Celebration Bangkok Style

Last weekend was the King's Birthday. For the Thai people it is a major celebration and for all of us it meant a day off on Monday!

It was the King's 82nd Birthday and there were events all over the city and crowds of people everywhere.

The centre of most of the celebrations was the Democracy Monument, which also happens to be the location of most of the protests against the Government that you see on TV.

The crowds were dressed in pink. Not quite sure what the significance of that colour is. The King is highly revered and deeply loved in Thailand as well as being respected throughout the world for all the good things he has done for the people of Thailand.

Bangkok has also been adorned for the last few weeks in Christmas decorations.

The celebration of Christmas is all about appealing to the Thai's love of consumerism - you wont find any reference to the true meaning of Christmas - a lot like back home really.

I even spotted Santa Claus - don't know how he can stand being dressed up in the suit in this climate!

The shops are always crowded in the big department centres and malls of the city, even more so at this time of year. The three photos below show some of them.

Well as I head back to Australia for Christmas, that will be it for the blog for 2009. I'll be back next year!

The Chao Phraya River

With it's headwaters in the mountains of Northern Thailand, the Chao Phraya is the main river in Thailand.

The river flows over 350km, through the heart of Thailand's central plains, the nation's food bowl.

It arrives at Bangkok with only 40km left in it's journey to the Gulf of Thailand.

The river is always brown, from the silt it picks up along the way.

Through Bangkok the river meanders back and forth and flows rapidly past the city. Add to that the strong tides and it can be quite difficult to navigate and it can be a little tricky to get on and off the ferries.

There is a real assortment of structures along it's banks, from the old to the new, but the main thing you notice is that the river is always alive with activity.

It is certainly one of the nicer places to be in Bangkok, with the cool breezes that blow off the water.

A ferry ride or a cruise on the Chao Phraya is certainly one of the highlights of a trip to Bangkok!