Thai Festivals & Events Thai Photo Blogs by Richard Barrow
Celebrate the Chinese New Year in style in the old city of Ayutthaya from 24th to 29th January 2012. The main event will take place along Naresuan Road from Chao Phrom Market to Chao Ai Chao Yi Chedi. Dine on delicious Chinese food and enjoy the cultural shows and dragon dances. In addition, there will be a Sino-Siamese Relationship Festival from 20th-22nd January 2011 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Ayutthaya Tourism Centre.
One of the hardest hit of the tourist attractions in Ayutthaya during the recent floods was Ayothaya Floating Market (see map). When I went back in November, after much of the floodwater had gone down, I found that the floating market was still under 2-3 meters of water. I was back there again in early December and found that it had now been drained out and the shop-owners were repairing their stalls. The good news is that the biggest...
One of the hardest hit of the tourist attractions in Central Thailand during the recent floods was Ayothaya Floating Market (see map). When I went back to Ayutthaya last month after much of the floodwater had gone down, I found that the floating market was still under 2-3 meters of water. I was back there again last weekend and found that it has now been drained out. However, the majority of the shops were devastated. The good news is,...
One of the last major tourists attractions in Ayutthaya still to be flooded is Wat Chaiwatthanaram. I saw some pictures in the newspaper last week of what looked like a temple surrounded by water. But that is not quite true. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the area in and around the temple was dry when we visited today. They were also a dozen or so tourists exploring the ruins. It is not officially open yet and so...
Most areas in Ayuttaya suffered from devastating floods over the last few months. The water has gone down in most areas and tourists have already started to come back. The floods had left a lot of damage behind and so I was curious as to what state the Bang Pa-In Palace was in after the floods had gone down. To my surprise, despite seeing high water marks on the palace walls outside, it didn’t flood at all on the...
At the weekend, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra presided over the official launch of the “Beautiful Thailand” campaign to signal to tourists, both local and international, that Thailand is ready again to entertain visitors. The Thai tourism industry united in strength on 4 December for a full day of activities to mark the auspicious 84th birthday of His Majesty the King. The activities took place in Ayutthaya, the former historic capital and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was...
I last visited Ayutthaya in mid-November after the flood waters had gone down in the city. The roads had recently re-opened and I was keen to see how the tourist attractions in the city had survived (see report). On that day it took me about four hours to get there due to traffic congestion. Most attractions were already dry but some were still under water. The city was also very dusty and dirty. I saw some tourists but not...
The Ayutthaya Historical Park covers the ruins of the old city of Ayutthaya, which was founded by King Ramathibodi I in 1350 and was the ancient capital of Thailand until its destruction by the Burmese army in 1767. The park was declared a UNESCO World heritage site in 1991. To celebrate the two decades of this achievement, there will be activities organized from 9th to 13th December 2011 at the Ayutthaya Tourism Centre (the former provincial hall). There will...
With the floodwaters having receded from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ayutthaya, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) joined hands with the Ayutthaya Provincial Authority and related agencies to hold a major clean-up day under the theme of “We Care Ayutthaya” on 10 November 2011 at Wat Yai Chai Mongkol and Wat Phanan Choeng. According to Mr Somchai Chompunoi, Executive Director for the TAT Central Region, “Although a number of provinces in the Central Region of Thailand were...
The opening of the Elephant Park in Ayutthaya today is the first sign that things are starting to get back to normal after many weeks of deep floods. Although many of the communities living along the river and also on the farmlands are still deeply flooded, the city itself is mainly dry. When you drive around the city you will see that many people remain homeless and are living in makeshift tents along the highways. About 100 elephants were...
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