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Chiang Mai Vegetarian Festival
The opening ceremony for the
4th annual Chiang Mai Vegetarian Festival was Tuesday, September 27, 2011.
By Shana Kongmun
The 4th annual Vegetarian
Festival opened on September 27 with President of the Provincial
Administrative Organization Boonlert Buranupakorn, Mayor Tussanai
Buranupakorn and Municipal Clerk Dr. Ken Santitham opening the festival
which runs until October 5 at Buddha Satan. The Vegetarian Festival
coincides with other Vegetarian Festivals around the country and generally
begins in the tenth lunar month on the first new moon after the equinox. The
festival takes place around the country with the most famous occurring in
Phuket but the Chiang Mai Chinese community also takes part in this annual
event.
Known as “Gin Jay” or eat vegetarian,
participating restaurants will hand red signs with the Thai words for
vegetarian (jay) written on it. Keep an eye out for these signs and don’t
hesitate to stop and try. There are ceremonies at the Chinese temples and
participants in the event will refrain from cooking with utensils used to
prepare meat dishes, refrain from drinking, smoking, and sexual activity,
will wear white clothing, and keep their bodies clean, and keep their minds
mentally calm and pure. Pregnant women and menstruating women as well as
those in mourning should not attend any of the ceremonies. (Photos courtesy
of Chiang Mai Municipality).
Municipal
Clerk Dr. Ken Santitham, Mayor Tussanai Buranupakorn and President of the
PAO Boonlert Buranupakorn stir a giant pot of vegetarian Gang Hang Ley.
Festival
goers got to try the Gang Hang Ley at the event that
opened at Buddha Satan.
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Royal Flora Ratchaphruek expected to draw visitors
One of the many gardens that were on display in
the last Expo, this year the Expo will feature gardens from 30 different
nations.
(Photo courtesy of Royal Flora Ratchaphruek.)
Royal Flora Ratchaphruek which starts November 9 and runs through February
15 and will cover 80 hectares of the garden featuring gardens from 30
countries as well as 39 gardens from Thai private and public agencies. The
expo will feature 3 international symposiums on Medicinal and Aromatic
Plants, Tropical and Subtropical Fruits, and Orchids and Ornamental Plants
for those interested in learning more about gardening, gardens and plants.
The symposiums will be held at various hotels around Chiang Mai. The
schedule can be found here:
http://www.royalflora2011.com/2011_en/blog/2011/08/21/the-international-symposia/.
The event is being held to also honor
HM the King on the event of his 84th birthday this year on
December 5 and the 80th birthday of HM the Queen, this August. In
light of their tremendous contributions to the Thai people in their work on
agriculture and gardening, environmental sustainability, water and nature
conservation, and poverty alleviation will be highlighted at the Expo.
The Expo has four mascots; Nong Khun
(the Ratchaphruek flower) representing the new generation of
environmentalists and new ideas, Lom Bin (the wind) representing wind and
electrical power, Din Chum (soil fertility) representing the minerals
required to keep the soil healthy, Nam Sai (clean water) representing the
importance of clean water and Ai Un (sunlight) bringing light to the plants
and the world.
Tickets are available at Thai Ticket
Major, Thai Post offices, TTM Theatre outlets, and call center +66 (0) 2262
3456
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International Adventures 2011 Fair
The Chiang Mai International
Adventures 2011 Fair will be held at Central Airport Plaza from September
19-21 and will featured more than 50 booths from adventure travel operators.
There will be a rock climbing wall, skateboarding competitions, BMX bicycle
races and other extreme sports and adventure travel offers.
Seminars will be held on developing eco-tourism and adventure travel in
Chiang Mai and the North in this Tourism Authority of Thailand sponsored
event.
Asian masks on display in Bangkok
The Embassy of Portugal is presenting a display of masks from
8 Asian countries from the Oreint Museum in Lisbon at the Bangkok Art and
Culture Center from September 15 to October 6, 2011.
The exhibition is part of the events to
celebrate the 500th year anniversary of Thai-Portugal relations with
the support of the Fundação Oriente, Asia Commemorations Comission and Instituto
Camões.
The mask collection is just a small sample
of the many thousands of Asian masks the museum has, with many pieces from
famous Chinese Opera stars as well as performance masks from around Asia. The
Orient Museum was opened in Lisbon, Portugal in 2008 and houses a huge
collection of Asian art and artificacts. One room is dedicated to the former
Portugese colonies in Asia, showing the mix of Catholicism and Asian cultures.
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