Today began with a visit to Chiang Mai Zoo, to pay a visit to see the city’s most famous residents. After a brief rest, I stepped out again to witness what the final night of the Yi Peng Festival had in store.
The parade was about to startOrnately decorated floats!This guy was attracting attention today as wellFascinating artMan, the work done on some of these floats!“Don’t call me now, I’m in a different era! You’re ruining it!”Thai ‘princess’ and ‘prince’
Not sure who this red t-shirt ‘army’ were representing
I wonder if Thais worship Lord Ganesha too
Hundreds of locals participate in the Grand Parade
The lady sitting on the car is the Consul General of the US Consulate of Chiang Mai, along with her family
Up ahead, I saw many Thais cosplaying. Hmm, I wonder which contingent this is? Why no surprise there! Japan’s floatLots of tributes to anime and videogame characters
Even dressing up as a Gundam robot!Absolutely beautiful workThe cavalcade made their may down Thapae RoadCameramen readied themselves
Not sure if the creature was meant to be a cow or a goatBut it did stop occasionally to be ‘fed’ money
I don’t who this character/mascot was
Awesome tattoo art
After following the parade from up front, I got distracted.
Yes, it was food… but…
Fried insects for sale!Was tempted to be all adventurous……but I hate insects when alive, leave alone when they are fried dead
Fortunately there were more appetizing food on sale.
All this stuff was cheapMy friend Loi’s survival foodLots, and lots of meat!
Okay, enough food. Back to the parade.
This being the last day of the festival, everybody was outLocals thronged the banks of Ping riverWalls of the Consulate General of the United States in Chiang MaiThe various floats pass by these stands where judges select the best in showMeanwhile on the river banks…
The eager crowd await the parade’s arrival through the final stageLeading the paradeSome formalities…and then fireworks!
River gods ‘flooded’ with krathongs
The American Consul family still doing the rounds
You also have fancier dining options by Ping river
Dinner boat rides are also quite popular
The parade making their way towards the municipality building
The banana trunk slices are what forms the base of the krathongs
Watching so many people release khomloys into the sky (and the fact this was the last day of the festival), I told myself I better release a paper lantern myself now. I still hadn’t done it yet! The past three days, I was busy clicking away and it made me feel like I was on assignment, on work (which in some ways, it is).
So I bought a krathong and a khom loy from nearby
I asked a local if I could borrow a light and instead she kindly shows me how to light the khomloy. She even helped hold it with me as the lantern filled up with hot air.
And there mine goes!I then released my krathong after making my wish(es). That’s the Thai lady who helped me.
As I walked back up to the main road, I kept telling myself with the disappointment of missing the events at Sansai that I had to come back again and do it right. More importantly, after the ‘assignment’ at Mae Jo, I will not spend all my time taking photos. Instead, I’m going to have fun releasing paper lanterns and playing with fireworks — and I won’t be alone
I went back to the main road for a few more photos.
Transgenders spreading the message of safe sexCondom-man distributing free condoms… and posing for photos with girlsThese kind of headbands are all the craze for young girls out hereNawarat bridge was packed with people
I headed back up Thapae roadI pity the guys who had to carry the dancer in this heat for hours!
Really impressive, the work they put into these floats!
Don’t you know driving while talking on your mobile is wrong?It broke! Poor girl must be so self-conscious now (even through it probably wasn’t due to her weight)
Hey, I couldn’t be biasedI’m really curious about the Indian connection in Thai historyThese floats are all winners in my opinionThis puppet was still doing the roundsBut even the men under the animal needed a break for waterAnd that was the end of the parade…I walked back to Thapae gate to pick up some dinnerPicked up some cashews, some fried rice and a shawarmaI even tried LEO beer for the first time. Essentially Singha’s offering to compete with Chang. My verdict? Chang is still better.
The fact that I had to split my last day in Chiang Mai into two posts is proof that this was a long day for me. I was quite tired, still feeling a bit feverish, but through it all — I was more than content with the photographs!
Tomorrow morning, I would head further up north to Chiang Rai and embark on the remainder of my journey across Thailand.
As a parting bonus, here’s a video of the some of the sights from today’s Grand Parade:
After the unfortunate turn of events for me yesterday, I woke up today feeling a bit warmer inside. Not in a good way, more like having-a-body-temperature kind of way!
I woke up for a late breakfast, which I had at Rux Thai itself, and then went back to the room… to sulk. Hoping things would get better, health-wise and otherwise.
By the time I told myself there was no use sulking all day, I stepped out… at 6pm.
Lo Kroh looked desertedMany of the bars and restaurants were decorated in celebration of Yi Peng festival
I walked towards Thapae Gate to see if there was anything going on.
Didn’t seem like much
Guess that takes care of dinner for tonightCheap sushi
I walked a bit further, and things had started to ‘brighten’ up.
This wasn’t the only decoration Thapae gate got
Pretty
The one downside (sometimes) of carrying around a pro-looking camera is people assume you know how to take really good photographs and will do a better job than they can. I have often been asked to take photos of strangers using their point-and-shoot cameras and today was no exception.
After being asked by some Taiwanese woman to take a few photos of her, I asked her to return the favourThey had a stage set up for some functionI crossed the road and walked to the other side, hoping to explore morePlenty of stalls set up everywhereThis is Ratchadamnoen roadI entered this place out of curiosityOkay fine, it was the food!Hey, it’s Anthony Bourdain!?*You can never go hungry in ThailandUnless you are strictly vegetarianEven though this was a temple…… it essentially got turned into a ‘food court’
Once outside, I asked Tourist Police officer (an American woman) whether there was anything special planned for today. She told me yesterday was the big release of the lanterns in Mae Jo, today there wouldn’t be anything special and tomorrow would be the concluding Grand Parade.
She didn’t come of as confident and ‘in-the-know’. Something I was used to by now.
Still, I walked on
Steeped into another temple on Ratchadamnoen roadThough I forgot to note down the name of the templeMore stalls inside here as wellLots of eating here too
I was sooo tempted to bang it
I got back out to Ratchadamnoen roadThen I saw this…
… and it looked like a parade……which looked quite, grand
Here’s part one of the videos I took of the parade:
I take it the floats were showcasing Thailand’s culture from across all provincesAnd I also take it these participating groups were colleges, schools, and other establishments
This guy wasn’t part of the parade… but was getting a lot of attention anyway
Here’s part two video of the parade:
Walked this alley out of curiosity
More celebrations awaited me inside.
Lanterns from below joining the fireworks in the skyNow it were the monks who wanted to light a big oneA really big oneYou obviously cannot use matchsticks to light a lantern this bigWait for it to heat up insideWait for it…Okay, everybody’s waiting… just let go of it already!And it’s upI leftNear Rux Thai, this was the sightWalked back to Thapae Gate
There was a beauty contest going onPacked audience tooSwitched to the 70-200mm lens for a closer lookI wasn’t the only oneA rather ‘traditional’ looking beauty contest
The judges-slash-sponsorsJust before the winner is announced, the women get the ‘God-I-hope-that-b***h-doesn’t-win!’-lookThe winnerShe gets a placard……which says something in ThaiThe runner-ups get a month’s supply of instant noodles*
Lanterns were still floating up
The stage cleared. I didn’t wait to see what was next.I walked on down to Thapae Road next
As I walked along, I saw a large crowd gather around someone.
Everybody was watching this guyHe was mighty impressive
So I decided to take a video:
I tipped him 10 baht and continued down the road.
There were a few other street performers as wellLots of fireworks today… which is always niceHey, those lion statues resemble the official emblem of India!
Curious as to what the possible ‘Indian connection’ could be, I went inside Wat Buppharam.
Looked like just another Buddhist temple to me
I got back out to Thapae Road and made my way towards Nawarat bridge.
Lots of media
The parade was still on
It was crowded!They had a stage set up… sadly for the band, very few were watchingVolunteers in condom costumes distributed free condoms and promoted AIDS awarenessThe people on Nawarat bridgeMany devotees releasing krathongs into Ping riverAnd if you’re wondering what those people in the waters are doing, they’re ‘stealing’
Stealing what? Money. When the locals pray and release the krathongs, they often place some money as an offering to the river goddess. These shameless people then wait for the krathongs to float their way and then take the money. CNNGo has a good article on these ‘river bandits’.
It’s hard to capture what I saw with my eyes no matter how much I tried
It’s not just the hundreds of paper lanterns in the sky in front of me. There were hundreds more to my left, right, behind me… everywhere! I kept wondering “How does one truly capture the experience in one frame!”
I moved to another bridge
The parade was at the end of its runKrathongs and khomloys (paper lanterns) for saleI walked down these stepsPlenty of fireworks soon went off near Rim Ping Hotel
Kinda looks like the Death Star doesn’t it?
Ping river was packed with devoteesAnd a few big floats
I walked towards the Chiang Mai Municipality buildingCultural shows were going onOne of the performers; dressed very geisha-likeThese paintings were on the walls of the US ConsulateI was starting to get hungry at this pointLots of flowers today as wellNot sure if these were rosesSome temple near the marketIt was nearing midnight, time to head back to the roomCelebrations on Loy Kroh road were timid at bestAs seen at a small Indian eatery near Rux Thai
As I sat on my bed before going to sleep, I reviewed the snaps I had taken today. After yesterday’s disappointment, and how I felt when I woke up today, my mood was definitely more upbeat after I saw my photos.
After following the parade from up front, I got distracted.
Watching so many people release khomloys into the sky (and the fact this was the last day of the festival), I told myself I better release a paper lantern myself now. I still hadn’t done it yet! The past three days, I was busy clicking away and it made me feel like I was on assignment, on work (which in some ways, it is).
I asked a local if I could borrow a light and instead she kindly shows me how to light the khomloy. She even helped hold it with me as the lantern filled up with hot air.
As I walked back up to the main road, I kept telling myself with the disappointment of missing the events at Sansai that I had to come back again and do it right. More importantly, after the ‘assignment’ at Mae Jo, I will not spend all my time taking photos. Instead, I’m going to have fun releasing paper lanterns and playing with fireworks — and I won’t be alone 
