Thailand Tourism Festival, January 2017

lorisolan
Jan 29, 2017
2 min read

It was a bright, sunny day in Bangkok so we decided to go to Lumpini Park for a walk and to read our books. We were pleasantly surprised to stumble across the 37th Thailand Tourism Festival 2017. Little did we realise that this festival would shape the rest of our Thailand adventure. We got there at around 10am and all of the stalls were in full set up mode. The festival didn't start until 12 so we went off and had some breakfast nearby while we waited. We got back just before 12 and the amount of people who were already there was incredible. We joined the queue at the entrance and started to wander around.

The layout of the festival was divided in to sections representing the different parts of Thailand - North, South, East, Central and the Northeast. It was a mini representation of the kingdom and each area had their own way of showing off their culinary specialties and traditions that each are known for. As a traveller, I thought this was a really great way of getting a feel for each part of the country. The smells that were travelling all across the park were incredible.

There was so much colour and beautiful displays found around the park. I loved the rich red hanging lanterns and soft pastel coloured umbrella display.

As it was Chinese New Year, there was a Chinese destination set up near the centre of the park. There were Chinese dragons and as 2017 was the year of the Rooster, there were nods to this bird throughout the whole festival.

There was a parade held in the centre of the park showcasing traditional Thai outfits, dances and music. The women were beautifully clad in floor length Thai dresses with matching hair and makeup. Oh to have the flawless skin of Thais.

The food choices were endless. There were the usual thai dishes available like pad thai and papaya salad as well as dishes that were specific to each part of the country such as a Thai hot pot from the Northeast, Tom Yam which originates from the central region, Kaeng Ho (soup made with pickled bamboo shoot) in the North and Yellow Curry from the South. As coconut is grown in abundance in the South, it is used in a lot of their curries.

If you are backpacking around SEA and find yourself in Bangkok in January, I would strongly recommend taking a visit to this festival, not just for the amazing food on offer but the huge amounts of information you can get on each region. There is so much effort and detail put in to this festival and it really opened our eyes to places outside the usual Bangkok and South islands and made our time in Thailand even more enjoyable due to the discoveries of new, unheard of places such as Rayong, Ban Phe, Chanthaburi and Trat in the East.

When: 2018's Thailand Tourism Festival will be held again in January from Wednesday 24th - Sunday 29th.

How to get there: From Nana Plaza BTS station. There are many ways to get to Lumpini Park using BTS, MRT, public bus or taxi.