The annual Chiang Mai City Pillar Ceremony, or Inthakhin Ceremony, will take place this year from May 10-16, 2010 at Wat Chedi Luang in the center of the old city.

On the first day of the festival, a Buddha image of Phra Chao Fon Saen Ha will be paraded around Chiang Mai city while locals wait along the street side to sprinkle blessed water (Nam Som Poi) to the statue. When the Buddha image returns to Chedi Luang temple, a ritual of flower offerings begins. People in Chiang Mai know Inthakhin ceremony as Tam Boon Khan Dok or Sai Khan Dok. The ceremony name is derived from the ritual of making merit to the city pillar by offering flowers, incense and candles to 32 trays that lay around a Vihara of Inthakhin…

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This article is written by Som.

THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: Effective immediately Swedish based Scandinavian Airline Systems (SAS) has slashed as much as 20 percent off the price of economy class tickets between Bangkok and Scandinavia.

The airline, which is the multi-national airline and flag carrier of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, has also rolled the cost of all taxes and surcharges into its quoted ticket prices.

This article is written by John Le Ferve.
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THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: Visitors to Bangkok who wish to stay close to one of the city’s major nightlife and shopping districts may find a three for two deal being offered by GLOW Trinity Silom worth checking out.

The offer is valid until March 31, 2010 and will award guests who stay for two paid nights with a third night stay free of charge.

This article is written by John Le Ferve.
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More than 250 elephants are expected when the 49th annual Surin Elephant Roundup & Red Cross Fair gets underway at the Srinarong Stadium on November 14 – 25, 2009.

A wide range of activities for visitors will be featured in the event including what is claimed to be the largest elephant buffet in the world.

There will be special celebrations to welcome the pachyderms, a feeding ceremony, and elephant talent shows with more than 250 giant performers.

Don’t miss a chance to see traditional dance and performance of Northeast Thailand in Light and Sound Performance Show ‘The Legend of Thousand years of the Sikhoraphum castle’ at Sikhoraphum castle, Amphoe Sikhoraphum.

This article is written by Som.
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The free tickets are available for all 130 routes covering 20 countries the airline and it’s subsidiaries, AirAsia X, Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia, fly to.

The free tickets are for travel between May 1 and October 30 next year and include destinations in China, India, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and many more.

This article is written by John Le Ferve

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The colorful festival will form part of the 82nd birthday celebrations of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on December 5, and take place at the same venue that hosted the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek in 2006 to celebrate the King’s 60th year on the throne.

This article was written by John Le Fevre

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THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: Sharks and swimmers are two topics that ordinarily don’t meld well together, however, holiday makers have nothing to fear from 39 sharks recently released into the sea off Phuket.

Bred by Phuket Aquarium, the sharks, known as Indonesian bamboo sharks or Indonesian speckled carpetsharks Hemiscyllium freycineti, are sluggish, nocturnal fish, that feed off bottom dwelling invertebrates and smaller fish.

Aged between three months and two years, the sharks, along with 199 clown fish, were released off Mai Ton Island on August 12 to celebrate the birthday of Her Royal Highness Queen Sirikit.

Dr Wannakiat Thubthimsang, director of the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC), said the sharks provided no danger to swimmers as they are a non-migratory species, but instead provide an indication of the seas fertility due to their diet.

He said the number of shark species in Thai waters has gradually declined, with only 30 shark species now being found in the Andaman sea, compared to nearly a hundred species previously.

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This article is written by John Le Ferve

THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: Pacific Blue Airlines, the Christchurch New Zealand based subsidiary of low-cost Australian airline Virgin Blue, will commence twice weekly direct flights from Perth to Phuket commencing November 14, 2009.

The flights will be operated by one of the airlines nine Boeing 737-800 aircraft and cater to an increasing demand by Australian holiday-makers for destinations closer to home.

To kick-start the new service the airline is offering a “Tuk Tuk Off To Phuket” launch fare of just $A299 (about$US248) each-way until midnight August 26, 2009, for travel between November 14 and December 12, 2009. After this normal fares will start at $A399 (about $US331) net.

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This article is written by John Le Ferve

THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: Thailand’s tourism industry might be somewhat depressed at the moment but it won’t stay that way forever and when it does visitors to Bangkok will need new, high quality hotels to stay in.

To meet the demand of quality conscious travelers West Paces Hotel Group Asia, developer of the Capella Hotels and Resorts brand, and Bangkok-based Country Group Company have announced plans for a new 64-floor mixed-use development along the Chao Phraya River.

To be named Capella Bangkok, the development will comprise two hotels and a residential tower housing two gourmet restaurants, a bar, a 900sqm (about 9.687sqft) Auriga spa, and a ballroom opening out to magnificent views of the river surrounded by lush tropical landscaping.

Read more here.
This article is written by John Le Ferve

THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: Thailand’s latest (and possibly greatest) tourist attraction, the tiny panda cub born at Chiang Mai Zoo in May, finally has a name – Linping.

Chosen as the result of a national competition to select a name for the baby mammal, more than 22 million postcards were received with over 60 percent of those voting for Linping – a name that means “ice forest” in Chinese.

The name was one of four selected from an initial list of more than 300 names originally submitted. The other three names and their meanings were:

Kwan Thai – a Thai expression meaning, “darling of the Thai people”.

Tai Jin – meaning “Thai gold” but can also refer to the Thai-Chinese relationship as “jin” is the Thai way of saying China.

Ying Ying – Chinese for “prosperity”, while in Thai “ying” means girl.

Read more here.
This article is written by John Le Ferve