Recommend October 2011 - (Page 43)

the highlight of the 2-week Nan Provincial fair. Boats, holding up to 50 rowers, are carved from a single log and decorated to look like a dragon serpent. Thailand famous for its handpainted, paper and wooden umbrellas. This specialty craft is honored with an Umbrella Fair in mid-January, with umbrella painting competitions, umbrella exhibitions, parades and a beauty contest all part of the fun. May (second week): Bun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival) is held in Yasothon in Northeast Thailand, one of the liveliest regional celebrations, featuring a parade of carnival floats, music and folk dancing. Homemade rockets are fired to ensure plentiful rains during the rice season. Late September/early October: Thailand’s urban and provincial waterways become the scene of historic longboat races that hail from earlier times when the rivers would overflow and farmers would take long-tailed boats down the waterfronts to make offerings at different temples. October (the day before the full moon): The Chonburi Buffalo Race is held in the country’s eastern Chonburi Province, a true indigenous experience concurring with the end of the 3-month Buddhist Lent. Water buffaloes and their jockeys are decorated with colorful cloths, flower garlands and other ornaments. There is a buffalo fancydress contest, a healthy buffalo competition and Miss Farmer Pageant. November (3rd weekend): Surin (140 miles NE of Bangkok) is famous for its silk production, but also as the home of the Elephant Roundup, an occasion that gives the Suay tribesmen the chance to show off their elephant-handling skills, along with parades and cultural performances. November 26: Loi Krathong, one of Thailand’s best-loved national festivals, pays homage to the goddess of rivers and waterways, Mae Khongkha. People gather at rivers/lakes/ponds to float candle-bedecked floats shaped like a lotus. Sukhothai is a top spot to watch this festival. December 3: Trooping of the Colors in the Royal Plaza in Bangkok is an impressive example of regal pageantry starring the Royal Guards and presided over by the King and Queen to mark King Bhumibol’s birthday. The Grand Palace is illuminated for the occasion. December (1st weekend): Day of Roses in Chiang Mai. Cultural performances and exhibitions held in Buak Hat Park. December (2nd week): King’s Cup Regatta in Phuket. Global completion of race yachts. ❖ ARTS, CRAfTS & Shopping EmpoRiumS Thailand has a rich tradition of handicrafts that draws on ancient technologies and an abundance of precious metals (gold and silver) and precious stones (rubies, sapphires, turquoise and garnets), as well as hardwoods, and fabrics fashioned into cotton and silk. Arts and crafts are among the most tempting buys. These range from inexpensive wicker rice steamers to valuable antiques, and include typical Thai items such as triangular cushions, lacquerwares, finely crafted silver jewelry, woven textiles and embroidery crafts from the hilltribes, celadon pottery and silver work from Chiang Mai. Thailand, of course, is all about internationally acclaimed Thai silk, and visitors to Bangkok often know to follow the road to Jim Thompson’s House, an American who dedicated himself to reviving Thailand’s ebbing silk industry. Compulsory and wonderful is a guided house tour featuring a splendid collection of Khmer sculpture, Chinese porcelain and Burmese carvings. Additionally, there’s a cafe, a gallery of local artists’ work, and a shop selling silk clothes and accessories. And every shopper loves the color and vibe of local markets, urban and rural. The most notable are the Chatuchak Weekend Market for imitation designer-label gear in Bangkok, the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar, the Pattaya Floating Market and the Chiang Rai Night Market. Often it’s fun to go right to the source, such as to Bo Sang, a town in Northern fESTivAlS & pERfoRming ARTS Festivals have long been an integral part of Thai life. Annual rites, marking religious devotion or the changing of seasons, are rarely solemn occasions. Rather they are celebrated with exuberance, providing displays of colorful traditions for everyone to enjoy. The Thai festival calendar is chockfull of national and regional festivities, although many festival dates change each year, as they follow the lunar calendar. January/February: Chinese New Year, not an official holiday but a grand 3-day festival widely observed by the large number of Thais of Chinese origin and descent. February (1st weekend): Flower Festival in Chiang Mai, when all of the North is in bloom. The town springs to life with parades, floral-bedecked floats and beauty contests. March (last week of month): King’s Cup Annual Elephant Polo Tournament takes place near Chiang Rai in the Golden Triangle. Mahouts and madcap international polo players meet to battle it out in a hilarious but worthy week-long tournament that raises money for Thailand’s elephant charities. April 12-14: Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year, is celebrated nationally. In Bangkok, festivities take place at Sanam Luang where a revered Buddha image is bathed as part of the merit-making rituals; lots of water throwing at this one. TALKiNg THAi WAT’S A TEMPLE: In a country with 94 percent followers of Buddha, the leading cultural center is the Wat, a collection of buildings within an enclosure serving dual purposes: Buddhist monastery, temple and community center. And there are about 30,000 of them in Thailand. gOD AND KiNg: Thai identity is allied with Theravada Buddhism and the Monarchy, both dignified institutions since the 13th-14th centuries, an era during which the first official Thai kingdom flourished. ELEPHANT TALK: The elephant is the symbol of the monarchy, highly respected for its intelligence, grace and majesty. Previously partners with man in logging, today elephants are used less as working animals than as performers. T7

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend October 2011

Editor's Notes/Agent Speak
Hotel Desk: Coworth Park, London
Tour Talk: Cox & Kings
Paws Up Ups "Glamping" to New Heights
"Alpine" Adventure at Four Seasons Resort Vail
Hotel Beaux Arts Miami
Out & About in New York City
Adventures on Hayman Island
It's the Good Life at The Leela Kovalam Beach
Peninsula Shanghai & Hong Kong
Silversea's Silver Spirit
Thailand Travel Planner
Luxury in the Wilderness, by Best of Patagonia
Savoring St. Vincent & the Grenadines
CuisinArt Resort & Spa, Anguilla
Luxurious Egypt
A Good Turn for Bern, Switzerland
Mexico's Luxury Trail

Recommend October 2011