Closures on 11th/12th July 2014

[Thriftydrifter]

I gather that tomorrow and Saturday are Buddhist festivals, and that alcohol will not be on sale in shops or bars. Is there anything else to be aware of - shop closures, songthaews not running etc? Any temple ceremonies that would be worth going to see?

[hhfarang]

^ Good question, I was going to PM Big Boy but since there is more interest I will post my question here.

My MIL is visiting and she's been to Wat Huay Mongol many times. She wants to go to a Wat with the missus tomorrow to celebrate this holiday and I was wondering, if anyone had any advice of celebrations or little known but interesting Wats for them to go to tomorrow. I was going to direct my question to Big Boy since he seems to have visited most if not all of the Wats in the area.

She is 76 and has trouble walking so mountain climbing or Wats with lots of stairs are not good choices for her.

Edit: I was just looking through all Big Boy's trip reports and Wat Mahathat (Petchaburi) looks like it may be a good choice for my family as they've never been there before. I don't know if there will be any special celebrations, but it looks like a beautiful and interesting Wat.

[Pleng]

I think Monday is also a public holiday, but I don't know if alcohol will be restricted then, too?

[Big Boy]

It is a lovely Temple, but if you're looking for something a bit different, a little closer to home, I found Wat Thum Khao Tao very interesting. Having said that, a lot of the interest was found in the the nooks and crannies as you climbed the steep hill, which is not necessarily suitable for a 76 year old.

I am not aware of anything happening - I've actually been considering a day's fishing, but I haven't received my orders for tomorrow yet.

[PeteC]

Beware, the 48-hour booze-buying ban starts tonight

http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2014/07/10/b ... ts-tonight

"The sale of alcohol will be banned on Friday and Saturday as they are two important Buddhist holidays.

The booze ban will be effective for 48 hours from 12:01am on Friday to midnight on Saturday, according to Peerapong Saichua, deputy permanent secretary for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration........"

[Thriftydrifter]

I actually forgot about the booze ban and went for lunch on the beach. It seems I wasn't the only one who forgot, since beer was served without demur.

[STEVE G]

I actually forgot about the booze ban and went for lunch on the beach. It seems I wasn't the only one who forgot, since beer was served without demur.

Yes, it's usually like that, I don't think those beach café's are technically legal at all so they don't worry about breaking any other laws!

[dtaai-maai]

...beer was served without demur.

[MwD]

a lot of restuarants will serve discreetly in paper cups..The 7/11 I was in today was selling beer