Thai ice carvers triumph again in Hokkaido
A depiction in ice of traditional Thai cockfighting (kai chon) won a team of Thai ice sculptors the grand prize at the 45th International Snow Sculpture Contest in Japan this week.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) announced that Kusol Bunkobsongserm of Bangkok’s Shangri-La Hotel, Amnoaysak Srisuk of the Grand Hyatt Erawan and independent sculptor Kritsana Wongtes out-shaved 11 other teams to win the contest, which was part of the Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido attended by more than two million people.
The Thai team’s sculpture “Kai Chon” was judged better than the entries from Australia, South Korea, Finland, the United States, Indonesia, Poland, China and Singapore.
The Macao squad took second place with “Harmony”, showing a swimming goldfish, and an American team was third with “Medusa: Homage to Bernini”, depicting the mythical creature with snakes for hair.
The contest has been held since 1974 and the TAT has supported Thai participants since 1991. Thais have won four times – in 2000 and from 2008-2010 – making Thailand the first country to have won for three consecutive years.