Songkran Festival

The Thai New Year (สงกรานต์ Songkran) is celebrated every year on 13 April to 15 April. It is also celebrated in Laos (called pi mai lao or 'Lao New Year' in Lao), Cambodia, Myanmar (where it is called Thingyan), and by the Dai people in Yunnan, China. Sri Lanka also celebrates a similar festival called Sinhalese and Tamil New Year on the same dates.

The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed. Songkran falls in the hottest time of the year, at the end of the dry season.
Probably you don’t know, but until 1888 the Thai New Year was the beginning of the year in Thailand; thereafter 1st April was used until 1940.

Now, as elsewhere, the 1st January is the beginning of the year and Songkran has been a national holiday since then.

Songkran, a Sanskrit word, means the entry of the sun into any sign of the Zodiac, in this particular instance, in Aries or the Ram. Its full name is Maha Songkran or Major Songkran to distinguish it from the other ones.

The most obvious celebration during these days is the throwing of water. People roam the streets with containers of water or water guns, or post themselves at the side of roads with a garden hose and drench each other and passersby.

Traditionally Songkran was the time to visit and pay respects to elders, including family members, friends and neighbors. Besides the throwing of water, people celebrating Songkran may also go to a wat (Buddhist temple) to pray and give food to monks. They may also cleanse Buddha images from household shrines as well as Buddha images at monasteries by gently pouring water mixed with a Thai fragrance (น้ำอบไทย) over them. It is believed that doing this will bring good luck and prosperity for the New Year. The water is meant as a symbol of washing all of the bad away.

Songkran is a time for cleaning and renewal.

So… enjoy and สวัสดีปีใหม่ (sa-wat-di pi mai), "Happy New Year".

10-13 April 2008
Venue

Loma Park and The Port, Jungsilon Department Store Patong beach, Phuket

Activities

View the procession of Phra Phuttha Sihing along Patong Beach, paying homage to the elderly, demonstrations of Thai culture and Thai games, procession of motorcycles, and enjoy splashing water. Hi-Light

13 April 2008
09.00 hrs.
Giving alms to monks at Dophin Park, then splashing water “Water Festival on the Beach” at Patong beach and Mid-night Songkran at Soi Bang La.

Further Information

TAT Southern Region Office, Region 4 (Phuket)

tel. 076-212213, 076-217138.

http://www.songkran.net/en/hilight_11.php

Massage School

Phuket has some of the best trained massage therapists in the world.

You can try yourself, from the best and acclaimed Spa f the world, to the normal and busiest massage parlour on the roads.

In Thai culture, massage is a family tradition: most children are taught the fundamental concepts from an early age. It’s habit, at the end of the day, while the family gathers after a long day's work, to share a meal and give each other a relaxing massage.

The traditional Thai massage is mainly based on the teachings of Cheewaka Ko-Marrapat, an Indian healer who lived at the same time of the Buddha. It’s a form of pressure applied by touch to specific energy points and energy lines on the body, is a combination of Thai and Indian healing therapies. It is a very effective and comprehensive system to energize and strengthen the body. It promotes the flows of the energy in the energy lines and the flow of blood in the blood vessels and capillaries.

Thai massage has been one of the ancients healing arts of traditional Thai medicine. In Wat Pho, in Bangkok, there are significant paintings about the roots of this art, and a International renamed school of massage.

In Phuket also you can find a Traditional Thai Massage school, the PTM (Phuket Traditional Massage), operated by Arjarn Pinit Soysuwan and his partner, Dr. Pheangchit Lim In.
The PTM offers courses for tourists and visitors to Phuket who want to learn Thai Traditional Massage techniques.
The school is at 47 Nimit Soi 1, Chana Charoen Rd, Muang, Phuket (Near Buddy Café).
For more information call at 076-211456.

Cheated in Love?

FROM: Bangkok Post

Police in Khon Kaen raided two firms offering match-making services after allegations of swindling women looking for foreign partners.
The police team raided the Thai Publuk and Thai Zury companies in Muang district in the province of Khon Kaen which provide online match-making services for Thai women wanting to find foreign partners.
The raid followed complaints by more than 50 northeastern women, who claimed they had been deceived by the firms, which promised to find foreign husbands for them.
They claimed the firms failed to honor agreements.
The correspondence and online match-making service lasted two months and each woman was paid 5,000 baht to the firms.
If the two sides wanted to meet, the firms would arrange places for them to see each other face to face. The meeting places included Suvarnabhumi airport and other tourist venues.
If the two sides agreed to marry, they had to pay 50,000 baht to the service providers. The firm would also get 10 per cent of any dowry money.
Police had been unable to act against the firms earlier because women had not filed charges. Many felt they would be embarrassed if their stories were made public.

Mall Fever

The malls are a great place to be on a hot and humid day.
A big air-conditioned oasis with great bargains. Some enters and would probably never leave. For thais, and Phuket people, the malls are a temple of non-religious fever.
In Phuket, hundreds find their way to their favorite mall every week, sometimes everyday. Some are lured by low prices and discounts, others are attracted by quality and still others to absurdly extravagant price tags.
Different shelves for … different selves.
Everybody has his own mall, his favorite shop, and his best seller.
A plethora of malls have sprung up over the last decade or so, with Central Festival and Jungceylon, more recent additions to the scene.
You can lose yourself eating and buying food in Tesco Lotus (there is a new small one in Cherng Talay) or in Big C, choosing décor and artistic lamps in Index or Design Square, or looking and buying all kind of objects and stuff in Central or JC (the short name for Jungceylon, the newest and biggest mall in the heart of Patong). The choice is huge, it’s just a matter of time.
In a survey conducted by the Phuket Post, covering 200 odd locals and tourists in the island, an impressive 24% admitted that they visit a mall daily, 28% said they made weekly visits to malls, and 42% are to be found heading the mall way at least once a month. An overwhelming 66% said they thought Phuket's malls were “excellent”, with only a small group of 14% insisting they are not as good as those in bigger cities around the world and a tiny fraction of 2% putting them down as “terrible”.
There is no other way: don’t try, you risk to become an addict…