Bpai Tiao: Sak Yant Tattoo Festival in Nakhon Pathom

In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.

My last post was about festivals here in Thailand that I do not want to miss over this next year here, and I left one out. But that is because I tried to go to it this last weekend. Every year, at Wat Bang Phra in Nakhon Pathom, a couple hours outside of Bangkok, there is the Sak Yant Tattoo Festival. more “Bpai Tiao: Sak Yant Tattoo Festival in Nakhon Pathom”

5 Can’t Miss Festivals in Thailand

Now that I’ve been here for a year, I kind of have a grasp on what some of the big celebrations Thailand has and I’ve heard of some smaller, local festivals. So much Thai culture is steeped throughout the year and released all at once in these annual festivals, from celebrations of victorious battles to honoring spirits and ghosts, from taking pride in local ruins and historical sites to making merit and honoring the water spirits, there is likely a celebration of some kind just around the corner. Here are the ones that I am most looking forward to going to this year.

more “5 Can’t Miss Festivals in Thailand”

When Tokay Geckos Take Up Residence

I think it’s tokay mating season right now. Tokay geckos (Gekko gekko, Latin name) are the second largest gecko species in the world. They are nocturnal and range from India and Nepal to across Southeast Asia. All of the ones that I’ve seen have been blue with reddish spots all over their body, and all of them have been a minimum of six inches long, but mostly longer. They have a very distinct mating call, which starts of with short, rapid-fire croaks and then goes into “TOK-ay, TOK-ay, TOK-ay.” I’ve been hearing this call so much lately, which is what lead me to believe it is mating season. more “When Tokay Geckos Take Up Residence”

Peace Corps Week 2014 Video: Susan

In honor of Peace Corps Week this year, the team at headquarters in Washington is holding a video contest. The theme is “What I Wish Americans Knew.” My friend and fellow volunteer, Susan, created a really great video. Check it out!

Bua Yai’s Ya Mo Festival: Importance of Relationships

Last year, when I came to Kaengsanamnang to visit before moving here permanently, my co-teacher took me to the opening ceremony of the Ya Mo Festival in Bua Yai, one district over from mine and where she grew up with her family.

I remember being really intrigued by it all: wanting to watch the reenactment show, visit all of the stalls, taking pictures of all of the dancers and parade floats. I was a little confused by it all and my senses were overloaded. We ate som dtam and I had kanom jin (a kind of rice noodles) for the first time, and discovered that I like som dtam but not kanom jin. more “Bua Yai’s Ya Mo Festival: Importance of Relationships”

For the Love of Karaoke in Thailand

I’m writing this on a Friday night and a raging karaoke party is bumping right outside my door and has been for the past couple hours. I foresee it going a couple more. I ventured out at the beginning of the party to get some stuff from the raan kai ka, or little store and closed my door when I came home as I did not have the energy to try and join the festivities this time. But I did try to analyze karaoke in an Asian context as opposed to a Western one. more “For the Love of Karaoke in Thailand”

Peace Corps Week 2014 Video: Laura and Zack

In honor of Peace Corps Week this year, the team at headquarters in Washington is holding a video contest. The theme is “What I Wish Americans Knew.” My friends and fellow volunteers, Zack and Laura, created a really great video. Check it out!

So Much Fun at the 2014 Thai Youth Theatre Festival

Right around this time last year, my group, Thailand 125, watched videos made by the group before us that advertised all the different committees of volunteers working here in Thailand. They ranged from HIV/AIDS Outreach committee to the Project Resource Committee to Sticky Rice Newsletter to the Thai Youth Theatre Project Committee. I was drawn to a number of them, and applied for quite a few and was selected to be an editor of the volunteer produced newsletter Sticky Rice and to be the Deputy Director of Public Relations for the Thai Youth Theatre Committee.

A group of my students have been preparing to perform at the annual Festival, the culminating event of the TYT Project, which was this past weekend. Nearly 140 students from 13 different communities came together in Lopburi to learn about singing, dancing, mask making, shadow puppets and sword fighting and to perform a short play entirely in English that they had prepared in front of the rest of the participants. I’ll let the pictures from this weekend speak for themselves. more “So Much Fun at the 2014 Thai Youth Theatre Festival”