Chiang Rai - Flower Festival

Not to be out done by its bigger neighbor to the south, Chiang Mai, who has a flower festival every February, Chiang Rai has its own flower festival around New Year.

The park area in the city center is not large, but the flowers on display are truly impressive. There are plenty of photo ops.

Chonburi - Long Boat Racing

While the provincial capital has a large buffalo race festival,

http://tinamue.blogspot.com/2010/10/chonburi-buffalo-racing.html

there is also a long boat race on Mabprachan Reservoir (covering both Nongprue and Pong municipalities) in November.

 The boats compete in two categories: 55 oarsmen or 30 oarsmen.

Run Betsy Run

The festival on the reservoir's shore is small, but there are activities for kids and also a buffalo race.

Singapore at Night

No, this is not what you may think. This is not about Orchard Road, but simply a couple of pictures snapped down at Singapore's port.

Cruise Ship

Sentosa Island

Chiang Rai - Wat Rong Khun

Wat Rong Khun is actually not a temple. Rather, it is an unconventional and privately owned art-exhibition built in the style of a temple. It is owned by Chalermchai Kositpipat who designed the building details and who has funded most of the construction costs (by now well over USD 1 million).

The bridge of the cycle of rebirth leads to the gate of heaven. On the other side of the gate, you enter the ubosot

The "temple" opened to visitors in 1997, but has only become a major tourist attraction over the past 10 years. It is located around 5 kilometers south of Chiang Rai, so it is within easy reach for any visitor to the city.

Visitors are not allowed to take pictures inside the ubosot, but the entire back wall is taken up by a painting of a red demon with George Bush in one eye, and Osama Bin Laden in the other. Inside the mouth of the demon is a scene depicting the fall of the Twin Towers.
 
Pop culture references are found dotted throughout the demon’s mouth. They include the Kung Fu Panda, Michael Jackson, Neo from The Matrix, Freddie Krueger, Darth Vader, one of the Transformers, Hello Kitty, the Hulk, Batman, the Joker, Jigsaw from The Saw movies, Ultraman, Spiderman, Superman, a couple of Angry Birds, Harry Potter, and Jack Sparrow.

Confused? 
The pamphlet from the gift shop says the painting depicts “the killing of the innocence” by terrorism and fanaticism and that no heroes can save the world.

Rayong - Sunthorn Phu

On the road from Klaeng town to Laem Mae Phim (highway # 3145), there is a small park in honor of Sunthorn Phu.

Sunthorn Phu (1786-1855) is probably Thailand's most famous classical poet - Thai school children are told that he is the father of Thai literature and all Thais know at least the main story line in his canonical 30,000 lines Phra Aphai Mani poem that describe a fantastical world, where people of many races and religions live and interact together in harmony.

Poet on a hill

Although many think Sunthorn Phu was born in Rayong, he was actually born near present-day Bangkok Noi a mere four years after Bangkok (Rattanakosin Island) had become capital. Thonburi had had the honor for a brief period after the Burmese sacked Ayutthaya.

Sunthorn Phu became a famous poets in the early Rattanakosin era. His father was from Klaeng and Sunthorn Phu wrote a poem about his first trip (1807) to his father's home.

Mesmerizing Mermaid

Rayong promotes Sunthon Phu as a native of the province and has dotted the province with statues of Sunthon Phu and characters from his literature.

Chonburi - Wat Yannasangwararam

Wat Yannasangwararam Woramahaviharn is located in Huay Yai municipality, roughly 15 km south of Pattaya. Its location is more easy to pinpoint if you continue on Sukhumvit Road (Highway 3) to the Na Jomtien area where you then soon will find signs guiding you in the right direction.

Construction of the temple started in 1976 and the Royal Family have supported this temple since then. The Supreme Patriarch intended this temple be a place for practicing Dhamma and wanted a location relatively near Bangkok.

Inside the temple compound area, there are plenty of trees to provide shade and full facilities for visitors such as food, drinks and clean restrooms. There is also a museum explaining the basic Buddhist terms to laymen.  My favorite quote is: "You alone can change yourself". You cannot blame other people for your deeds - it is up to you to avoid committing sin by choosing the right path.

Rayong - HTMS Prasae

HTMS Prasae is an old warhorse that was retired after 57 years on the high seas.

The vessel is a Tacoma class frigate of second world war design. It was built in the USA as the “USS Gallup 47″ and launched September 17th, 1943. It survived WW2 and the Korean war. Then, in 1951 the vessel was sold to the Royal Thai Navy and renamed HTMS Prasae.

An amazing rust bucket from WW2

After almost 50 years of service, it was decommissioned in year 2000. Three year later, the vessel was towed to the mouth Prasae river in the Klaeng district of Rayong and put “ashore” by means of a temporary canal being constructed.

The vessel is from an era gone by and I found it very interesting to be able to walk around the frigate and get idea of the narrow confines sailors had to fight their battles. There are still guns (or at least gun barrels) children and young-at-heart can use to aim at imaginary enemies.

There is a big area along the vessel and a nice beach for pick nicks. However, the drawback is that the mouth of the Prasae river is a bit difficult to find and next to impossible if you have to rely on public transport.