Thailand Festivals – The Best Time to Visit Thailand And Enjoy Their Famous Festivals

Thailand is abundant with festivals and quite honestly there is no time of year when you cannot find a festival to enjoy, however here are some of the more popular festivals around Thailand throughout the year.

Beginning the year, the month of January offers the Chiang Mai Winter Fair in Chiang Mai and the River of Kings Festival in Bangkok. The Chiang Mai winter fair offers booths, music, competitions, and even beauty pageants, while the River of Kings festival is a bit more formal with a theatrical production describing the history of Thailand.

February continues the year by offering the Chiang Mai Flower Festival complete with flower covered parade floats and the Bangkok China Town Festival which celebrates the Chinese New Year.

As the peak season begins to wind down, March brings about the Asean Barred Ground Dove Festival where dove owners from around the country gather in Khwan Muang Park, in Yala Province to display their doves and compete for prizes.

April celebrates the Thai New year with the Pattaya Festival, followed by the Songkran Festival which also takes place nationwide but is particularly colorful in Khao San Road, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai.

May is a particularly celebratory month with the Royal Ploughing Ceremony in Bangkok which celebrates the beginning of the rice planning season and the Visakha Bucha, a religious celebration of Buddha celebrated nationwide and the Yasothon Rocket Festival which awards the most explosive rockets. It’s an eye and ear opening festival sure to please both young and old alike.

July brings about the well known Candle Festival in Tung Sri Muang, Muang District, Ubon Ratchathani Province. Visitors will find tall, beautiful, candles displayed and presented to local temples.

August celebrates the nationwide Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen.

September is the world famous Phuket Vegetarian Festival (famous for the gory displays of people impaled by a variety of objects and not for the faint of heart) and the significantly less gory Phichit Boat Races along the Nan River.

October celebrates the Wax Castle Festival celebrated nationwide but is particularly spectacular in Sakon Nakhon, the Chon Buri Buffalo Races, and the Illuminated Boat Procession Festival along the Mekong River.

November begins the peak travel season by being another celebratory month with the Loy Krathong celebrated Nationwide, the Surin Elephant Roundup, the River Kwai bridge week in Kanchanaburi, and the Phimai Festival.

December ends the year with a nationwide celebration of the King’s birthday and the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta.

Festivals in Thailand are planned on the lunar calendar. Check for the exact dates of each festival before you make your hotel reservations and travel plans.

Saintdenis Singapore Hotel Artport

Written by admin on February 27th, 2010 with no comments.
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Koh Chang, Thailand – One of Eco-Tourism’s Best-Kept Secrets

Once a sleepy little island in the South China Sea, Koh Chang, Thailand today bustles with activity. It has since awakened to a worldwide heightened interest in eco-tourism.

Koh Chang, Thailand is the largest of an archipelago of some forty islands off the mainland’s east coast. The mountainous island is home to eight native villages scattered about the 217 square kilometers of Koh Chang, Thailand’s land.

The name “Koh Chang” is translated “Elephant Island,” in spite of the fact that elephants are not indigenous to it. Rather, it refers to its shape, which is much like that of a sleeping elephant.

Though elephants may not be indigenous creatures, Koh Chang, Thailand is practically synonymous with elephants today. The area has a long and rich history with elephants. They have been used as sources of transportation for centuries. Some natives still rely solely on elephants to get around. In Koh Chang, Thailand they are considered working animals, and in addition to traveling they have been used historically in farming/agriculture and in war.

Elephant trekking is Koh Chang, Thailand’s most popular draw in the eco-tourism market. Thousands of foreign tourists visit the island each year especially for the experience of riding an elephant. Local elephant trekking companies offer various tour packages. Not only do these tours bring visitors into close contact with Ko Chang, Thailand’s beautiful outdoors, it also educates them about the historical significance of elephants to Thai culture.

The majority of the island of Ko Chang, Thailand is covered by the Mu Ko Chang National Park. The park, much of which consists of virgin rain forest, has only been a designated national park since 2000.

The park is home to hundreds of unique species of plants and animals, both on land and in the sea. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit Ko Chang, Thailand each year for the chance to delve into its rain forests and examine its indigenous wildlife.

The many mountains of Ko Chang, Thailand feed dozens of streams and rivers which cut through the island and head to the sea. Frequent rainfall and a long wet season (May to October annually) make Ko Chang, Thailand’s streams some of the cleanest and freshest in the world. Its terrain is also home to some breathtaking waterfalls, which draw a significant number of eco-tourists.

Thanks to greater environmental awareness, Ko Chang, Thailand may be poised to become one of the world’s top eco-tourism destinations in the years to come. Its reputation is beginning to reach beyond its own borders. Foreign tourist numbers to Ko Chang, Thailand may well rival those of local tourists before the decade is over.

Singapore Hotel Artport

Written by admin on February 27th, 2010 with no comments.
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