1. Monkey Business
Lopburi in central Thailand is a monkey metropolis, known for its plentiful population of primates. Once a year, usually on the last Sunday of November, the people of Lopburi fill up long banquet tables with over two tons of delicious sticky rice, colorful fruit, and fresh veggies all for the local monkeys. Not only is there a feast for these friendly primates, but there’s entertainment too! Humans dress up in monkey costumes to dance and perform to celebrate these gregarious guests of honor. So, why have a whole festival for these adorable yet rowdy neighbors? The Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival is a fun way to express gratitude to the monkeys who bring good luck and prosperity to the area. They also show their furry friends their gratitude for bringing in tourists — talk about some great monkey business!
2. Wat Samphran
There are over 40,000 temples in Thailand, but there’s only one like Wat Samphran. Not far from the city of Bangkok is Wat Samphran, a 17-story pink Buddhist temple wrapped by a dragon. Visitors to the temple can walk through the tunnels inside the dragon’s hollow body and admire plenty of magical shrines along the way. If you walk the whole stretch, you’ll reach the top at 80 meters (260 feet), which honors the 80 years that Buddha lived.
The Thai New Year's 3-day festival, Songkran, includes a truly epic water fight in the streets. People use everything from super-soaking squirters to regular old buckets to drench each other for good luck in the coming year. It’s also believed that getting drenched with water will help wash away the last year, so you can move forward with a fresh start. Meanwhile, back in private homes and Buddhist temples, water is used in other Songkran traditions too. Buddha statues get a sprinkle of water to symbolize purification and bring good luck. Elders also have water gently poured over their hands by children as a way to show respect and seek blessings in the new year.
4. The Venice of the East
Did you know that Bangkok is called The Venice of the East? That’s because there are 83 canals crowded with 10,000 boats full of fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, fish, and local goods that create these amazing floating markets. Before Thailand had reliable roads, farmers used rivers and canals to bring their crops to the cities. People would buy their fruits and vegetables right from the farmers’ boats. Today, most Thai people buy their produce at stores on dry land, but some floating markets remain. The market boats are more than floating fruit stands- many are floating kitchens! Some vendors equip their boats with stoves and all the other gadgets they need to cook complete recipes. They whip up snacks for hungry shoppers, all while bobbing along the surface of the water.
5. Siamese Cats
Before 1939, Thailand was called Siam, which is why we call Siamese cats, descendants of cats in Thailand: Siamese! Though in Thailand, these pretty kitties are called “Wichien-Maat” meaning “Moon Diamond''- what a perfect name for these beauties. Siamese cats originated sometime in the 14th century, which makes them one of the oldest domesticated cats in the world! We don’t know exactly who began breeding them. Some say they were first raised by Buddhist monks while others say it was the royals. What we do know is that these felines were popular in both the Thai temples and the lavish palaces. These kitties have certainly purr-fected their role as good luck charms and protectors against evil over many centuries in their homeland of Thailand.
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