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Loy Krathong: Yeepeng Lanna in Chiang Mai – A second chance to do it right

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Dec 10, 2012
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Chiang Mai, Thailand, Travel

Date 24th November 2012

For those who have been following my website since 2010 – or have landed on my website when searching for information on Loi Krathong in Thailand – you must have read about how disappointing my 2010 attempt to capture the Yeepeng Lanna festival was. Long story short, I got confirmation when and where the event was taking place but by the time I got to the venue, I missed the big release of lanterns by a matter of minutes!

I was gutted the remainder of the night and vowed I would go back to do it right the next time. I wanted to go to Thailand in 2011, but last year’s floods ruined my plans. This year, I could wait no more. I had plenty of good reasons to go to Thailand and I did.

Even though I had a friend for company, I made no compromises about getting to the venue early this time. As soon as we were done with lunch, we found a tuk-tuk driver willing to take us to Maejo University and back for 600 baht. In 2010 I paid 500 baht, so 600 baht for both of us sounded like a good deal. Plus our driver spoke fairly good English – something of a rarity in Thailand. We felt comfortable knowing everything was going smooth so far. (Yeah, wait till you read how it all ended!)

Chiang Mai highway to San Sai Maejo — The weather seemed great and the highway leading to Maejo University was easy on the traffic

Inside Maejo University Chiang Mai — Our driver told us it was the first time in over 20 years that he was entering Maejo University. For which there was no need to, because I knew from last year’s visit there was an alternate road to take.

After getting directions from the university staff, we reached the same point where I was dropped off last time. It all came back to me now — how I walked for at least a kilometre before reaching the actual grounds where the event was taking place.

Way to Yee Peng Lanna venue Maejo — People were setting up their stalls to sell paper lanterns, food and drinks

But this time, we drove down the same road and found parking right next to the main grounds! It was just past 2pm and we were really early. I was happy though. I knew I was safe inside and sure to witness the big release of lanterns this time!

Our tuk tuk driver said he would wait for us until evening and told us he was just going to go out for lunch. But we knew he was leaving the venue to go about his business of picking up other passengers. Who cares, as long as he came back for us. We hadn’t paid him yet.

Yeepeng Lanna Maejo afternoon — We weren’t the only ones who arrived early. Many other tourists – mostly Chinese and Japanese, some locals and volunteers were milling about. (The above photos were all taken on the phone)

Yeepeng Lanna ceremony Thai girls — There was some ceremony going on

Pretty Thai girl Chiang Mai — More of a photo-op for us

Yeepeng Lanna opening ceremony Chiang Mai — The boys had a showing too

Maejo grounds lamps for Yeepeng Lanna — Once that was over, we moved to the actual grounds nearby

Lamps covered Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — These are the lamps that would be used to light the ‘khom loys’ or paper lanterns

Yeepeng Lanna lamps lines panorama — And the whole ground was full of them!

Lamp lines Maejo grounds panorama — My friend Ramesh and I found ourselves a small tree under which we could take respite from the sun

Buddha podium Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai venue — That’s the podium on which Buddhist monks would be chanting prayers before the actual release

Chiang Mai lamps for Yeepeng Lanna festival — I walked up to the center of the grounds

Yeepeng Lanna venue setup Chiang Mai — I guess the carpet is for the many ceremonies that lead up to the big lantern release

Chiang Mai happy tour Yeepeng Lanna — But walking around, I noticed most of the sections were blocked by tour groups. As if they reserved sections for whoever paid to be here.

Tree shade bags Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — Our bags were cooling off in the shade

Hall Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — I decided to drink as much water, juices and then go to the toilet beforehand

Maejo Yeepeng Lanna hall Chiang Mai — There was some ceremony going on inside which we weren’t allowed to photograph

Yeepeng Lanna volunteers greeting visitors — They had volunteers greeting visitors in both Thai and English

I drank a lot of ice cold water and went to the restroom because henceforth I wasn’t moving away from my spot.

Camera men Yeepeng Lanna — A lot of video cameras and DSLRs were setup well in advance to secure the best viewing point

Camera men Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — A LOT of cameras!

Yeepeng Lanna venue Maejo Chiang Mai — This whole venue is going to be full of people lighting paper lanterns

Sirui tripod Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — I set up my tripod and made test shots of all the possible viewing angles

Tourists Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — Everyone took respite from the sun under the shade of the trees

Maejo grounds crowd panorama — Slowly but surely the crowds were making their way in

Tourists Khom Loy lanterns Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — People carried their *khom loys* which were sold at the venue for 100 baht each

LCMT tour Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — Tour groups were trying to get their people together

Yeepeng Lanna big paper lanterns — I guess you get your lantern ready if you already paid to come here with a tour group

Power paraglider Chiang Mai Thailand — Look up in the sky! Is it a bird? A plane? Kind of… this paraglider was surveying the grounds from up above. Imagine the view of the lanterns he was going to get from up there!

Man on top of light tower Chiang Mai — This guy’s spot isn’t too bad either 🙂

Full moon Chiang Mai Thailand — It was a full moon night, a factor based on which they set dates for this festival

Paraglider Chiang Mai Loi Krathong — The paraglider was still doing the rounds while paper lanterns made their way up. What a perspective he must have got!

Yeepeng Lanna crowds gathering — As the sun was setting, the crowds were growing

Yeepeng Lanna venue night Chiang Mai — The venue was full and by 6:30pm people were getting the urge to start lighting lanterns, despite constant announcements asking everyone to refrain from doing so

Yeepeng Lanna buddhist ceremony — By 7pm, we were well into the many ceremonies that precede the release of the lanterns

Buddhist monks stage Loi Krathong Thailand — The monks chanted prayers which were followed by traditional songs and performances

Thais meditating Chiang Mai — Thais around me were deep in meditation and chanting along

Buddhist monks Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — But I couldn’t get a good sight of all that from where we were standing as it all happened in the center of the grounds – sections all reserved for guests and VIPs

Man hair strands silhouette — It was hard trying to get clear shots because there would always be some head obstructing my view. But I made the most of it. Love the 70-200mm lens! 🙂

Maejo night lanterns Yeepeng Lanna — This is a long exposure panorama comprised of 4 shots tried with as little shake as possible

Smoke Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — They lit some firecracker… or something

Lamp fire Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — After all the ceremonial activities were over, the announcement was made to light the lamps

Lamp fire Chinese tourists Yeepeng Lanna — But everyone was instructed not to light the lanterns yet

Sadly the instructions were only in Thai and English, meaning some Chinese and Japanese around me couldn’t wait to light up.

Yeepeng Lanna Loy Krathong Chiang Mai — And so it began

Lamp fire close-up Chiang Mai Thailand — Myself and Ramesh decided we would light lanterns after the big release. Until then our focus was capturing photos and videos.

Thai light lantern Loi Krathong Chiang Mai — It’s not easy to light up such a huge paper lantern *and* try to take photos at the same time

Releasing lantern Loi Krathong Chiang Mai — And despite repeated announcements not to release the lanterns yet… there’s only so long one can hold on to it once it fills up with hot air

Thai family lantern Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — This Thai man giving us the thumbs up was overly joyous and talkative to us asking us where we’re from and what we were doing in Thailand. Nice chap 🙂

Releasing paper lanterns Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — Lanterns were going up even before the main announcement

Paper lanterns Loy Krathong Chiang Mai — People near to us were still getting their lanterns ready

Khom Loy Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — These *khom loys* are massive!

People releasing paper lanterns — I was getting a bit worried the lack of co-ordination was going to ruin the big lantern release

Lanterns night sky Chiang Mai — I mean, the whole beauty of Yeepeng Lanna is seeing thousands of lanterns go up at the same time

Lighting lanterns Chiang Mai Thailand — He was happy to let go, but I prayed the others would wait

Paper lanterns floating Chiang Mai Thailand — But then…

Khom Loy Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai Thailand — OH. MY…

Lanterns Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai Thailand — … !!!!! 😀

All around were just screams of joy and exhales of utter amazement! Even Ramesh and I were going: “Oh man, oh man… oh oh-ho-ho!” Really… there are no words to describe how you feel at that very moment you see it. It’s a visual-sensory overload! Even though I was shooting at my widest, no camera can capture the sheer scale of the what the night sky looks at that moment. Your eyes are the only best tool.

I immediately then tried to try an capture a panorama comprised of multiple shots. I never once thought how the end result would look… I just clicked-clicked-clicked-clicked.

Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai big lantern release — And this is the best I could put together

I had to piece together the above 4 shots (out of 6) manually as no photo-stitching software (including Photoshop’s otherwise impressive Photomerge) could find common links between each photo. Here’s a larger version.

Lanterns floating away Loi Krathong — The lanterns were floating right over me. Guess that’s the way the wind was blowing.

Lanterns floating night sky Chiang Mai — I took this vertically to get as many lanterns as possible

Lanterns night sky Chiang Mai Thailand — It was amazing to see just how quick these lanterns float away out of sight

Paper lanterns rising up Thailand — People were still lighting up lanterns

Lanterns floating away Chiang Mai — And just like that… into the distance

Yeepeng Lanna festival Chiang Mai — Another panorama I had to manually piece together

Yeepeng Lanna crowd lanterns Chiang Mai — Another manual panorama stitch comprised of 4 shots

Yeepeng Lanna trees lanterns Chiang Mai — Wonder where these lanterns eventually drop to

Lantern festival Chiang Mai Thailand — Another panorama manually pieced together from 5 shots

Lantern festival Thailand — I knew back in 2010 itself just how tough this festival is to capture on camera. One, it’s dark, and two, you’re trying to capture moving objects in low light.

Paper lantern festival Chiang Mai Thailand — I shot in Manual Focus mode because keeping it in Auto Focus meant the focusing would be slow (my wide angle is the Canon 10-22mm f3.5). Although I had the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8, from experience I know how lousy its focusing is compared to the Canon. Keep in mind, most of these photos were taken at shutter speeds ranging from 1/6 to 1/20.

Lantern festival with flash — And shooting in Auto mode with flash like how many with point-and-shoot cameras were clicking meant you get photos like this. It kills the very glow of these floating lanterns.

Lantern festival crowd Chiang Mai — But just when you think the visual sensory overload is over…

Maejo lantern festival Chiang Mai — … fireworks!

Yeepeng Lanna festival fireworks — I actually took a lot of photos of the fireworks

Fireworks Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai lantern festival — Sadly, most of them came out blurry. I guess that’s the downside to keeping your lens on Manual Focus and getting lost in the revelry :-/ They looked fine on the LCD but it’s only when you zoom in or view them on the computer you realize: “Crap!”

With the activities slowing down at the grounds and people making their way out, Ramesh and I went up to the big hall to get an overhead view.

Maejo grounds lamps Yeepeng Lanna — We wondered what the spectacle from up here would have looked like

Fire lamps Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — A team next to me were still filming video. I set up my tripod to take some longer shutter release.

Mithun Divakaran Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — We took each others’ photos using the fire lamps as backgrounds

Yeepeng Lanna ground after lantern release — And that was it. We were done.

Well, done taking photos of other people having fun! Now it was our turn. We went to buy one of the big lanterns but sadly they were all sold out. We went out to the main road by the river stream to check with the vendors there.

Crowd leaving Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — The stream of thousands leaving the venue meant it was going to be near impossible to walk through it all. But it did remind me of 2010 when I was one sad face walking like a zombie (in disappointment, than lacking life) after having missed the big release of lanterns.

This year though, I had a smile of my face. I captured the amazing moment the lanterns went up and now I just felt like lighting up some lanterns myself. We looked around until I finally found a big one lying unused and wasn’t torn. Ramesh found a vendor inside and bought another.

We decided to light up the bigger one first.

Ramesh Japanese girls Loi Krathong — These Japanese girls helped us light the big one as you need more than two hands to hold the lantern up — and take photos!

Ramesh Mithun Yeepeng Lanna Chiang Mai — Two or three minutes later, it was ready to float away

Mithun releasing lantern Chiang Mai — Made a wish, and then let go

Mithun Divakaran lantern Thai girl — We lit another one with this Thai girl, who was awfully kind to help us

But I later realized she was only helping us so we would finish up and leave. She was one among the many volunteers who immediately began cleaning up the venue.

Walking back, looking at all the volunteers cleaning up the grounds, putting out the lamps and clearing all the trash, I now understood why the organizers have started commercializing this festival. For over 20 years, this privately organized event grew into one of the most symbolic of Thai festivals in the eyes of many tourists. Heck, I’m sure this event is what inspired this scene in ‘Tangled‘!

Last year when they announced a separate event would be a paid event, that too with a US$100 entry fee (slashed to $80 this time), I scoffed at how greedy they had become. Of course, now they hold two – one free event and one ticketed event. But even this event had large sections of the ground cordoned off by tour groups, reserving the good spots for those who surely paid to attend this festival.

Still, I won’t blame them now. Just because it’s free for many of us, doesn’t mean there aren’t expenses. Somebody has to pay for the free ice-cold water, somebody’s got to pay for all the free plastic chairs they handed out to those who waited since afternoon. Not to mention, again, the hard-working volunteers cleaning up the entire venue and helping out with the various activities.

Will I attend this lantern festival again? Although I managed to get in early this time, I’m still not absolutely thrilled with the photos I took. I shot altogether over 440 photos today, but I only used a quarter of that for this post. Many came out blurred. I don’t entirely blame myself, because I did the best I could with my Canon 7D and 10-22mm f3.5 lens. Being surprised by the moments of amazement that took place before my very own eyes, it was hard to plan every shot. Trying to capture what your eyes see with a camera is always tricky. I would like to think had I got a full frame camera with the Canon 16-35mm f2.8 lens, I would have taken better photos. Then again… ‘shoulda, coulda, woulda’. We all have such thoughts after something has happened.

As we walked back to our waiting tuk-tuk driver, it was 8:45pm. But we were happy. Not for long though.

When we approached our driver, he had the look of displeasure on his face. He complained saying he’s been here for hours and we promised we would be out by 6pm (which we never did). I knew why he was acting this way and it soon came out. He demanded we pay 1000 baht instead of 600 baht. I refused, saying that was too much for a tuk-tuk ride. He said he would take us to the police station if we didn’t pay up. So I said “sure, go ahead” and got in.

I wasn’t afraid as this wasn’t the first time a local tried to pull this trick on me in Thailand.

Chinese tuk-tuk driver — I took his photo while we were stuck in the slow moving traffic outside the grounds

But then, strong winds started blowing. Blowing so hard it was toppling sign boards, chairs and other things off shops on the road side. Then came the loud sound of thunder. Then it began to rain. And how! It was pouring cats, dogs and any other animal you can throw at to describe a torrential downpour! Myself and Ramesh, although with a roof over out heads, were still getting wet with the heavy wind throwing water at us from all open sides. I tried to take my rain coat out of my camera bag but hesitated to move from the covering position I was in. Even opening up the rain coat was a challenge with the wet winds rendering it counter-productive even before I could use it as cover. My camera was getting wet too, so I needed to stuff that back in before it could take in any more water.

And just when you think bad weather in the midst of heavy traffic couldn’t make things any worse, our tuk tuk sputtered to a stop. Water got inside the spark plug making it hard for the driver to restart the vehicle. So yeah, we were stuck in the rain. Then the power went off all around us. Yup.

Ten minutes later, the vehicle restarted and we were off again. But given the driver had chosen to take the inner roads to hopefully skip traffic (or take us to the nearest police station), driving through puddled roads… the tuk tuk stopped again. For the same reason. We now had to wait longer. In the rain, in the dark, and with no clue where in Chiang Mai we were!

But the driver’s attitude changed by now. Although he complained of how cold he was (he was getting drenched too), the talk moved to light banter complaining about Thailand’s electricity cuts, calling it the worst in the world. We assured him there’s always India to make Thailand’s infrastructure look far superior. But as light as both our attitudes were by then, Ramesh and I couldn’t believe how our night was turning out to be. I couldn’t believe my drive back from the lantern festival could possibly make me sick again. We were shivering in the cold and prayed the tuk tuk would start again. It did, some 20 minutes later, and fortunately by then the rain had reduced to a drizzle. We asked the driver to avoid potholes and see if he could connect back to the main highway.

Funnily enough, all I kept thinking was how the rain could have possibly been caused by the development of hot air caused by the thousands of lanterns in the air from the Yeepeng Lanna grounds. It was as though god was pissed with all the fire we were sending up his way and he decided to wash us out with a massive downpour of water! But the driver told us he had heard in the weather report that there was a depression from Vietnam heading towards Thailand. Still, I think the hot air could have aggravated the rains.

Chiang Mai rain bikers — It was well past 10pm by the time we saw a highway. Ramesh could take his phone out to take this snap as I wanted some evidence of just how much it rained. Trust me, it was much worse when it began!

By the time we reached Chiang Mai city, it was 10:45pm. It took us two hours to get back, but what horrible two hours it was. We asked our driver to drop us near the Night Market as we just wanted to have some hot food before everything shut shop early because of the rains.

When it came time to pay him, we still gave him 700 baht feeling sorry for an old man shivering out at this time of the night when his wife kept calling asking him where he was.

It’s not that I have it usually, but we felt like having some rum or whiskey to warm our bodies. This was a moment when I craved hot Indian food too, and although available aplenty at the Night Market, most places were Muslim-run restaurants. Which meant we would get the food, but not the alcohol.

We just sat inside a popular restaurant and ordered everything. I desperately wanted to be done with dinner so I could run home to take a hot shower.

I wanted something hot and spicy to warm my body up but there was no Indian food on the menu. Instead, I tried Myanmar pork curry, which although tasted okay, ended up being gingery sweet. Not what I craved that night.

Done with dinner, shivering and soaking wet from head to toe, we walked back to our room and I quickly took a hot shower. It felt soooooo good.

Rux Thai twin room Chiang Mai Thailand — I tested my camera to see if everything worked fine. I know the 7D body is weather sealed, so it can handle the elements to a certain extent. But I was glad to know the lens and the motor all worked a-okay. (This is was our twin room at Rux thai Guesthouse by the way)

So that was my day. From hot and sunny in the morning, thrilling in the evening, to cold and rainy in the evening. I wasn’t even in the mood to look at the photos I took because it was well past midnight and we had a morning flight back to Bangkok where I had to attend SM Town III the next day. I had to sleep.

But I was still happy 🙂

P.S: Here’s a video Ramesh took when the lanterns were released into the air:

My 2010 Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai posts:

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai cooking class; Loi Krathong celebrations in Mae Jo, Sansai

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Loi Krathong celebrations; first Grand Parade

Thailand 2010: Last day of Loi Krathong; Sunday Grand Parade (Day 4, Part 2)

Damnoensaduak floating market tourists Ratchaburi Thailand

Thailand 2010: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market tour, Cobra show… and leaving Bangkok

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Jul 27, 2011
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Bangkok, Thailand, Travel

Date: 29th November 2010

My final day in Thailand… and I still made most of the time I had before flying out.

Even though I still had an entry ticket to DreamWorld theme park which I got for free via Cleartrip, I decided to chuck that and opted instead to do something I couldn’t do last year.

I booked myself for a floating market tour via the lady who owns Thai House Inn and she got it for me for ฿600 (Rs. 890/$20/€14).

Bangkok Rama bridge early morning Thailand — Left Bangkok at around 6am; headed to the neighbouring district of Ratchaburi, a 100km drive

Shrimp prawn farms outside Bangkok Thailand — Passed by a lot of shrimp farms. Turns out Thailand is largest exporter of such shrimps. (That explains the abundance of prawn crackers)

After an hour long drive, the van reached a canal where there were other tour groups gathered near some boats.

Floating market tour starting point boats Thailand — We would then be split up into groups for each boat

Canal longtail boat Bangkok Thailand — I grabbed the spot in front

Damnoen Saduak river taxi boats Bangkok Thailand — No roads from here on out, just canals all the way to the ‘floating’ market

River to Damoen Saduak floating market Thailand — It was a lovely morning ride

Damnoen Saduak floating village house by river Bangkok Thailand — It was a charming sight to see houses and entire villages live by these canals

Damnoen Saduak floating village river Bangkok Thailand — Kind of appears as though the ‘roads’ are flooded 🙂

Damnoen Saduak floating market sign Ratchaburi Thailand — That’s where we were heading

Once we reached the market, we got out of our boats and were informed by our guide that we had nearly an hour here. But, if we wanted to boat ride around the market, we would have to pay ฿50 (Rs. 75/$1.6/€1.16) and it was not included in the tour package. Obviously, none of us wanted to simply walk around the ‘floating’ market, so I paid up.

Damnoen Saduak floating market old boat lady Ratchaburi — I sat right in front again

Damnoen Saduak floating market paddle boats Ratchaburi Thailand — Mind you, there are many boats carrying tourists around the market all morning. The market closes by afternoon.

Damnoen Saduak floating market hats vendor Thailand — Plenty of hawkers (on boats of course) pull your boat over to try and sell you their wares

Damnoen Saduak floating market saffron spices Ratchaburi Thailand — A lot of the stuff for sale are souvenirs and other Thailand memorabilia

Damnoen Saduak floating market pork noodles Ratchaburi Thailand — No shortage of eateries as usual

Thailand souvenirs for sale floating market Ratchaburi Thailand — And as usual, you can haggle for a much lower price than what they initially quote

Damnoen Saduak floating market handicrafts Thailand — Even under a bridge there was no shortage of hawkers

Damnoen Saduak floating market insects bugs Thailand — From preserved animals…

Damnoen Saduak floating market snake Thailand — .. to even getting photographs with a massive snake. All available under the bridge.

Damnoen Saduak floating market coconut boat Thailand — Nicely shaven coconut 🙂

Damnoensaduak floating market fan hats hawker Thailand — After much pandering, I ended up buying two of these hats for my nieces. The hats can be folded into fans as well. Paid around ฿100 each.

Asian tourists floating market Thailand — Best advised to keep your hands inside at all time. The boats do ram into each other.

Damnoen Saduak floating market end Thailand — It was time to turn around and go back

Damnoensanduak floating market boats jam Thailand — This is what a floating market traffic jam looks like

And this is what it sounds like 🙂

Damnoensanduak floating market Durian Thailand — Durian. Ugh.

Damnoensanduak floating market hats hawker Thailand — Yes, lots of hats

After riding for around half an hour, we were dropped back on to the platform.

Damnoensaduak floating Thailand flag boat Ratchaburi — Continued taking photos on foot

Damnoensaduak floating market massage chairs Thailand — Yes, you can get a massage just about anywhere in Thailand

Damnoensaduak floating market paddle boats parking Thailand — How paddle boats are ‘parked’

Damnoensaduak floating market smaller canal Thailand — I would have liked to have gone through there

Damnoensaduak floating market food boat Ratchaburi Thailand — How heavy must the boats be to hold the weight of two gas cylinders?

I walked back to the designated meeting point for our tour group. It was time to leave, so we all got back to our respective vans.

I was under the impression the floating market tour was over and that we would be on our long drive back. But no, instead, the van took us to a nearby Elephant Village.

Now, I had been to an elephant camp in Chiang Mai back in 2009 so I knew what to expect and more importantly, why they bring tourists here as ‘part of the package’.

Floating market tour elephant ride village Thailand — It’s ฿600 for an elephant ride -_-

Elephant village ride tourists Thailand — I wasn’t interested

Elephant village forest history Thailand — Instead, I sat at the cafe and read up trivia

After waiting for nearly half an hour for the few from my tour group who wanted to go for the elephant ride, we finally got moving again. Next up, the Cobra Show.

Cobra Show entrance ticket counter Ratchaburi Thailand — Again, they only drop you here, you still had the option to pay and enter

Even though I had seen videos from the ‘most exciting show in the world,’ I did not want to wait outside in the heat again. So I paid the ฿30 or ฿50 it was for the ticket and went in.

Cobra Show arena Bangkok Thailand — The arena inside (Panorama comprised of 6 shots)

They start off with the announcer welcoming everyone and explaining in fairly understandable English that the purpose of the facility is to ‘educate’ visitors that snakes are not all that dangerous as people make them out to be.

Cobra show extracting snake venom Thailand — A badass-looking Thai staff member showing us how they extract snake’s venom

The also bring around snakes to you in case you want to take photos with one around your neck. And since I hate snakes…

Cobra show Mithun snake around neck Thailand — I thought I’d give it a try 🙂

Cobra show python snake showing tourists Thailand — They have all kinds of snakes, like huge pythons as well

The ‘exciting’ parts kick in when they demonstrate how the trained staff catch snakes. Which has to be seen in action:

The guy also caught three cobras, one by one, which was quite impressive.

The excitement continues when they bring out a snake’s worst enemy in the animal kingdom, the mongoose — and then make the two fight.

Cobra show mongoose snake fight Thailand — “Snake, meet mongoose”

Cobra show mongoose snake fight tourism Thailand — “Snake… meet mongoose!”

Cobra show mongoose fighting snake Thailand — “Snake… snake…snaaaaake!”*

Cobra show mongoose not fighting snake Thailand — Introductions over I guess

Here’s a video of the mongoose fight some more:

Thirty minutes of, erm, animal cruelty, the show was over. The staff went around seeking donations from the visitors, and I tipped ฿100 to the guy who caught the snakes with his bare hands, because that’s quite some skill.

Outside, there have a mini-zoo with a few reptilian creatures.

Cobra show python tourist neck photograph Thailand — If you want photos with much bigger snakes, you can take them here

Cobra show Thailand snake park Thailand — But I wanted to sit in the air-conditioned van as it was quite hot!

I asked our guide if the ‘tour’ was over, but he said there was one final stop. Ugh.

This was some handicrafts showroom where they specialize in wooden sculptures.

Buddha statue wood carving Thailand — But I must say, quite impressive wood work (That sign seems a bit ironic btw)

Teakwood amazing woodwork craftsman artist Thailand — Scratch that, some *very* impressive wood work!

Teakwood detailed amazing woodwork craftsman artist Thailand — Wonder how many weeks it takes for such stunning works of art

Wooden elephant sculpture handicrafts Thailand — They’re all for sale but it’s not like they’re easy to fit into a suitcase and take back with you

Needless to say, none of these wooden sculptures carved out of teak wood come cheap. Most of them were in the thousands of dollars (yes, dollars, not Thai baht)!

Thai wood handicrafts showroom Thailand — They have a showroom with some smaller pieces of wood work inside

After another half-an-hour spent here, we headed back into our vans. I was finally done with the ‘floating market’ tour. As touristy as the above sights may seem, I still feel a visit to the floating market is a ‘must-do’ in Thailand. Damnoen Suduak is the most popular floating market, thus the hordes of tourists. There are a few other floating markets across Thailand.

The journey back into the city took a lot longer for me as I was going to be the last one dropped. I eventually got down at MBK to have lunch… at KFC.

KFC seaweed flavour chicken Bangkok Thailand — Last year, KFC Thailand introduced a sweet ‘n’ spicy variant of their chicken, and it was my last meal before leaving. This year, KFC introduced a seaweed infused variant. It was alright, better than last year’s sweet ‘n’ spicy.

With my final meal in Thailand complete…

Siam Paragon Krispy Kreme line Bangkok Thailand — Oh for god’s sake Thai people, there’s NOTHING special about Krispy Kreme!

Anyway… I headed back to Thai House Inn to pack up and check out. I sat down for a bit before stepping out again, but this time, without my camera bag for a change. I wanted to give my shoulders a rest after the nearly two weeks I strained them. I walked further down from Nana BTS to see whether there were better sub-฿1000 accommodation available so that next time if I do choose to stay in the Sukhumvit area, I don’t have to stay to at Thai House Inn.

Hopefully, next time I’m in Bangkok, if I don’t have much shopping to do, I’ll stay in Khao San road.

At around 5:30pm, I took the BTS to Phaya Thai station. They had only recently opened the new skytrain link directly to Suvarnabhumi airport, saving passengers both time and money.

Phaya Thai airport line BTS station Bangkok metro — The Phaya Thai airport link station

Phaya Thai airport link to Suvarnabhumi BTS station Bangkok — And as an introductory offer, the ticket to Suvarnabhumi was a cheap ฿15! I paid nearly ฿500 last year for taxi!

The journey took just 30 minutes. Clearly a better option for those with less luggage. I was early enough for my 9:20pm Thai Airways flight to Bangalore.

Suvarnabhumi airport metro BTS entrance Thailand — The entry into the airport from the BTS station is at the basement

Walking up to the departures section, I was quite stunned to see just about every Indian passenger heading back to Mumbai with a massive LCD/plasma TV in tow. It’s as though everybody knew how much to pay off the Mumbai customs officials upon arrival.

Quite ridiculous really, especially seeing many of them pleading with the check-in personnel not to impose excess baggage charges… because some of them were (unsurprisingly) way over the allowed limit!

After checking-in, I headed to the VAT (value added tax) refund office to declare my purchases and get my VAT refund forms stamped by the officials. Then came the rather long queue at immigration.

Thai sculpture Suvarnabhumi airport gates — Passport stamped, I was through

I checked out the Duty Free, bought two bottles of liquor that my friends requested (prices and selection are fairly good here) and then went to the VAT refund counter to get my cash refund. Submitted my form and got 7% of the total value of my purchases back in cash. I mentioned this last year and I’ll mention it again: for the VAT refund, one needs to shop at stores that participate in the VAT refund scheme for tourists. Upon purchase, you will get a VAT refund form from the store and it’s only upon showing that same form at the airport will you be eligible for a refund. You can’t simply show a bunch of store receipts and expect a cash refund (‘cos I’ve seen people do that).

Sitting at my gate, I had plenty of time for a flashback. Another trip to Thailand that didn’t feel ‘complete’. Had I successfully covered the big lantern release in Mae Jo, Chiang Mai, I would have scratched North Thailand off my list and only focused on South Thailand for my next visit.

I wasn’t even in the best of health the first week, which sucked. Still… all I can say is that I did the best I could and I hope my readers enjoyed this series.

So until Thailand 201_, it’s back to India for now! 🙂

Previous posts in this series:

Thailand 2010: Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Sampeng Market, JJ market (again)

Thailand 2010: Back to Bangkok — Chinatown, Patpong, Platinum Mall and Chatuchak Market

Thailand 2010: Pattaya — Beach road, Viewpoint, Jomtien Beach, Walking Street

Thailand 2010: Golden Triangle in Mae Sai; Chiang Rai’s White Temple (Wat Rong Khun)

Thailand 2010: Heading to Chiang Rai by bus, Wat Jedyod and Golden Clock Tower

Thailand 2010: Last day of Loi Krathong; Sunday Grand Parade (Day 4, Part 2)

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Zoo (Day 4, Part 1)

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Loi Krathong celebrations; first Grand Parade

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai cooking class; Loi Krathong celebrations in Mae Jo, Sansai

Thailand 2010: First day in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong; driving up Doi Suthep

Thailand 2010: Arriving in Bangkok and preparing for Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai

*Metal Gear Solid referance

Gurdwara entrance sikhs Bangkok Thailand

Thailand 2010: Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Sampeng Market, JJ market (again)

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Jul 23, 2011
/
Bangkok, Thailand, Travel

Date: 28th November 2010

I began today with a taxi ride to Phahurat Raod.

House Lumpini building Silom Bangkok Thailand — Drove towards Silom first

Silom HSBC building Bangkok Thailand — A lot of financial firms have offices in Silom

DTAC telecom headquarters Bangkok Thailand — DTAC is Thailand’s second largest mobile service provider

China town daytime Bangkok Thailand — Drove through China Town again

Thanon Chakphet road Bangkok slums — Got down at Chakphet road

Fried fruit street hawker Bangkok Thailand — Batter-fried fruit

Thanon Phahurat road Bangkok Thailand — Reached Pahurat road

Gurudwara Sikh point sign Pahurat road Bangkok — I could see a sign stating Gurudwara Sikh, but all it pointed to was a wall of shops on the side of the road I was on

Pahurat market shops Bangkok — I still waded through Pahurat market

Figuring the gurdwara was behind the shops, I found a gap and walked into an alley. There, an old Thai man saw me and just raised his arm to point to where I needed to go. I guessed I wasn’t the first Indian he may have come across in search of the elusive gurdwara.

Pahurat Bangkok alley way to gurdwara — Kept wondering how much more I had to walk to find it…

Bangkok gurdwara Indian temple Thailand — …but there it was (finally!)

Way to gurdwara Bangkok alley — The ‘desis’ were in sight 🙂

Gurdwara Sir Guru Singh Sabha Bangkok Thailand — Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha

You can read about the history of the gurdwara at their official site, but apparently Sikhs have been in Thailand since the early 1900s. All non-Sikhs have to cover their heads with a scarf, which they provide by the stairs in the main hall.

Gurdwara scarfs Bangkok Thailand — Pick one

You also have to take off your shoes if you want to go upstairs. They have a big shoe rack in the main hall and you get a token.

Gurdwara main hall Sikhs blood donation Bangkok — The Sikhs were being their charitable self today with a blood donation camp

Gurdwara main hall fans Bangkok — The 6-storey gurdwara is one of the largest outside India

Gurdwara Langar hall Bangkok Thailand — The first floor is a Langar hall, where visitors and devotees had sat down for the free meals

Gurdwara wedding hall Bangkok sikhs — The floor above it looked like it was hall used for weddings and other events

Gurdwara prayer hall Bangkok Thailand — Above that was the main prayer hall

Gurdwara prayer hall Bangkok Sikh kid photobomb — This kid was waiting for his chance to ‘photobomb’ this shot

Gurdwara Sikh classrooms Bangkok Thailand — The fourth floor is a school

Gurdwara old Sikh lady Bangkok Thailand — The fifth floor was a hall with rooms…

Gurdwara Bahi Dharam Singh Bangkok Thailand — … with priests (I assume?)

Gurdwara Sikh guru rooms Bangkok Thailand — Not sure what this signifies or what they preach

Gurdwara entry Pahurat road Bangkok — That looked like a more accessible entry

Gurdwara top floor Bangkok Thailand — I had reached the top

Gurdwara prayer hall carpet Bangkok Thailand — So naturally, I went back down

Gurdwara Punjabi women praying Bangkok Thailand — The sexes are segregated in order to maintain ‘concentration’ it seems

Gurdwara Indian food hall Bangkok — Decided to eat

As much as I love Thai cuisine, after nearly two weeks, eating simple dal curry, sabzi (vegetables) and chapathis felt soooo good.

Feeling full, I went all the way back down, collected my shoes and left the gurdwara.

Pahurat market outside gurdwara Bangkok — Stepped out to a world where samosas and spring rolls are sold side-by-side

Pahurat textile market clothes Bangkok Thailand — Now to get back out…

Pahurat textile market prices Bangkok Thailand — I walked through the Pahurat textile market

Pahurat textile market Bangkok Thailand — I finally came out through here

Rajamangala University of Technology Rattanakosin Poh Chang campus — Rajamangala University of Technology was across the road

Here’s a map to give you a better idea:

Gurdwara Pahurat map Bangkok — (Image source: Google Maps)

Nightingale Olympic Company building Pahurat Bangkok — I moved on

Triphet road traffic crowds Bangkok — I was on the hunt for Sampeng Market next

Triphet road junction traffic Bangkok — The traffic scene here is *quite* different from the Sukhumvit side

After a bit of asking around, I was directed to Sampeng Market.

Sampeng market entry lane Bangkok — This wasn’t the main entrance or anything. Just one of many lanes in.

Sampeng Chinese market Bangkok Thailand — Sampeng market is known to be an integral part of China Town

Sampeng Chinese market bags Bangkok — The lanes eventually all meet at one main straight path…

Sampeng market clothes CDs Bangkok Thailand — …which extends a long way

Sampeng market is a massive space with stores selling, well, just about everything: clothes, Chinese medicines, other Chinese specialties, toys, households items, pirated CDs and anything else China mass produces.

Sampeng market Sunday Thais Bangkok — Today being a Sunday, it was very crowded!

Sampeng textile market crowded Bangkok Thailand — Thus, very stuffy… and quite suffocating at times

Sampeng market crowds traders Bangkok Thailand — It’s through one narrow lane visitors, traders and porters all the pass through

Sampeng isn’t for everyone. It’s quite congested inside (or I assume it’s like this every weekend) and it can get very hot. Also, I didn’t find much of the merchandise to my liking, so unless you want loads of stationary for your kids, cheap, then Sampeng is the place… if you feel it’s worth the effort. I only stopped to buy one of those inflatable travel pillows/neck rests (cost ฿50).

Sampeng market open road Bangkok Thailand — I finally got out and I had the option to move to the next section

Sampeng market Chinatown Bangkok Thailand — Instead, I wasn’t confident I’d find anything more worth buying and therefore, decided to end my Sampeng trek

Ratchawong road Bangkok Thailand — If you want to get a good starting point at Sampeng market, this is the road to get to first

Chinatown Bangkok morning Thailand — The main China Town area was just a few steps away

I still felt like ‘buying something,’ so decided to head back to my favourite ‘market’ in Thailand.

Silom way to Sathon Bangkok — Took a taxi to the nearest BTS station

Victory Monument from BTS Bangkok Thailand — Victory Monument, as seen from inside the train

Nichkhun Thai ad BTS skytrain commercial — “Thai Prince” Nichkhun was selling something (one of the many products he shills for in Thailand)

Chatuchak market roof Clock Tower Bangkok — Yup, back to Chatuchak market

Chatuchak market from above Bangkok Thailand — That’s what it looks like from up above

Chatuchak Park stage Bangkok — Walked past the park again

Chatuchak weekend market gate us Bangkok Thailand — I plunged in

Chatuchak market rock band t-shirts Bangkok Thailand — I was eying some more good t-shirts, among other things

Though most clothes shops sell more or less the same merchandise, there are a few (relatively speaking) independent studios selling something creative that sets them apart from the rest.

Paracetamol Studio t-shirts Chatuchak market Bangkok Thailand — This was one such shop

Called Paracetamol Studio, the guy in the photo above says he does all the drawings and art himself, and then prints them on t-shirts and bags. I really liked his art and ended up buying three t-shirts at ฿300 each. He wouldn’t allow for bargaining but if you bought more, the price per t-shirt comes down.

Ladies fashion boutique stores Jatujak market Bangkok Thailand — There are more such ’boutique’ stores

JJ market art studios paintings home furnishings Bangkok Thailand — You also have studios selling paintings and other works of art too

I just can’t recommend Jatujak market enough! There’s a reason why I like coming here. The variety of things you find is simply amazing. A lot of it is inexpensive and the rest, still rather affordable.

Jatujak Sunday market Bangkok Thailand — But do get here early in the morning if you plan to cover as much of this place as possible

Because despite coming here for a third time, I still can’t tell you how much of Chatuchak Weekend Market I have covered!

Chatuchak weekend market map Bangkok Thailand — If you asked me where Paracetamol Studio is located on this map, I couldn’t possibly tell you

So if you wish to return to a store you once shopped from, take my advice, note down the store number.

Chatuchak market Clock Tower Bangkok — This clock tower is one of the most important landmarks at Jatuchak. Important, because it stands high above the shops and can be used a point of reference in case you get lost (which will happen!)

Chatuchak market clock tower porters Bangkok Thailand — The clock tower is also where you can find porters in case you buy more than you can carry

Jatujak weekend market shops Bangkok — It was lunch time and I reached the phase where one wonders if they are walking around in circles

Beeberry Mangosteen juice Chatuchak Bangkok — Tried this on the way out

Chatuchak market tattooed Thai famous crocodile skin Bangkok — This guy is a bit of a celebrity here at JJ market

Just as I was rushing out, I stopped by a store that sells genuine rock band t-shirts, many of which are seconds, but in very good condition and well washed. I finally managed to score a Def Leppard (my favourite band) Hysteria t-shirt and got it bargained down to ฿300 with the excuse it was my last night in Thailand. I was quite happy 🙂

Siam Paragon Krispy Kreme line doughnuts Bangkok — Back at Siam Paragon, there was still a big line for Krispy Kreme

I called up my friend Sawmteii as we had agreed to meet for lunch, but she was still busy with family.

Siam BTS interchange station Bangkok Thailand — Siam BTS interchange. One train plys the Siam line, the other, the Silom line

I therefore headed back to my room, freshened up and got my ticket printed for tonight’s Jay Park fan meet at Siam Paragon.

I have already written about the Jay Park fan meet in another post, which you can read here.

After the fan meet, I went to a supermarket to pick up snacks and other items to pack in now itself as I was leaving Thailand tomorrow.

2pm Nichkhun prawn crackers chips Thailand — Bought some prawn chips, and this one had Nichkhun and his fellow 2PM members on the packet

As I was packing and trashing unwanted covers, I ended up having a right laugh reading the instructions on the Chinese travel pillow I had bought from Sampeng earlier in the day.

Chinese travel pillow Sampeng Bangkok — 😀

My Thai Airways flight was at night, so I still had tomorrow morning to do something. Which means, there’s one more post before I conclude this trip! 🙂

Final post in this series:

Thailand 2010: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market tour, Cobra show… and leaving Bangkok

Previous posts in this series:

Thailand 2010: Back to Bangkok — Chinatown, Patpong, Platinum Mall and Chatuchak Market

Thailand 2010: Pattaya — Beach road, Viewpoint, Jomtien Beach, Walking Street

Thailand 2010: Golden Triangle in Mae Sai; Chiang Rai’s White Temple (Wat Rong Khun)

Thailand 2010: Heading to Chiang Rai by bus, Wat Jedyod and Golden Clock Tower

Thailand 2010: Last day of Loi Krathong; Sunday Grand Parade (Day 4, Part 2)

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Zoo (Day 4, Part 1)

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Loi Krathong celebrations; first Grand Parade

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai cooking class; Loi Krathong celebrations in Mae Jo, Sansai

Thailand 2010: First day in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong; driving up Doi Suthep