Thread: Dec 5th - Dad’s Day and Sanam Luang

OK – for the benefit of out TD visitors - Thursday, December 5, 2019 is a Thai National Holiday – King Rama IX’s Birthday and the Thailand Father’s Day Celebration – been this way as long as I can remember.

The Thai’s dress up the Grand Palace area, Wat Phra Kaew, Sanam Luang and all the surrounding areas in white lights, they dress in yellow (the Kings Color) and have a generally good, good time. Lots of food and music.

So, what better day to head into Sanam Luang. Took lots of pictures (some will follow) fed our faces and visited the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew Museum, and the City Pillar. I’ll limit the picture to Sanam Luang (RGrand Palace Pix – maybe in another thread later on). Pictures are a PIA.

Anyway, tons of Thai’s lining up to see if they could get a glimpse of the King Rama X as he drives by. Many moon ago (I am/was a frequent visitor to Sanam Luang and the Grand Palace when I lived on Silom) I waited in the rows of folk hoping to get a glimpse of the King as he drove by, and, I did. Rama IX drove by and I got a glimpse of a shadow in his Rolls as it whisked on by. Yea, stood in the street under the watchful eye of security for about three hours for less than a ten second glimpse of the Kings car as it drove by escorted by twenty or so various police and security vehicles. Never again.

But today, same thing, lines of people, most in yellow shirts, ten deep, stretching around the block to get through security so they can stand on the sidewalks and hopefully get a glimpse of King Rama X as he drives by.

We actually got held up on the street for about ten minutes – false alarm – before we could continue to the Security Lines to get into Sanam Luang -photo ID check Photographed, airport type metal screening device, they (security), thoroughly examined my camera (a Canon SX740 point and shoot) and tagged it with a pink tag – this allowed me to use the camera to take pictures (no, I don’t have a clue about that) using a camera instead of a cell phone is now “standing out from the crowd” and suspicious?

Anyway, we hung around Sanam Luang from about 9 AM to about noon then headed to the grand Palace, Bangkok City Pillar and Wat Phra Kaew.

Left the area around 2 or 3 PM. As things were being to ramp up for their evening celebrations.

Some Pix from Sanam Luang to follow.



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