Upon visiting Thailand this time, another activity apart
from seeing my family and friends in different towns, I was pretending to be a
tourist in
Lopburi, my very own hometown…
“King Narai Reign Fair” is annually held in February (on inexact
date) to reminisce about
King Narai the Great who
brought great prosperity to The Kingdom of Lavo (so-called Louvo in French
-
the old name of Lopburi) and established
the town as a second capital of Siam during the Ayutthaya period. The very
first objective of the Fair was in 1958, in order to raise funds for the
construction of King Narai Statue, that is nowaday located in different part of the town. At that time, the Fair was called
the “Fair in the Palace” (
งานในวัง)
which alter into the “Palace Fair” (
งานวังฯ) which is the most common name
called by Lopburi locals today.
Comparing with my old memories, I admit that the feedback on
the Fair has been strikingly changed in a positive way. In my childhood, we
students were not really happy to dress in traditional Thai costumes when going
to school (‘cause it’s so hot and itchy!). Apart from the historic spectacle, I,
in my infancy, wasn’t able to tell the difference between this Fair and other
Thai temple fairs where you could buy some snacks and toys. For the last few
years, the popularity of a famous soap opera has brought traditional Thai
costumes into a super cool fashion. The
Palace Fair becomes since then surprisingly popular among Thai people which
once saw Thai costumes as an outdated style.
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| An example of old Thai costume wearing by Siamese diplomats |
The Palace Fair this year ran from the 14th to
the 24th of February. Since it was the beginning of the arrival of
Coronavirus, the locals claimed that there were fewer tourists than last year,
but we still saw a huge number of visitors at the Fair. As my house is not far
from the Fair zone, I then took photos of the Fair in different days and hours
to show you here.
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| Inside the Palace during day time |
On the first day, instead of squeezing myself in the Palace,
I was ambushing in my neighborhood to attack the parade (with flashlight and
cameras). The traditional parade becomes one of our customs during the Fair
period, which is as well considered as a huge advertisement for this event.
Around 4 p.m., the
pageant
leading by elephants, horses and locals who dressed up in traditional clothes
with lots of beautiful accessories, such as the bureaucrats, the ambassadors
and the soldiers were walking slowly toward the direction where
King Narai's Palace is situated.
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| The parade heading to King Narai's Palace |
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| Thai soldiers in traditional uniforms |
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| A Siamese diplomat carried by the soldiers |
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| Minorities in Lopburi in their traditional costumes |
In the second night of the Fair, after had found proper costumes,
my family and I walked to the Palace, joining others at the Fair. For those who
come from another town or area, I suggest to come early to find a parking lot
because it’s difficult to find one. This year, there was a free shuttle service
from some huge parking lots. By the way, you would better not park in an area that
has no watchmen or you might come back and find out that your car was a real toy
for the monkeys…
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| In front of King Narai's Palace at night |
On Soi Sorasak
street, abundant stalls presented any kinds of goods that
you could find such as, Thai snacks or desserts, Thai fabrics, traditional Thai
costume rental service with a photo shoot package, fried insects (so cliché!), grilled
quails [video], mobile phone cases, etc. Inside the Palace, meanwhile, was
decorated with tons of small yellowish bubble lights like small fireflies that
were surrounding the area. Such image was so different from the ambience during
daytime when it’s covered with high heat and way fewer visitors. While you
could enjoy the beautiful lighting and lively atmosphere in the night, in daytime, you could admire better those colourful plants and flowers in a calmer
environment. So for ones who have more time, I suggest to visit the Fair both
day and night time to absorb different atmospheres since there’s no entrance fee
during this event.
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| Soi Sorasak street at daytime |
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| Soi Sorasak street at nighttime |
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| An ancient market inside the Palace |
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| Inside the Palace in the day time |
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| Inside the Palace in the night time |
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| Thai music band by local students |
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| Thai soldiers while changing their shift |
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| Thai soldier unit during their shift |
The Fair this year was a little bit different from the past:
the historic spectacle was opened for everyone with no charge, hooray! Anyway,
the dinner in
Khantoke
style was canceled (sniff sniff*). The show represented the historical story
when King Narai has greatly encouraged trade and commerce between Siam and many
foreign countries such as China, Portuguese, Holland, France and England. Apart
from this spectacle, there was another stage that held different shows each
day. I was lucky to find out that the show at that night was
Khon organized by
the
College of Dramatic Arts.
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| The ambience inside the Palace at night |
At the common stage area, a narrator sang emphatically
through his microphone shaking everyone’s
eardrum. When we arrived, the crowd was
gathering in front of the stage to have the best view for Ramakien performance,
an ancient story derived from famous Ramayana epic. On the stage, all
actors, the giants and the monkeys, dressed in fine costumes and accessories corresponding
with their roles. The actors were acting and dancing along the music that was
being played with Thai instruments. Despite the
solemn scene and elegant movements of the
actors, the play contained as well
humour. For me, the show was moving and rendered
well messages by the body language of those actors without any additional
description needed even for foreigners.[video]
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| Audience gathering in front of the common stage area |
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| The actors acting and dancing along the narrative poem |
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| The giants dancing along the music |
Behind the common stage,
Narai Narumit Garden was fully furnished
with backdrops and accessories for visitors who love taking photo.
It’s unsurprising to see many tourist, fully dressed, gathering around this
area. Once I saw a man who dressed as
Ngo Pa (
Sakai),
a main character from Thai literature by the King Rama V. He came with a little
girl that I believe that it’s his daughter, dressing as Rotjana, the princess
in the story. Plenty of smiles scattered in the area while the two characters
were taking photos on a backdrop presenting a famous scene in the story.
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| The participants acting a famous scene from Ngo Pa story |
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| Narai Narumit Garden at daytime |
Next to Narai Narumit Garden, toward
the South, a bunch of pleasant plants and flowers were
collected at Suthasawan Hall. A huge number of dazzling lights hanging from big
trees like lianas boosting the delight to the atmosphere. It’s another area
where amateur models met. Aside from private photographers, some of these models
took their hobby to another level by bringing their own makeup artists
or even photographers’ assistants.
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| Suthasawan Hall at dusk |
After had been walking for a while, we then took a break around
the ancient
market and local food garden. Comparing with food sold outside the Palace,
I didn’t see any difference in quality. But if you want to go along with the
theme of the Fair, eating on a bamboo daybed and spending some ancient money
would be an interesting experience though. By the way, at the local
food garden during daytime, there was a monkey theatre show for everyone. I
saw it once but I was quite disappointed because the theatre was not really a piece of
play like I experienced when I was little. Instead, the show presented monkeys
that did a lip
sync
[video], jumped through hoops
[video] and collected coconuts which was not different
from a circus show. However, the show still got rain of applause from the kids.
Once the show was over, those kids were approaching the monkeys to give them
some tips, shake hands or take photos with them like they were real stars. Unfortunately,
I didn’t see any kid asking for their autographs yet.
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| Eating at local food garden |
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| Lip sync show by Kanjana, a female monkey |
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| The stars surrounding by the kids |
Besides the Fair in the Palace, there existed another hidden
corner where you could admire the peaceful beauty in the same theme. Not far
from King Narai's Palace,
Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat Temple, a sacred area is situated just opposite of
Lopburi train station. Regardless of the burning sun during daytime, the
Temple at night gave a very peaceful atmosphere that wouldn’t surprise me if
there was someone doing a meditation or yoga here (Just kidding for the yoga).
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| Inside Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat Temple |
Big and small
Plumeria trees were standing separately in the
same area like they are keeping social distance to avoid the virus. The flowers
grouping in bouquets gave a fascinating smell that
attracted visitors.
Their white colour enriched greater the brightness to the area that filled with
tiny white shining lights. The beautiful sound of Thai instruments playing through an amplifier made the place even more charming. For
those who prefer lushness and tranquility, I highly recommend this place where
you can have a quiet walk and free visit.
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| Plumeria trees decorated with small lightings |
And for those who want to join the Palace Fair later years
or want to visit Lopburi for any occasion or have any question about Lopburi,
as an ex-local I’d be more than happy to help you out.
Thank you for your time reading my article.
😊
Special Thanks: Co-Photographer Sylvie Colon
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