Thailand Stories

One of my favourite festivals in Thailand is undoubtedly Luang Phor Pan Worshipping Festival in Bang Bo District of Samut Prakan. I went last year for the first time and had no idea what to expect. There were so many surprises that I had a really…

People are already planning their holidays in Thailand for 2010 and so we thought we would help out by letting you know the dates of the main events and holidays. I know so many people keep asking “When is Loy Krathong in 2010?”. The answer is below. 1…

Today marks the start of the Vegetarian Festival in Thailand. I went to Thong Siang Vegetarian House in Samut Prakan to watch this event. The ceremony was a signal for the nine Gods to come down to earth. Something similar happened all over Thailand today. …

The Temple Fair in Samut Prakan has now reached its fourth day. Today is the 8th day of the waning moon of the 11th lunar month. On this day every year, the local people from Phra Samut Chedi District come together to compete in various traditional games. The event was presided over by Mr. Surachai Khanasa, the…

Today saw the start of the 182nd Phra Samut Chedi Temple Fair in Samut Prakan. This takes place every year five days after the full moon in October. It goes on for twelve days and twelve nights and includes mandy sideshow games…

Mr. Surachai Khanasa, the Governor of Samut Prakan Province, took part in a ceremony this morning to announce to the Gods and Angles in Heaven that they will be holding the annual Worship Fair for Phra Samut Chedi. During the ceremony, they also sought good luck for the period of …

One of my favourite festivals in Thailand is the Rap Bua Festival in Bang Phli, Samut Prakan. I usually go every year now. In English, the festival translates as “Lotus Receiving Festival”. However, it has another name in Thai which I think describes it more accurately. This is “Yon Bua Festival” which translates as the …

Towards the end of the Rainy Season, people from all around Thailand come together to race boats on their local canals and rivers. At Bang Phli, where we went this morning, this happens a few days before the end of the Buddhist Rains Retreat. At this time, the …

The Ministry of Culture has planned many cultural activities to promote Thai culture and stimulate confidence in Thailand among international tourists and investors. Culture Minister Teera Slukpetch said that Thailand, in the eyes of in the world community, is a…

Everybody knows Muay Thai which is the popular Thai boxing sport known around the world. This version that I went to watch at the weekend at the Bang Phli Riverside Market in Samut Prakan is called Muay Talay. This translates as “sea boxing”. The rules are …

One of the oldest markets in Thailand that is still operating is the Bang Phli Riverside Market in Samut Prakan. It was first started by Chinese traders back in the 1850′s. This now makes it older than 150 years. The original name for the market …

One of the major Chinese festivals held during the year is “tay krachaat”. It is not restricted to a particular day but it has to take place before the start of “Sart Chin” which this year is in early September. I attended the annual Tay Krachaat Festival at the Thamma Katanyoo Foundation in Ban Pu Mai sub-district of Samut…

Together with Muay Thai, Cock Fighting has been a sport in Thailand for hundreds of years. It all started with King Narasuan in the 16th Century who bred birds for cock fighting. It is a bloody sport where the birds often fight to the death. Deadly metal spikes were attached to the legs and razors fixed to the wings. If…

Millions of Thai people from all around Thailand came together on the evening of the 12th August to celebrate H.M. The Queen’s 77th birthday. In Samut Prakan we also had a ceremony in the parade ground next to the Provincial Hall. This was …

This morning I visited Ancient Siam (formerly Ancient City) in Samut Prakan for their annual Mother’s Day activity. Over the last four or five years, the management have been organizing many different kinds of events at the park during all major holidays. Today is a public holiday for H.M. The Queen’s birthday…

Today, people from all over Thailand are celebrating Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s 77th birthday. Like people in other regions of the country, many locals from Samut Prakan dressed in blue today which is the colour for Friday, the day that Her Majesty was born. Several thousand local people…

The aim for www.thaitravelblogs.com is to give you ideas of what to do during your next visit to Thailand. We have reports on all the latest travel destinations as well as festivals and events. In the old days, people just relied on guidebooks to help them plan their holidays. Unfortunately, …

The www.paknam.com website started ten years ago as a project to show people around the world, in words and pictures, the life in a typical Thai city. We called them “virtual tourists” and didn’t really expect them to come to our…

On the first day of every month, we have the Paknam Food Festival in our town down by the river. During the recent event they promoted the sale of traditional Thai food. One of my favourites is this glutinous rice dessert that contains a banana and black eye peas. In Thai it is called “khao tom mad” …

Visakha Bucha Day is the most important day in the Buddhist calendar. It marks the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha which all happened on the full moon of the sixth lunar month. All around Thailand, Buddhists will be going to their local temple tomorrow to mark this important event by…