Thais in the UK

[Big Boy]

I keep thinking about suggesting a meet with HHAD members in one of the Pubs on the Common - no Alcahol at the Wat of course

That was one of the reasons for my original post - I thought it might be an opportunity for wannabe expats to meet up, and put faces to names. Unfortunately, I can't make it to any Songkran event this year.

[baron_wastelanduk]

SJ

when we been b4 we normally migrate to one of the pubs in the village generally 8 or 9 of us

i have in the past organised a bus trip down from sleepy suffolk apathy prevents me from doin so this year and im buggered if im gonna drive

[Big Boy]

I've just been told of another venue ie:

19 Apr'09.

The Buddhavihara Temple, Kings Bromley, Staffordshire. DE13 7HR
9:00am until 4:00pm

Activities include:

- Buddhist Ceremony of Blessing from the Monks
- Thai boxing demonstration
- Display of classical Thai dancing & music
- Thai food stalls & supermarket
- Thai costume competition

The activity of Thai food stalls & supermarket indicates that as with the Wimbledon Temple, payment will be required

At the moment, Mrs BB has said we're going (so I'll have to forget my wallet ). Anybody else going?

[Sabai Jai]

Yes the Buddhavihara is Phramaha Lao's new Temple.

He started at Wimbledon then ran the Birmingham Temple before buying this place.

Big Boy - Correct about the wallet, the stalls are far from cheap at these Festivals!

I will be out of Town this Sunday but for a future occasion it may be safer to retire - with wallet to a local hostelry

SJ

[Big Boy]

Mrs BB has been asking further questions about this Temple. It seems that food stall holders are charged £250 for the pitch, and visitors will also be charged an admission. Food, which is a major consideration for her is going to be expensive when compared with Wat Santiwongsaram (free). That has totally put her off going

I'm taking her to the Bristol Wat (local, but I've no idea of the name yet) on Monday; and we'll venture up to Wat Santiwongsaram in a couple of weeks instead.

[caller]

A couple of interesting websites (I assume), one certainly aimed at Thais in the UK - I wonder who funds them? The Thai lady that posted these on T-UK also mentioned a rally at the Thai Embassy in London at 1.00pm today.

http://www.thaireduk.com/

http://www.thaienews.blogspot.com/

[Big Boy]

The first one's had its account suspended!

[Big Boy]

I've found information of another Sonkran celebration, this time close to home in Bristol ie:

26 Apr 09

St Bonaventure's Parish Club, off Berkley Road, Bishopston, Bristol. BS7 8HG
10:30 'til 16:00
Usual stuff, Alms giving, Chanting, Thai Dancing, Sword Danving, Thai Boxing, Thai Costume competition etc etc.

[Big Boy]

I know some of you were attending Sonkran in the UK celebrations yesterday. How about posting some photos to share the event with everybody else ie show them expats in Thailand that if they want a traditional Songkran, they need to visit the UK

[caller]

The first one's had its account suspended!

That's interesting, it was fine when I viewed and posted it! I wonder if it originates from within LOS and it's been shut down?

Also from T-UK, a member posted that he was speaking to his wife in the North today and the local TV was showing and reporting on deaths and has since been shut down.

Seems like the Thais may not be getting the full picture?

[BaaBaa.]

Also from T-UK, a member posted that he was speaking to his wife in the North today and the local TV was showing and reporting on deaths and has since been shut down.

Seems like the Thais may not be getting the full picture?

The Red's have forced some news channels to close, my GF confirms they are not recieving certain channels.

No cause for alarm, THAI SOAPS ARE STILL BEING TRANSMITTED!

[Wanderlust]

I don't know if there are some channels that are very local, but on our UBC?True Visions channels, all the normal Thai channels have been operating all the time, as far as we can tell. I think you have to be a bit careful with word of mouth information coming out at the moment because I'm pretty sure part of the red shirts campaign is deliberate misinformation, including from Thaksin himself - he said yesterday live on BBC that he was not directing the demonstrations, and that he was not funding the red shirts either! He also said that there had been deaths which were being covered up, and that the demonstrators had only come with their hands and were not armed.

I'm sure there is stuff like this on the other side as well but Thaksin is such a crook and a liar he has probably been planning this for months. For a start who paid for and supplied all the red shirts? If you believe Thaksin then the rural poor have all risen up individually and simultaneously, gone out and bought identical red shirts and made their own way to Bangkok, congregating in the same place at the same time. I don't think so somehow.

[caller]

WL, I don't think anyone believes that for a moment. You should have a look at Mag's post about organising picket lines in the UK. Clearly the whole thing was well planned and elsewhere you can find photos of all the food stalls, water supplies etc. that were provided. It seems the way Thais do these things now (following the PAD example).

I'm not sure this is the end of this though, just the end of this stage.

[caller]

The first one's had its account suspended!

That's interesting, it was fine when I viewed and posted it! I wonder if it originates from within LOS and it's been shut down?

Seems like the Thais may not be getting the full picture?

This refers to: http://www.thaireduk.com/

I have just read elsewhere that this is one of 60 pro-red websites shut down by the Govt.

[Big Boy]

I've found information of another Songkran celebration, this time close to home in Bristol ie:

26 Apr 09

St Bonaventure's Parish Club, off Berkley Road, Bishopston, Bristol. BS7 8HG
10:30 'til 16:00
Usual stuff, Alms giving, Chanting, Thai Dancing, Sword Dancing, Thai Boxing, Thai Costume competition etc etc.

We went to the above festival yesterday. I'd been to similar events in the UK before, but didn't really enjoy them. I was at this one for the benefit of Mrs BB. Admission was free.

It was held in a rather large church hall with a stage at one end. Seating was set out theatre style. Around the 3 walls (excluding the stage end) were a series of tables selling a variety of Thai foods - some for consumption in the hall, others for cooking at home.

At the foot of the stage were 3 tables with 3 Thai Monks sat behind them.

The event was compered by 2 Thai Students in full time education in the UK:

The events started with the monks chanting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhHK5-p4OJc, and that was immediately followed by the masses feeding the monks. This was quite a sight with about 100 people queuing to place food on the tables for the Monks to eat (they even had to bring in a 4th table to make room):


In the above picture, they had moved some of the food away before the Monks got stuck in. We all had to wait while the Monks got stuck in. For most people this was an excuse to buy their own lunch from the various vendors. Despite protesting that I didn't want anything, a friend bought 2 dishes for me. Well, it was grossly overpriced, and tasted awful. However, as it had been gifted to me, I ate it with a smile rather than offend.

Next up was the water bit. We had to sit through one of the Monks going through the meaning of Songkran, first in Thai and then in English. For most people it was like being a child and having to listen to the meaning of Christmas before opening their presents.

Then everybody formed an orderly queue to pour water over the Buddha image and the Monk's hands:


Following that, it turned a little silly for about 10 minutes with people pouring water over each other (treacherous on the polished hall floor) and adorning each other with powder. The young girl who commandeered my camera for most of the day:

And somebody some of you might know:

They could now get on with the show. It started off with a series of traditional Thai dances, undertaken by local talent aged from 3 to about 40. In a show featuring local talent, you expect the odd duff performance, but I think that I can honestly say that they were all good. This 3 year old captured everybody's heart - she should have danced in 3 performances, but I think appeared in every act - she had a fantastic time:


A variety of the dancers:









I'm not sure if it's normal at one of these events, but they also had a Miss Popularity competition. This was sub-divided into under 11 and 11 to 18. People had to vote by purchasing laurels or flowers for their favourites. The girl with most in each category won. The under 11 winner was a foregone conclusion - as I mentioned earlier, the 3 year old captured everybody's heart. In the older age group, you will see that girl in the lighter blue dress walked away with it:

The proceedings then moved on to a Thai Boxing exhibition. I've seen better, but given the venue etc, it was OK:


The final events of the afternoon were the Miss Songkran competitions. Again in the under 11 and 11 to 18 categories. Under 11:
And the 11 to 18 category:

All in all, it was probably the most enjoyable Songkran I have ever celebrated. I was entertained for most of the 6 hour event ie:

- We went through the traditional bit - never experienced that in Thailand.

- I got wet, but soon dried out

- I got powder on my face, but not in my eyes.

- The entertainment was good.

- The venue was perfect for this event in Bristol.

The only down side was the food - it was bad.

I know that several of you went to various event around the UK. How does my experience compare with yours?