Swimming with the sharks

The young leopard shark, usually found in the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean, is black-striped and usually referred to as “Zebra Shark”. When it grows up, the spotted patterns spread all over its body, earning it the name leopard shark. The blacktip reef shark is a common predator with distinctive fin blades that’s is found in shallow water around the coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Siam Ocean World is at Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok. Visit www.SiamOceanWorld.co.th.

 

All rounder guide to travel

Thai AirAsia introduces Travel3Sixty, a new monthly in-flight magazine in Thai and Chinese. It provides informative guides to travel attractions, the food scene, shopping areas as well as everything travellers ever wanted to know in countries served by AirAsia routes. The travel information, notes Tassapon Bijleveld, chief exeuctive of Thai AirAsia, is presented in a simple format and offers a wide array of travel styles, such as low cost and solo.

 

Lying down for faith

Wat Wang Wiwekaram in Kanchanaburi’s Sangkhla Buri District brings a more religious than wet twist to its Songkran celebrations that run from April 18. The distinctive festival demonstrates men’s strong commitment to their Buddhist faith with hundreds of them lying down on the ground to form a “human bridge” for the monks to walk on them to the purifying area. Tucked away on the Myanmar-Thailand border, the temple is at the centre of the Mon community in Sangkhla Buri. Mon cultural shows are also featured.

 

Traditions in the moves

Wat Khanon, a famous temple in Ratchaburi, also celebrates Songkran in a different way by offering nang yai shadow plays and traditional puppet shows on Sunday and Monday. This annual showcase draws visitors for the old theatrical form and uses piles of burning coconut husks as the light source for the shadow play. Shows of smaller rod puppets from Klong Bangluang, puppet dances from Phetchaburi, Lanna Khon Dance and Dikir Hulu Muslim folk dances, along with workshops and hand-on demonstrations of mask and puppet making and other traditional performing arts, add to the fun.