Touring Calendar

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May 2000

Lychee Fair
May 2000
Provincial Stadium, Chiang Rai
Chiang Rai is known for its high quality of lychees that grow in this northernmost province of Thailand. Each year, to celebrate the harvest of the fruit, a fair is held featuring sales and exhibitions of lychees, other agricultural products and local handicrafts, as well as a Miss Lychee beauty competition and cultural performances.

Rayong, Chanthaburi, Trat Fruit Fairs 2000
May 2000
Rayong, Chanthaburi, Trat
The eastern provinces of Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat are known for their abundance of tropical fruits such as rambutan, durian, mangosteen, and zalacca. When the fruits are at the peak of luscious ripeness, a fair is held in which the locals sell fruits from the surrounding orchards together with other local products. Spectacular colourful floats decorated with fruit and flowers are paraded through the streets of these provincial capitals. Beauty pageants, fruit contests, local handicrafts and agricultural produce displays, as well as cultural performances and folk entertainment can also be enjoyed by all.

Yasothon Bun Bangfai Rocket Festival
May 13 - 14, 2000
Phaya Thaen Park, Yasothon
Traditionally, northeastern villagers have created and launched rockets of all kinds and sizes as a belief that this will ensure that the gods will send plenty of rain for the rice planting season. As part of this two-day festival, there are beauty pageants and various forms of folk and cultural entertainment full of merriment.

Royal Ploughing Ceremony
May 15, 2000
Sanam Luang, Bangkok
An ancient Brahman ritual, conducted at Sanam Luang, in which farmers believe is able to forecast the abundance of the next rice crop. The event is a result of a series of ceremonies that are conducted by Phraya Raek Na, portrayed by a high-ranking official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives who wears colourful traditional costumes. This ceremony was re-introduced in 1960 by H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej and is considered the official commencement of the rice-growing season.

Visakha Puja
May 17, 2000
Nationwide
This is the holiest of all the auspicious Buddhist religious days, marking the birth, enlightenment, and death of Lord Buddha. All over the country, people go to temples to listen to sermons by revered monks and make merit. Shortly after sunset, candlelit circumambulations take place around major temples.

Thailand International Food Exhibition 2000 & Thailand International Muslim Food Exhibition 2000
May 24 - 28, 2000
Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC), Bangkok
Thai cuisine has become internationally renowned, and in recent years Thailand has also become a major food exporter and manufacturer. In confirming Thailand's role as such, this festival features demonstrations of food preparation, exhibitions and sales of food as well as related meetings.