Monday, October 27, 2014

Loy Krathong in Chiang Mai 2014

               Loy Krathong (ลอยกระทง), sometimes spelled Loy Kratong or Loi Kratong, is a colorful festival held every year on the full moon of the twelfth month in the Thai lannna calendar
This Thai Festival is held all over the country, but there are particularly beautiful celebrations held in Chiang Mai, Ayutthaya and Sukhothai, where the celebrations take place over several days. Celebrations are now held throughout Thailand including Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya, as well as parts of Myanmar (Shan State) and Laos.
  • In 2014, the full moon falls on Thursday, 06 November 2014, but in many places (including Chiang Mai) the main celebration will be from Wednesday, November 05th to Friday November 7th 2014

  • Loy Krathong in Chiang Mai

    Loy Krathong generally takes place over one or two days. In Chiang Mai, this turns into a three day festival, though there are events scattered over five or six days. The night of the full moon is known as Loy Krathong Yai. The night before is known as Loy Krathong Lek. In practice there is little to choose between them. The focus of celebrations in Chiang Mai is around the Saphan Nawarat Bridge that connects Tha Pae Road on the western side of the river with Charoen Muang Road on the other side. If you like crowds and a party atmosphere this is the place to come.
    Vendors on the eastern side of the bridge sell khom loy, fireworks and also beer and whiskey. Obviously, alcohol, gunpowder and kerosene make for a dangerous combination, so be careful. On the western side of the river bamboo landings will have been constructed where people can launch their krathongs into the water. Take note that on previous occasions drunken youths have thrown fireworks at the crowd and each other. The police make an effort to regulate the younger element, but they cannot be everywhere.
    A more sedate and spiritual venue can be found at the temple of Wat Chai Mongkol, which is about two kilometers south of the bridge along Charoen Phratet Road. The temple has its own concrete landing on the river, where devotees can launch their krathongs. Throughout the evening hundreds of Khom Loy are launched into the air from the temple grounds. Khom Loy can be bought from vendors inside the temple.
    The Loy Krathong Parade features giant illuminated krathongs, on top of which are perched candidates for the upcoming beauty contest. It usually leaves Tha Pae Gate for the Night Market early on the evening of the first day of the festival.

  • We make a grathong at EasyStudyThai School.




Sunday, October 26, 2014

We not have Haloween but ghosts in Thailand are around you...

Hello what are you going to do on Halloween!?

In Thailand we not have Halloween but actually ghosts are everywhere ....
    Since I was a child,I am really scared about ghosts.Thai people believe there are ghosts every where,. We have 100 or more kinds of ghosts . 
The top five scariest ghosts are here….



Number 5 is Phii Graseu ผีกระสือ 

     She is a woman and she can fly. She takes the head and the body separately and flies with only the head and intestines. Phi Graseu eats everything especially dirty shit. When she flies, you will see light from her instestines also.




Number 4 is Phii Nang Takiean ผีนางตะเคียน

 She a very beautiful lady but very angry also. We believe that she lives in the Takien tree. Thai people will not build from the Takien tree. You will see that some of these trees have rainbow cloth. Thats the way we show respect for Phii Nang Takiean.






Number 3 is Phii Nang Tanee ผีนางตานี 

She is a very beautiful lady that  lives in banana tree and wears a green dress. At Night time she will come out from the banana tree and cheats on a guy she likes, makes love to another man. After that if a guy gets a new girl, he will get killed from her because she is very strong and jealous. The husband of Phii Nang Tanee will lose power and become very sick because she suck the life from him. If he gets help after this from a magic woo doo or a monk he will survive.



Number 2 is Phii Pop ผีปอบ

     A spirit stays inside your mind and makes you look like a zombie. During day time it is a normal human but at night time it will get very hungry and
want to get out, looking for fresh chicken, frog or rat to eat. Whoever gets Phii Pop inside the body, will go to sleep and never wake up again if the spirit wants to leave to find a new body.




Number 1 is Phii Mae Nnaak ผีแม่นาค 
   
 People say she is real, it happened about 200 years ago in Bangkok. The story is she died when she gave birthleaving her baby alone. t She waited for her husband to come back home because he is a soldier. After he came back home from the war, he thinks she is still alive and they live together, he can’t find out she already dead. Thai people think a woman who die during pregnacy, or when a baby is born, is a very strong spirit angry ghost from love and passion. Because she is the most scariest ghost of Thailand, the Phi Mae Naak is very popular in  Thai movies and is remade in many versions.

Monday, October 20, 2014

King Chulalongkorn Day on 23 Oct 2014

Who was King  Chulalongkorn?

             23 October of every year is a national holiday in Thailand as it marks “King Chulalongkorn Day" or known in Thai as "Wan Piyamaharaj Day". It is the memorial day of the passing away of King Chulalongkorn, otherwise known as King Rama V. King Chulalongkorn led several major reforms in Thailand, for example in the areas of Thai educational system, military affairs, State Railway and Slave Liberation Act without bloodshed in Thailand.



Reforms

King Chulalongkorn is considered one of the greatest kings of Thailand. His reign from 1868 to 1910 was characterized by extensive social and economic development, including the abolition of slavery and corvee (state labor service). He is also famed for his ardent Thai nationalism, and for his skill in fending off the threat of European colonialism, despite the fact that large tracts of Siam were ceded to the Europeans during the period.
King Chulalongkorn managed to prevent Thailand from being colonized by extending friendship and travelling extensively to western countries like America, Great Britain, France and Russia. Because of this, Thailand remains as the only country in Southeast Asia to have never been colonized.
Besides that, King Chulalongkorn was the first Thai King to send the Royal Princes to be educated in Europe. Throughout Chulalongkorn’s reign, radical writers had their works published for the first time. Works that were previously banned were allowed to be read by the public once again

Death and legacy


The Royal Equestrian Statue of Chulalongkorn was finished in 1908 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the king’s reign. It was cast in bronze by a Parisian metallurgist, and then placed on the marble. Chulalongkorn had visited Europe two times in 1897 and 1907; the latter time was to cure his kidney disease. His last accomplishment was the establishment of a plumbing system in 1908. He died on 23 October 1910 of his kidney disease in Dusit Palace, and was succeeded by his son Vajiravudh.
Chulalongkorn University, founded in 1917 as the first university in Thailand, was named in his honor.

 The King Chulalongkorn and his sons 
    
    
The number 4 from left was King Rama 6, the son's of King Chulalongkorn and his brothers the dog was so lucky in this fraem.

     

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Origin of Loy Krathong

Origin of Loy Krathong

The origin of Loy Krathong involves at least 7 legends. Most of them stem from Buddhism. The most popular ones are to show respect to the footprint of the Lord Buddha on the sandy beach of the Narmaha River in India, as well as to the great Serpent and dwellers of the underwater world, after the Lord Buddha’s visit to their watery realm. Others believe that the floral krathong is offered to the pagoda (Phra Ged Kaew Ju La Mane) containing the Lord Buddha’s topknot, which was cut off at his self-ordination and is now in heaven.
Another explanation is that it is a way to pay respect to one’s ancestors. It is also possible that this is derived from a Hindu festival that pays tribute to the god Vishnu, who meditates at the center of the ocean. Therefore the origin of the festival remains still obscure and is varied by region.
The former Lanna kingdom and the former kingdom of Siam have different purpose in celebrating Loy Krathong. The Central part of Thailand celebration is derrived from a royal Brahmin rite. They only changed it to Buddhism during the reign of King Mongut. On the other hand, Lanna already has had its own Yee Peng celebration. In Northern Thailand it has been always about Buddha’s stories, especially as it is the time for the Lanna people to listen to the Vessantara Jataka sermon.