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November saw the staging of two of Thailand’s annual and most spectacular festivals, namely that of Loy Krathong and a week later the Long Boat races.
 But before either of these, the arrival for a visit of Graham’s sister plus her husband, gave us the excuse we needed to visit one of Pattaya’s unseen treasures, the Sanctuary of Truth in Naklua district, just North of Pattaya town.
This amazing wooden construction has been under way for around 20 years and has many more years to completion.
It is a project from the same fertile mind as that which constructed the Ancient City just outside Bangkok, this one being a reconstruction of an ancient temple, built entirely with wood, and with each section in a different cultural style to represent many of the various faiths and traditions of this part of Asia.
We were taken on a conducted tour of both the inside and outside of the building and were also able to view several of the team of workers continuing to add to this wonderful structure.
On then to the Loy Krathong festival which due to the timing of the lunar month, fell early this year.
Fortunately this did not mean it was in any way diminished by the weather as following the heavy rains of late October, the skies cleared, the wind shifted into the North East, and the ‘Winter’ dry season started early.
The tradition of Loy Krathong is that people build (or nowadays buy) small boats made out of banana leaves and other natural materials and after placing flowers, incense sticks and a small candle in these, float them out on any stretch of water, the conc ept being that as the boat sails away so do all ones problems.
It has become a very decorative occasion with many people dressing in their best clothes, and with a general party atmosphere at all locations where boats are launched, usually with bands, dancing, and of course food and drink.
In Pattaya, a 3 day festival weekend was organised on the B each Road promenade complete with large stage on which bands performed as well as various fashion and beauty contests held. Also a large number of businesses and even individuals were allowed to set up stalls either displaying their products or simply selling handicrafts or food and drink.
I visited this on the evening of the first day, Friday and after viewing all that was on display, spent some time with friends who were manning the Lions club stand.
Then on the Saturday, which was the actual Loy Krathong evening, I went up to a nearby reservoir where a more traditional festival was being held.
 There I purchased my boat, lit the candles and incense sticks after placing a small coin on it for luck, walked out to the end of the specially constructed pier and along with many others there, floated it out on the water.
The fact that it did not go very far apparently does not matter, nor did it that several small boys in the water immediately gleefully seized the coin - that is apparently almost in itself traditional.
After receiving a blessing from the local abbot (he soaked me with water in return for a small donation), I then spent the rest of the evening enjoying the surrounding festival, complete with food stalls, the inevitable Singha beer tent, an open air cinema and at the bank of the field a huge stage specially erected for the occasion on which energetic Thai pop music was being played by a succession of performers.
A most enjoyable occasion and certainly less hazardous than Songkran, even if thanks to the abbot’s generosity I ended up almost as wet.
Just a week later, found us back at the reservoir, this time to witness the annual long boat races.
These are traditional long slim rowing boats manned by teams of up to 50 oarsmen (actually paddlers would be more appropriate as that is the way they are propelled).
They raced two at a time along the water just in front of the dam at one end of the lake, giving us spectators standing on wide road that ran atop the dam an excellent view.
 As one might imagine, with up to 50 people propelling each craft, they manage to achieve quite a rate of knots, and several closely fought contests e nsued.
The main problem us non Thai speaking viewers had (there was an extremely enthusiastic commentator broadcasting over a very loud public address system, but only in Thai) was determining how the overall winners were decided as each time we thought we had seen the last race, another one started.
Eventually though by whatever means, the winners were determined and prizes and cups awarded.
Another fun day out, again blessed with perfect weather.
The last few days of the month were a heaven for those who enjoyed eating good food, with firstly an American Thanksgiving dinner on the 27th, and the very next day, another gourmet dinner provided by the Wine Club, followed the next evening by a beach barbecue and just one day later another superb meal at the newly relocated Bruno ’s restaurant.
Rather than showing you photo after photo of people including me stuffing their faces, I thought it might be more interesting to augment the tales of these events with pictures of the menu lists of the fare being served (hope you don’t feel too envious).
For the Thanksgiving dinner, I am indebted to my good American friend Allen (a different Allen this time) who kindly invited me to join his table at the ‘Amor’ restaurant in Pattaya. I am also indebted to Richard, the owner of this restaurant for laying on a mouth watering feast of American traditional fare, namely a turkey dinner complete with all the trimmings, and as many helpings as one could possible manage.
The Wine Club dinner was an Italian themed one, and as such was held not in the main ballroom as is the usual but at the recently refurbished hotel ‘Rossini’ Italian restaurant.
The pre-dinner reception was staged on the terrace just outside, next to one of the hotel’s several swimming pools, and there to greet us was a boat of serenading gondoliers.
Following th is unusual and original introduction, we were then shown to our tables (due to the sheer number of members and guests attending, the seating had to be split between those seated indoors in the actual restaurant and those who had to remain outdoors at tables set up on the terrace). Fortunately for me and my friends we were part of the indoor group and fortunately for those outdoors it was a dry relatively cool evening. Once seated in either location, we were presented with a selection of Italian wines of a very high quality (which made up for the fact that this time we were strictly limited to only one glass per wine served), plus another multi-course sumptuous meal.
The beach barbecue the following evening was to celebrate the start of the PGF charity weekend, which coinciding with World Aids day the following Monday, was organised to raise funds to support treatment of people suffering from this terrible disease.
It was organised on Jomtien beach, just a short distance from my home and thus within walking distance.
On arrival I found that a stage had been set up on which various cabaret acts from some of the towns showbars were to perform, as well as the inevitable raffle conducted, and just along the beach from this, three pigs were roasting on spits, soon to provide the centre of a serve yourself barbecue.
Although of course this cannot be compared to the two previous evenings gourmet feasts, nevertheless it provided another very tasty meal, washed down with a few bottles of beer whilst being entertained by the performing acts, and a goodly amount of money raised for the charity in the process.
 Finally the meal at Bruno’s restaurant the following evening was in aid of the same cause. This restaurant, generally recognised as one of the very best in Pattaya, has recently relocated from its previous venue in North Pattaya, to a new building just a few doors up from my condo block, making it again an easy walk to attend.
Although the food served at the previous meals was of a truly excellent quality, I feel I have to say that this meal topped the lot for sheer quality and superb service, and with a sizeable proportion of the very modest charge levied going to the charity, and the house fully booked, another large sum was added to the coffers, again augmented by the sale of tickets for another raffle with a range of excellent prizes.
And that brought us to the end of the last day of November (but not the end of the party).
To view any of the above photos in full size, just click on it.
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