Events

This Friday, December 1st, marks World AIDS Day. AIDS seems to have generally dropped out of the headlines in the west, which seems to be a problem in that younger people are not aware of the dangers they face. Meanwhile, AIDS continues to be a growing threat in parts of Asia and Africa.

As a little reminder to “play safe” I’d like to share a video I ran across on the web. It’s a little naughty, but the message is quite clear and the production is quite well done. (I’ve noticed the movie sometimes doesn’t show up on some browsers. Sometimes hitting the ‘reload’ button works. Sorry!)

While in Sanur this weekend, I happened to note that there will be a festival there at the end of this month.  The "Sanur Village Festival" runs from August 25 to 27, right on the beach in Sanur.  Activities include a cooking competition, wind surfing, kite surfing and kayaking competition, a food festival, and much more.  For more details, see the official Sanur Village web site.

As mentioned previously, a Royal Barge procession will be held on June 12 to commemorate the Thai King’s 60th anniversary on the throne. Processions are rather rare events - the last one was in 2003 - so this is one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunities.

The full procession on the 12th will be for the benefit of the many foreign royalty and heads of state that will be visiting Thailand to join the party. The best way to see the procession is to watch one of the dress rehearsals. For these, you can get a seat on a large floating grandstand that will be docked at the same location that the dignitaries will be on the big day.

Dress rehearsals will be held on 2 and 6 June, with a full dress rehearsal on the 9th. You can book tickets online at Thai Ticket Master.

It looks like it's official: 12 and 13 June 2006 have been declared a special holiday in honor of the 60th anniversary of H.M. the King's ascession to the throne. Government offices, schools and businesses in Bangkok will be closed on these days, making a four day weekend for many Thais.

The main reason for declaring this special holiday is that there will be many foreign dignitaries, including heads of state, in town to attend some of the formal ceremonies planned, which includes a Royal Barge Procession as reported earlier. So, the holiday has been declared to ease traffic congestion during that time.

Note that, as usual, the holiday shouldn't affect shops and restaurants. Most shopping centers and restaurants will be doing business as usual. When it comes to shopping and eating, Bangkok never closes!

The main challenge for tourists during this time will be that many of the high end hotels will probably be booked up very quickly (if not already) by blocks of visiting dignitaries. Getting a room during what is normally the low season in Thailand may prove difficult and expensive.

On now at Siam Paragon:-

Young Thai Artists is an exhibition of works by several, well, young Thai artists. There are paintings, photographs, sculptures and mixed media works.

I thought the photography was particularly good. I got a really good laugh from one series of pictures parodying the modern practice of wedding photographs. Modern Thai wedding practices borrow from many cultures. From the west, they've adopted the tuxedo and elaborate white wedding dress. However, the wedding photographs have become a purely eastern fashion. Rather than pictures of the wedding ceremony itself, the 'wedding' pictures are actually taken several days before the event. The bride and groom are often carted around town in their wedding costumes to picturesque spots for a few pictures, then on to another location. Obviously, one thing they didn't pick up from the west is the superstition about the groom seeing the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding.

The 'wedding' photographs in the Young Thai Artists exhibit show a rather scruffy looking groom and an obviously pregnant bride pictured in such non-picturesque settings as the train station (posing with a group of sailors), with a couple of motorcycle taxi drivers, and in what appears to be a state hospital waiting room.

This kind of satire is somewhat rare in Thailand. Check out the exhibit if you get a chance.