Thailand Festivals and Events 2009-2010
December 2009
River Kwai Bridge Week
Date: 27 November - 8 December 2009
Venue: River Kwai Bridge, Mueang District, Kanchanaburi
Each year in late November to early December, the world famous River Kwai Bridge built by Allied prisoners-of-war
during World War II, becomes the focal point of celebrations.
Event highlights include historical and archaeological exhibits, a carnival, folk and cultural performances, rides on
World War II vintage trains, and a spectacular light and sound presentation re-enacting the bridge's World War II legacy.
Watch the light-and-sound show in remembrance of the bridge and the construction of the "Death Railway" during World War II
(There are 4 sets of headphones available in English, Japanese, Chinese and German). A wealth of entertainment and Exhibitions are on display.
H.M. the King’s Birthday
Date: 5 December 2009
Venue: Nationwide On 5 December 2009, His Majesty the King will celebrate his 82nd birthday anniversary. His Majesty has therefore announced that this special event be known as "the Celebrations on the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty the King 82nd Birthday Anniversary 5th December 2009"
An alms-giving ceremony in the morning is followed by a huge festival of music and culture at Sanam Luang in Bangkok to celebrate His Majesty the King’s birthday. You can also appreciate the beauty of the decorations along Ratchadamnoen Avenue.
Laguna Phuket Triathlon 2009
Date: Sunday, 6 December 2009
Venue: The upscale Laguna Phuket Resort occupies 600 acres of tropical beachfront parkland on the northwest coast of Phuket island in Southern Thailand.
The competition among the "iron men" from Thailand and international countries includes swimming, cycling and marathon racing. Also, there are activities to encourage the participants to experience the adventure routes along Phuket’s tourist attractions.
COURSES
1.8k Swim
The swim course comprises two bodies of water. Starting on the beach between the Dusit Laguna Resort and Laguna Beach Resort near the LBR Marine Centre, competitors swim 1,180 metres in the sea before sprinting 100 metres across the beach to swim the last 620 metres in a lagoon finishing at the Laguna Beach Resort Y-junction. Wetsuits are not allowed.
55k Bike
The bike course takes competitors out of Laguna Phuket onto narrow, winding roads. The course will be the same as in 2007, with some steep hilly sections on the road to Naithon Beach north of Laguna Phuket. Drafting is illegal. Suggested equipment includes a minimum of two water bottle cages. Athletes should consider a 24-28 tooth rear cassettes to ease the difficulty of hill climbs. Some of the road surfaces may be rough and athletes should use durable tires. The bike course will have 2 aid stations.
12k Run
The run course will be similar to the 2007 course. It is flat and leads runners north through the Laguna Phuket resort complex and onto the award-winning Laguna Phuket Golf Course, before looping back past the Wedding Chapel through Canal Shopping Village and finishing at the Laguna Beach Resort Y-junction. The course will have three aid stations approximately 2km apart that runners pass twice.
Click here to book Phuket Hotels & Resorts Special Promotions!!!
International Street Show 2009
Date: 10-13 December 2009
Venue: Lumpini Park
At Lumpini Park from December 10-13, 2009, Workpoint Entertainment Public Company Limited and Sixnature Incorporation Company Limited proudly present "Festival of Happiness" to be a 'Gift' for Thai and also our beloved tourists for Happy New Year season. There will be many national and international group performers joining the session for free entrance. And this will be the first time in Southeast Asia! From this year on, the event will be annual in December. We aim "International Street Show in Bangkok" for world famous festival within 3 years from 2008. 
Street Performance, or busking, is the practice of doing live performances in public places to entertain people. Some performers directly interact with the audience creating a new edge and different atmosphere every time they perform.
There are many forms of Street Show, for example: mime, clowning, juggling, acrobatics, balloon modeling, contortions and escapes, fire eating, sword swallowing, puppeteering and so on. Although Street Performance sometimes is considered the bottom rung of entertainment, it is actually an art that is very close to common people and usually reflects the unique cultural heritage of each performer’s place of origin.
Street performance is gaining popularity around the world. Similar festivals to the The International Street Performance Festival can be seen worldwide, such as the Daidogei World Cup in Shizuoka, Japan, World Buskers Festival in Christchurch, New Zealand, the Hailfax International Buskers Festival in Halifax Nova Scotia, Canada, and the Street Performance World Championship in Dublin, Ireland.
Performances require limited space so as not to obstruct pedestrian traffic. Sometimes a crowd will gather around them or simply sit down on rugs with their families to enjoy the show.
Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya World Heritage Fair
Date: 12 - 21 December 2009
Venue: Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Histirical Park, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya was once the glorious capital of Thailand. It was also a centre of trade and government, and possessed a long period of prosperity. Be amazed by the light-and-sound show, the exhibitions on Ayutthaya as a World Heritage Site, as well as the cultural performances. Having fun shopping for a variety of OTOP product is another activity.
Click here to book Ayutthaya Hotels Special Promotions!!!
Thailand’s New Year Countdown Celebrations
Thais know how to party. Some might say at the drop of a hat. A party brings out the best in national identity – a broad genuine Thai smile. So should we be surprised that Thailand is a favoured venue to celebrate New Year? This is the land of smiles and “sanook”.
Whether the countdown is in Bangkok, Phuket or a far northern destination, the celebrations will carry the hallmarks of fun and genuine hospitality that make the country such a rewarding destination to visit.
Of course, Bangkok has a mission to fulfill. It aspires to make its 2010 New Year Countdown a mega-celebration, on par with the biggest and brightest in Asia Pacific.
The spotlight is on the “Hands Bangkok Countdown”, where more than 200,000 New Year party goers will mingle in the downtown CentralWorld Square. Festivities begin 21 December and culminate in the countdown on New Year’s Eve extending through New Year’s Day.
Concerts and live on-stage performances, the informal atmosphere of beer gardens and light and sound shows support a theme of peace and joining hands across a multitude of cultures and races.
According to the organisers, joining hands will bring people together -- lovers, friends and families -- to celebrate the hopes and destiny of a New Year.
A gigantic screen will allow party goers to view the countdown celebrations in countries in the same time zone, while a giant 21 metre-high Greeting Ball Tower, with a three-metre diameter LCD orb-screen will create bursts of stunning display of light, colour, sound and movement at minute intervals over the party scene, until the countdown begins and the fireworks light up the sky.
There are two other official locations for New Year celebrations.
The National Stadium, just 2 km from CentralWorld Square on the city’s Skytrain route, will be packed to capacity as residents and tourists enjoy an evening of musical concerts, variety show performances organised by GMM Grammy Records and Channel 9. TV stars will turn out to entertain the crowd, while a huge screen will show nation-wide countdown celebrations as the minutes tick by.
A more traditional Thai celebration will underscore activities at the city’s Sanam Luang, with the famed temple roofs and spires in the Grand Palace courtyards providing the backdrop. Crowds will gather on the historic spacious parade ground, facing Thammasat University, to enjoy classical dance performances, folk songs from the various provinces and musical concerts for an older generation of city residents.
As the countdown celebrations get underway, firework displays along the banks of the nearby Chao Phraya River will illuminate the sky.
Click here to book Bangkok Hotels Special Promotions!!!
Top
|
