|
Nong Nooch elephants join in Songkran water wars
Elephants join in a water fight with tourists at the Nong
Nooch Tropical Garden
in Pattaya, Saturday, April 10.
Patcharapol Panrak
Elephants at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden put a twist on
Pattaya’s Songkran celebration this year, using their built-in water guns to
hose down revelers.
Acknowledging the increase in visitors to the garden and
elephant park during Songkran, Nong Nooch Director Kampol Tansatcha and
Assistant General Manager Manit Narinrak brought out elephants big and small
to mingle and engage in water play from April 10-15 - and the tourists
attending the park quickly found their tiny water pistols were no match for
the water-blowing power of a pachyderm’s trunk.
Nong Nooch was not the only attraction in the Pattaya and
Sattahip area to see an increase in Songkran business. Thais from Bangkok
and beyond also joined foreigners in town for the New Year celebrations at
the “Monkey Island” of Koh Ped, beaches in Saikaew and Touey Ngam, the Sea
Turtle Conservation Center and the Royal Thai Fleet.
Open Zoo animals beat
the heat with ice cream
Theerarak Suthathiwong
This month’s savage heat is tough on animals too so officials
at Sriracha’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo helped their beasts best the heat by passing
out ice cream.
Bears picnic at Khao Kheow Zoo.
Animals on April 5 were treated to red ice cream and frozen
fruit covered in Health Blue Boy syrup. Bears, bearcats, orangutans, monkeys,
tigers and lions all got the cool, healthy treat. Some got cool both inside and
out, jumping in pools of water while snacking.
Zoo spokesman Somchai Songserm said ice alone could only
provide so much relief from the heat. Therefore the “jelly ice” was brought in,
as the sugar gives the animals more energy.
Five different flavors were available and the treats were
given out in the hottest part of the afternoon. Most were red, as the color
attracts the interest of animals.
Aqua monsters for Songkran at Underwater World
Phasakorn Channgam
While some might argue Pattaya is full of water monsters
during Songkran, Underwater World used the holiday to show off real-life aquatic
beasts.
Snappy Piranha fish from the Amazon Basin on show at the
Pattaya Underwater World.
The aquarium’s “Aqua-Monster Zone” exhibit, which runs
through May 31, showcases eight dangerous sea creatures not indigenous to
Thailand’s waters. Included are the alligator snapping turtle from North
America, the electric catfish from Africa, the bichir, that resembles an ancient
fish akin to the piranha, the Mexican axolotl, the mata mata turtle from South
America, the electric eel from the Amazon basin, and the lungfish or “living
fossil.”
Darong Yingchon, director of exhibits and animal care, said
the Aqua-Monster Zone opened to celebrate Thailand’s annual water festival.
Specially priced ticket coupons can be had by visiting Underwater World’s
website at UnderwaterWorldPattaya.com or in True Visions magazine.
PCEC meeting gets some sparkle
Master of Ceremonies Judith Edmonds welcomed everyone to the
Pattaya City Expats Club meeting on Sunday, April 4, and called on any new
visitors to introduce themselves. After the usual announcements, she introduced
the guest speaker, welcoming back Peter Marsh from Black Star Jewelry. Peter’s
previous presentation to the Club dealt with gems and gem quality and he brought
several lovely ladies to model some fashion jewelry. On this visit, he did not
disappoint, as he again provided some interesting information about gemstones
and brought along a bevy of young ladies to model jewelry to the delight of all.
Peter Marsh from Black Star Jewelry gives his talk about gems
to the Expat Club audience, Sunday, April 4.
Peter started by talking about some of the mythical qualities
attributed to gemstones. He said that these mythical qualities started in
antiquity and continues to this day. For centuries, gemstones have been used as
amulets and talismans. Peter distinguished the two by noting amulets are
generally worn whereas talismans are placed somewhere, such as being buried
beneath the threshold or hanging in one’s abode. Amulets are generally worn for
protection or their healing powers and talisman are usually for the bringing of
good luck. He noted that many Thais wear amulets to protect themselves; if a
Thai is uninjured or not seriously injured in an accident, they will almost
always swear it was the amulet that saved them.
When it comes to mythical powers of gemstones, there are
many. Peter described several areas that have gemstones attributed to them, such
as gemstones for each of the planets such as Mars and Venus (planet stones);
gemstones for the different signs of the zodiac such as Leo or Virgo (Zodiac
stones); gemstones for each month of the year (Birth stones); and even gemstones
for the days of the week (Day stones). He said there are many more areas that
are associated with different gemstones. If a person is interested, all they
need do is search the Internet and they will find plenty of information.
At the conclusion of his talk, Peter asked his beautiful
companions to model some very nice and interestingly designed fashion jewelry;
necklaces, bracelets, earrings, etc. With some pleasant background music and
pictures of various gemstones being projected onto the large screen, these
beautiful young ladies proceeded to stroll one by one across the stage and then
among the audience so that all had the opportunity to admire the jewelry, at
least we think that is what they were admiring.
After this great fashion show, Peter then answered several
questions from the audience. He explained that gold is a very soft metal, so it
is mixed with other metals to form an alloy that can be used in fashion jewelry.
He noted that his fashion jewelry is made from 18 karat gold, which differs in
purity from the 22 carat gold generally found in the Thai gold shops. He said
that the gold jewelry found in the gold shops will normally be stamped with the
number 96.5 to show that the item is 96.5 percent pure (22 caret). If a gold
item is stamped with the number 75, it means that it is 75 percent pure (18
carat). He also noted that the term Baht is not only used for Thai currency, but
also is used as a weight measure for gold; one Baht weight being 15.2 grams of
gold.
After the usual announcements about Club activities and
upcoming events, it was time for the open forum capably handled by Roger Fox. As
always it provided an opportunity for questions about living in Thailand with an
emphasis on Pattaya to be asked. The Open Forum again proved to be the usual
lively and entertaining session.
The Black Star Jewels model the latest gem designs from Black
Star Jewelry.
|
