Fun times in Phrae!

Poom is in another competition and he has to talk about Phrae.  Fortunately he already has a speech prepared from another year and we just have to help him re-memorize it! When we got the speech it had a lot of interesting info about Phrae that I didn't know and thought would be fun to share. So here are some bits and pieces from his speech.

"Phrae province is a small is a small but lovely town in the northern part of Thailand.  The town is surrounded by beautiful mountains and forests and has many natural resources like teak wood.  It is 551 km away from Bangkok. People can go there by bus, train, or airplane.

Phrae is divided into 8 districts. They are Muang Phrae District (Where I live) Rawng Kwang, Song, Nong Muang Kai, Long, Den Chai, Soong Men and Wang Chin District.  There are 78 sub-districts and 645 villages.  The symbol of the province is a horse because in the old time, the ruler used a horse to divide the land with Nan province.  They rode a horse to the meeting point on the top of a mountain.

Phrae province is one of the most ancient cities in the north.  It's the largest reserved teak forest in Thailand.  Phrae is located on the banks of the Yom River.  Teak wood is good for making quality wooden furniture like tables, chairs and cupboards. There is a big furniture community that produces items for sale in many countries. 

Mohamm is a well known and traditional clothing in Phrae.  It is a quality product using a traditional way of weaving, dying, and tailoring.  The clothing is one of the most famous in Thailand apart from Thai silk. People in the Thung Hong village produce it and sell it everywhere in the country.  Also, people wear mohamm shirts every Friday, it is our tradition in Phrae.

Phra Tat Cho Hae is the most beautiful temple in the province.  It was built during the Sukhothai period. (When Sukhothai was the capitol)  People all over the country come to worship the pagoda, especially those who were born on tiger years who believe it to be a source of good luck.

Phae Muang Phi is the grand canyon of Thailand. It's an area deprived of large trees and the landscape's shape is very unique, resembling mushrooms. It is a very famous tourist attraction in Phrae.

People in Phrae are very kind, generous and friendly. We live a simple lifestyle. We love peace and many of us are farmers who grow rice, corn, sugarcane, and teak.  Buddhism is involved in many of our daily activities. 

We have many festivals in the town but the two most famous are Songkran and Loy Krathong festival.  We celebrate the Songkran by splashing water on people.  It is a big family reunion festival.  Everybody in the family gathers and meets each other.  People also go to temple to make merit by offering  food to monks and spring water at the Buddha image. It is a warm and happy moment all over the town.

Loy Krathong is where people float the Krathong, a lotus-shaped vessel made of banana leaves, to worship the goddess of water.  We have a celebration on the banks of the Yom river."


We just happened to go to Phra Tat Cho Hae and Phae Muang Phi this weekend when Erica and Nick and Allison came to visit us for the weekend! It was nice to explore outer Phrae a bit! We also went and hiked to some really pretty waterfalls!

"The Grand Canyon of Thailand" -This is seriously the slogan...

 Famous Phrae temple

 

beautiful waterfalls!

 

Everyone in the song-taeu!

Shout-out to my Mom in the Netherlands! Hope you are having fun and not working too hard! Miss you and only 7 1/2 weeks until you and Sarah come to Thailand!! Looove you!