Holiday Season in Bangkok 2007

  (The crystal Christmas tree at Siam Paragon)

Thailand is a Buddhist country.  I often think that ”Thai culture” is synonymous with “Buddhism”.

So it seems strange to me to have Christmas decorations up at all the shopping centers.  Thais don’t celebrate Christmas… it’s not a public holiday.  Most Thais know the date — 25 December — but few know what Christmas is — celebrating the birth of Jesus.  I still remember how odd it felt on my first year in Thailand to be working on Christmas day.

National park fees reduced for foreigners

This story appeared in Friday’s Bangkok Post 

APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

The National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department has cut the entrance fees for foreigners to national parks countrywide in a bid to lure more overseas tourists.

The reduction came after the department received a number of complaints from foreign visitors that the fees are too high, compared with the poor facilities for tourists at the parks.

Effective from Dec 1, entrance fees for adult foreigners have been cut from 400 to 200 baht for the most popular parks, and by 75% for the less popular ones, according to the department.