Celebration of Chong Para

Celebration of Chong Para

Mae Hong Son province in Northern Thailand will celebrate the Chong Para ceremony from October 23 to 26 to mark the end of three-month-long Buddhist Retreat. The festival is reminiscent of the Lord Buddha’s return from heaven after visiting his mother for three months. Tai Yai (or Shan) people in Mae Hong Son will build wooden castles, decorate them with colourful paper and illuminate with lanterns to welcome the Lord Buddha. The festival, which also features spectacular Tai Yai cultural performances, can be enjoyed in Mae Sariang, Pai and Mae Hong Son town. For more information, call (053) 612 016.

 

Herd’s up

Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas has signed an agreement with Elephant Parade to bring the world’s largest open air art exhibition of 88 life-sized brightly decorated elephant statues to Bangkok. The exhibition will see a herd of 1.5-metre-high elephants – all specially decorated and hand painted – exhibited at key locations in the city. You can see them from December 1-18 at Parc Paragon at Siam Paragon, at Asiatique on the banks of the Chao Phraya River from December 20 to January 11 and in Lumpini Park from January 15 to 29.

 

Flying with the bird

Thai low-cost airline Nok Air has announced it will be increasing flight frequency to better handle tourist traffic during the upcoming high season. Based at Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport, the airline will add more daily flights to Phrae (two flights), Buri Ram (two flights), Nakhon Phanom (two flights), Loei (three flights), Mae Sot (four flights), Lampang (four flights), Chiang Rai (five flights) and Phuket (eight flights). The new flight schedules are available from October 25 to March 26. Visit www.NokAir.com.

 

New passport office at Big C

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Big C Suwinthawong Store recently opened a new office of the Passport Division inside the supermarket to serve Thais living on the east side of Bangkok. Residents of Min Buri, Lat Krabang, Klong Samwa and Nong Chok districts can use the office to apply for and renew their passports between 8.30 and 3.30 from |Monday to Friday starting from tomorrow. |Call Big C at (02) 906 4814-21.