 For those yearning to live a local lifestyle, don't miss this trip. Friend of Nature in collaboration with the Tourism Authority of Thailand invites you to join its two-day, one-night trip to explore the traditional lifestyle of Kanchanaburi's Baan Nong Khao village.
The tour programme allows time to enjoy riding a classic farm truck E Tan , visit rice farming communities and see a traditional ceremony showing respect to the goddess of rice.
Learn sugar palm making by local method, fill your stomach with homemade desserts, and get a chance to learn how to create traditional medicines from herbs.
The trip costs Bt1,700 per person (add Bt500 for a single room) and includes transportation, accommodation, guide, entrance fees, and insurance costs. For more information, call 02-642-4426-8.
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The Royal Ploughing Ceremony (or cultivating ceremony) is scheduled on May 9 to mark the onset of the rice-growing season at Sanam Luang (the Royal Grounds). It is an ancient Brahman ritual to forecast the abundance of rice crops in the harvest season to come. It is a colourful festival comprised of people in colourful costumes.
The event is usually presided over by HM King, who re-introduced the ceremony at Sanam Luang in 1960. Farmers journey to Sanam Luang where they wait to collect rice seeds which have been ploughed by the minister of Agriculture and Co-operatives. Tradition has it that rice seeds collected from the royal ritual will bring prosperity in the coming planting season.
The first interesting attraction we encountered was Wat Chang Rawp. This features late Sukhothai-early Ayutthaya architecture. The temple highlights 68 half-bodied elephants made of laterite and is decorated with stucco surrounding the base of the deteriorated principal pagoda. Between each elephant figure is a stucco of a plant design.The temple also has the remains of the biggest pagoda found in the historical park. The temple is estimated to have been built between 1900-2000 B.E. in the reign of Phaya Lithai when Sukhothai architecture was at its peak.
Wat Phra Si Ariyabot is locally called Wat Phra Yuen according to the highlight Buddha Image in a standing position. In fact, there are Buddha images in four positions: standing, sitting, walking and reclining in all four directions. However, only the standing statue remains relatively unscathed.