In response to this year's drought and the higher-than-usual temperatures, visitors to the annual Rocket Festival in Yasothon can expect plenty of fast-flying missiles in the sky.
Taking place on May 14-15, the Yasothon Rocket Festival serves as a wake-up call for the Rain God and pleads with him to give Earth more water so that the rice will grow.
Led by monks, rural rocket engineers place gunpowder inside long plastic pipes of varying sizes.
The rockets are then launched into the clear blue skies with varying degrees of success.
The festive event always draws locals and visitors and you don't have to be a quantum physicist to enjoy the show.
~News courtesy of The Nation~
In response to this year's drought and the higher-than-usual temperatures, visitors to the annual Rocket Festival in Yasothon can expect plenty of fast-flying missiles in the sky.
Taking place on May 14-15, the Yasothon Rocket Festival serves as a wake-up call for the Rain God and pleads with him to give Earth more water so that the rice will grow.
Led by monks, rural rocket engineers place gunpowder inside long plastic pipes of varying sizes.
The rockets are then launched into the clear blue skies with varying degrees of success.
The festive event always draws locals and visitors and you don't have to be a quantum physicist to enjoy the show.
~News courtesy of The Nation~
2016年4月12日星期二
2016年3月10日星期四
Ban on Songkran splashing would be impossible: PM
Ban on Songkran splashing would be impossible: PM
THE Prime Minister has rejected a suggestion that the government ban Songkran revellers from splashing water during the festival because of severe shortages nationwide.
"I will not ban water throwing, because it is impossible,'' he said.
"Parents should teach their children to use less water and not to transport water in trucks and splash it for three days and three nights. If there is not enough water for consumption in May, who will take responsibility?'' he said. "It will be the government."
Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha was responding to a proposal that the government strictly control water usage. Prayut said the government could make an announcement but people did not seem to listen. "That is our problem," he said
He also blamed past governments for a failure of water management.
"We should have had water distribution and piping systems linked nationwide. Why did we not invest in this project long ago? We will fight over water. Soldiers will have to hold guns monitoring water pumps. It should not be like that," he said.
Prayut has ordered four major dams to release not more than 18 million cubic metres of water for agriculture and also asked local residents to build small dams to store water.
Meanwhile, a road in Pathum Thani's Nongsua district has been blocked after land subsidence linked to the drought made it impassable.
Klong Rangsit 14 Road collapsed between kilometres 400 and 500, leaving a three-metre hole that a taxi fell into.
The stretch of road had been fixed, but another 25-metre stretch was affected by subsidence, again making the route impassable.
The road is normally heavily used by farmers to transport their produce to market.
Thitinan Charoen-art, municipal clerk of Muang Sananrak, said the road would be blocked while the subsidence-affected area was repaired, adding that officials would meet to discuss the problem of the drought.
Phayao Governor Supachai Iam-suwan said there was only 14 million cubic metres of water in Phayao Lake even though water had been diverted from Mae Tam reservoir. He said the lake lost about 10,000 cubic metres of water per day, which officials were investigating.
Phayao's Provincial Waterworks Office branch manager Krit Ketcharal said officials were installing pipes to pump water to the lake.
The office has reserved water in Nong Kwang reservoir to be used for tap-water and built a mobile water production plant that can process up to 200 cubic metres of water per hour.
He said raw water in Phayao Lake could produce tap-water for not more than two months. "We are waiting for a miracle of rain during Songkran or we will divert water from Nong Kwang as the last resort,'' he said.
~News courtesy of The Nation~
THE Prime Minister has rejected a suggestion that the government ban Songkran revellers from splashing water during the festival because of severe shortages nationwide.
"I will not ban water throwing, because it is impossible,'' he said.
"Parents should teach their children to use less water and not to transport water in trucks and splash it for three days and three nights. If there is not enough water for consumption in May, who will take responsibility?'' he said. "It will be the government."
Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha was responding to a proposal that the government strictly control water usage. Prayut said the government could make an announcement but people did not seem to listen. "That is our problem," he said
He also blamed past governments for a failure of water management.
"We should have had water distribution and piping systems linked nationwide. Why did we not invest in this project long ago? We will fight over water. Soldiers will have to hold guns monitoring water pumps. It should not be like that," he said.
Prayut has ordered four major dams to release not more than 18 million cubic metres of water for agriculture and also asked local residents to build small dams to store water.
Meanwhile, a road in Pathum Thani's Nongsua district has been blocked after land subsidence linked to the drought made it impassable.
Klong Rangsit 14 Road collapsed between kilometres 400 and 500, leaving a three-metre hole that a taxi fell into.
The stretch of road had been fixed, but another 25-metre stretch was affected by subsidence, again making the route impassable.
The road is normally heavily used by farmers to transport their produce to market.
Thitinan Charoen-art, municipal clerk of Muang Sananrak, said the road would be blocked while the subsidence-affected area was repaired, adding that officials would meet to discuss the problem of the drought.
Phayao Governor Supachai Iam-suwan said there was only 14 million cubic metres of water in Phayao Lake even though water had been diverted from Mae Tam reservoir. He said the lake lost about 10,000 cubic metres of water per day, which officials were investigating.
Phayao's Provincial Waterworks Office branch manager Krit Ketcharal said officials were installing pipes to pump water to the lake.
The office has reserved water in Nong Kwang reservoir to be used for tap-water and built a mobile water production plant that can process up to 200 cubic metres of water per hour.
He said raw water in Phayao Lake could produce tap-water for not more than two months. "We are waiting for a miracle of rain during Songkran or we will divert water from Nong Kwang as the last resort,'' he said.
~News courtesy of The Nation~
2015年11月25日星期三
2015年7月1日星期三
Candles in the wind
Candles in the wind
Ubon Ratchathani is all set for its famed Candle Festival this month, marking the start of Vassa, the annual Buddhist Lent retreat.
The festival, which runs throughout July, culminates with huge, decorated candles being formally presented to local temples in a form of merit making for khao phansa, the Buddhist Lent.
Ubon Ratchathani prepares for the grand event with a series of showcases and activities to draw the visitors to the northeastern province. Arriving at Ubon Ratchathani airport, visitors are treated to a photo exhibition of amazing candle carvings.
The Buddhist Lent, the start of which coincides with the middle of the monsoon season, spans three lunar months during which monks are not allowed to stay overnight outside their own temples.
The retreat was the idea of the Lord Buddha, goes the history, and was intended to keep the monk at the temples rather than travelling around and walking on the rice crop during the rainy season. The community thus offers huge candles to their temples, allowing the monks sufficient light by which to meditate and recite the scriptures.
If you visit the temple on July 31, you may see Buddhists offering energy-saving light bulbs to the monks - they last longer.
The offering of the candles nonetheless continues, drawing more than 100,000 of tourists to Ubon Ratchathani alone.
The highlights are the demonstrations of candle carving, an international candle carving competition and the procession of the candles.
From July 18 to July 31, international artists will compete in a wax-carving competition. Some is avant-garde, while many are forward-looking pieces of candle. The artists will exhibit their pieces of art Thungsrimyang public square in Ubon Ratchathani.
A sightseeing tour of the candle-making communities is a must. Wat Sripradoo, Wat Thungsrimuang, Wat Pholphaen communities, for example, will show how the big floats of candle are taking shape. There, along with many local artist and Buddhist devotees, visitors will see the residents cut up and melt beeswax and pour it into moulds to form components of the huge, elaborate candles and their decorations.
On July 31, the parade begins at Thung Sri Muang Park in front of City Hall, where a giant wax pillar stands. More than 50 local temples each prepare a float.
If you go
<< Bangkok and Ubon Ratchathani are bridged by many daily domestic flights. Public buses also leave Bangkok daily. Accommodation is always fully booked during the candle festival, so you’re advised to reserve in advance.
<< For more about the festival, call (04) 524 3770 or visit www.TATUbon.org or www.GuideUbon.com.
~News courtesy of The Nation~
Ubon Ratchathani is all set for its famed Candle Festival this month, marking the start of Vassa, the annual Buddhist Lent retreat.
The festival, which runs throughout July, culminates with huge, decorated candles being formally presented to local temples in a form of merit making for khao phansa, the Buddhist Lent.
Ubon Ratchathani prepares for the grand event with a series of showcases and activities to draw the visitors to the northeastern province. Arriving at Ubon Ratchathani airport, visitors are treated to a photo exhibition of amazing candle carvings.
The Buddhist Lent, the start of which coincides with the middle of the monsoon season, spans three lunar months during which monks are not allowed to stay overnight outside their own temples.
The retreat was the idea of the Lord Buddha, goes the history, and was intended to keep the monk at the temples rather than travelling around and walking on the rice crop during the rainy season. The community thus offers huge candles to their temples, allowing the monks sufficient light by which to meditate and recite the scriptures.
If you visit the temple on July 31, you may see Buddhists offering energy-saving light bulbs to the monks - they last longer.
The offering of the candles nonetheless continues, drawing more than 100,000 of tourists to Ubon Ratchathani alone.
The highlights are the demonstrations of candle carving, an international candle carving competition and the procession of the candles.
From July 18 to July 31, international artists will compete in a wax-carving competition. Some is avant-garde, while many are forward-looking pieces of candle. The artists will exhibit their pieces of art Thungsrimyang public square in Ubon Ratchathani.
A sightseeing tour of the candle-making communities is a must. Wat Sripradoo, Wat Thungsrimuang, Wat Pholphaen communities, for example, will show how the big floats of candle are taking shape. There, along with many local artist and Buddhist devotees, visitors will see the residents cut up and melt beeswax and pour it into moulds to form components of the huge, elaborate candles and their decorations.
On July 31, the parade begins at Thung Sri Muang Park in front of City Hall, where a giant wax pillar stands. More than 50 local temples each prepare a float.
If you go
<< Bangkok and Ubon Ratchathani are bridged by many daily domestic flights. Public buses also leave Bangkok daily. Accommodation is always fully booked during the candle festival, so you’re advised to reserve in advance.
<< For more about the festival, call (04) 524 3770 or visit www.TATUbon.org or www.GuideUbon.com.
~News courtesy of The Nation~
2015年4月13日星期一
2015年2月19日星期四
2015年1月1日星期四
2014年10月20日星期一
The spirits around us
The spirits around us
3 Sept 2014, Mon communities in Sangkhla Buri, Kanchanaburi province pay their respects to the spirits of the earth in the Floating Boat Festival, which runs from Sunday through next Wednesday in and around the Chedi Phutthakhaya at Wat Wang Wiwekaram.
Prayers are offered before the colourfully decorated small boats are set afloat on the river. Sangkhla Buri is about 350 kilometres west of Bangkok.
~News courtesy of The Nation~
3 Sept 2014, Mon communities in Sangkhla Buri, Kanchanaburi province pay their respects to the spirits of the earth in the Floating Boat Festival, which runs from Sunday through next Wednesday in and around the Chedi Phutthakhaya at Wat Wang Wiwekaram.
Prayers are offered before the colourfully decorated small boats are set afloat on the river. Sangkhla Buri is about 350 kilometres west of Bangkok.
~News courtesy of The Nation~
Lanterns for the Lord Buddha
Lanterns for the Lord Buddha
Lanna Dhutanka, a Buddhist Centre in Chiang Mai, will launch a mass release of lanterns to show a great respect to the Lord Buddha on the evening of October 25.
With thousands upon thousands of lanterns floating in the dark sky, this annual rite creates a sense of peace and harmony over San Sai district. The ceremony will start at 6.30 and wraps around 8.30.
~News courtesy of The Nation~
Lanna Dhutanka, a Buddhist Centre in Chiang Mai, will launch a mass release of lanterns to show a great respect to the Lord Buddha on the evening of October 25.
With thousands upon thousands of lanterns floating in the dark sky, this annual rite creates a sense of peace and harmony over San Sai district. The ceremony will start at 6.30 and wraps around 8.30.
~News courtesy of The Nation~
2014年9月5日星期五
2014年4月15日星期二
2014年4月10日星期四
Wat Rong Khun aka White Temple
Wat Rong Khun (Thai: วัดร่องขุ่น), more well-known among foreigners as the White Temple, is a contemporary unconventional Buddhist temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It was designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat in 1997.
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