Giant “sand castles”
By happenstance John and I stumbled upon a large sand-castle building project at a park not too far from us. When we first got there the builders were away at lunch, though I happily photographed the giant structures, the images seemed empty. So, after we had our lunch, we went back to shoot again. We learned the sand sculptures were to be part of the Chumphon Marine Festival and each of the ten was being built by an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) country. I whipped out my iPhone calendar to note the date of the festival; I had to go back to document the finished product!
If you click on a thumbnail it will put the images in a larger format so you should be able to read the info plaques that precede each country’s sculpture.
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- This is what we stumbled upon.
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- We found this upon returning.
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- At the entrance: sand structure merging ASEAN symbol with marine theme.
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- Laos is one of Thailand’s neighbors. We hope to get up there while living here.
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- We’ve been to the original at Angkor Archaeological Park with Jennifer & Nathan.
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- I really like how they ‘treated’ the base with rocks but I looked it up. Not on the original.
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- Amazing what you can do with a pile of sand.
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- Like I said . . . amazing.
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- We saw the real thing when in Kuala Lumpur with Jennifer & Nathan.
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- Looked exactly the same the first time around.
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- Our host country’s contribution. Quite spectacular. Just a pile of sand on our first visit.
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- Singha (pronounced ‘sing’) appears to have been a major contributor to the event.
Jane Estes
John and Jane in Thailand 
Jane where did you find all this. Wish we had been around to see it in original form. Thanks for capturing this event in photos. It reminds me of the ice sculpers in Pioneer Square in Seattle around the holidays.
Irene Michon
April 16, 2013 at 11:53 am
I think you were in Bali. Glad you liked the piece! It was at Pac Nam (mouth of the river from Chumphon).
Jane Estes Thailand johnandjaneinthailand.com
Jane Estes
April 16, 2013 at 12:06 pm
Awesome sand castles! Did you know that for Songkran it is a tradition to build sand chedis (stupa)? Wonder if there is a connection?
wngreen
April 18, 2013 at 7:18 pm
Amazing. More so that you just came across it by happenstance. I just read an article about an island in Indonesia, Gili Meno, no cars, no hustle bustle. Sounds lovely. Good diving too. Have you been there, yet? Indonesia is high on my list. I need a good travel partner or five! I was recently down in NYC. It is a lovely walking city. Did a lovely tour of Rockefeller Square, beats the Empire Bldg. tour by a mile. Now that summer is here, I will enjoy the sights and sounds that Ontario has to offer. Not sure I was made to live in a hot/humid climate. Canada runs deep in my blood, I am already complaining about the heat and it has just started here. I really enjoy the posts. Keep them coming. Cheers, Kathy
Kathy
June 2, 2013 at 7:46 am