Giant Swing

[raslin]

So the Giant Swing frame has been renewed.

Does any one know why there is no swing?

I was hoping for a demonstration from somebody like the Bangkok mayor.

[peter991]

Have a look here - lots of information about the Giant Swing.

Peter

[naka]

Have a look here - lots of information about the Giant Swing.

Peter

Ok ... very nice ... but as the previous poster asked ... Why is it called a SWING ?

Naka.

[Jimjim]

I thought they were doing a swing demonstration this week, with swing intact as some sort of grand re-opening of the attraction.

[londonthai]

it's called a swing because there was traditional monks ceremony, performed once a year, to swing and grab a a price placed on the top of the yet another wooden pole. It was a very risky hazard and many monks died each year during this competition - so in the 1930s it was banned.

[Mid]

thai-blogs.com

Giant Swing in Bangkok

Written by Richard Barrow

[Jimjim]

It may have banned but that doesn't meant he swing hasn't been used since then. A year or two ago they used the swing and demonstrated the swinging. I saw it on television. I don't know how often they do this but assumed they do it from time to time.

Edited September 13, 2007 by Jimjim

[patri]

it's called a swing because there was traditional monks ceremony, performed once a year, to swing and grab a a price placed on the top of the yet another wooden pole. It was a very risky hazard and many monks died each year during this competition - so in the 1930s it was banned.

It was

it wasn't monk who performed the swinging but Brama (Hindu priests) since it's Hindu not Buddhist ceremony.

[jstumbo]

it's called a swing because there was traditional monks ceremony, performed once a year, to swing and grab a a price placed on the top of the yet another wooden pole. It was a very risky hazard and many monks died each year during this competition - so in the 1930s it was banned.

It was

it wasn't monk who performed the swinging but Brama (Hindu priests) since it's Hindu not Buddhist ceremony.

But isn't there a Brama version of Buddism? I have a friend that wont eat beef because that is the type of Buddism she follows.

I went on a big swing about 10 years ago near Walt Disney World in Florida. It was 100 meters tall. They hooked you up in a harness like hang gliding and then pulled you up by a cable to a third pole, also 100 meters high behind the two other poles. They had a speaker up there that could count down "three, two, one...", and then you would pul a rip cord, which would release the cable that they used to pull you up. You would free fall for a while, then the arc of the swing would take over, and you would swing back and forth through the two poles. Made for a pretty fantastic ride. Had water under it, so if people got sick, it would not be all over the place.

Jim

[patri]

it's called a swing because there was traditional monks ceremony, performed once a year, to swing and grab a a price placed on the top of the yet another wooden pole. It was a very risky hazard and many monks died each year during this competition - so in the 1930s it was banned.

It was

it wasn't monk who performed the swinging but Brama (Hindu priests) since it's Hindu not Buddhist ceremony.

But isn't there a Brama version of Buddism? I have a friend that wont eat beef because that is the type of Buddism she follows.

I went on a big swing about 10 years ago near Walt Disney World in Florida. It was 100 meters tall. They hooked you up in a harness like hang gliding and then pulled you up by a cable to a third pole, also 100 meters high behind the two other poles. They had a speaker up there that could count down "three, two, one...", and then you would pul a rip cord, which would release the cable that they used to pull you up. You would free fall for a while, then the arc of the swing would take over, and you would swing back and forth through the two poles. Made for a pretty fantastic ride. Had water under it, so if people got sick, it would not be all over the place.

Jim

Wow, at least there were slings ... a lot safer than the giant swing... (too dangerous some people even died in the ceremony in the past )

The reason they don't eat beef in most case was because they're Chinese-Thai who worship Guan-yin (or Guan im) the bodhisattava in Mahayana Buddhism or they may think it's more cruel to kill and eat big animals.. nothing to do with Hinduism.

Although, in many royal events there were both Buddhism and Hinduism ceremonies at the same time, the giant swing ceremony's purpose was to celebrate and pay respect to Shiva the Hindu God, so.. monks definitely couldn't involve it this one.

[sriracha john]

Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej waves to bystanders after presiding over the celebration of the newly renovated landmark, the 223-year-old Giant Swing, outside Wat Suthat Bamrung temple in Bangkok September 12, 2007. The renovation of the twin 21-metre (69 ft) teak poles, repaired over two years using six century-old teak trees, was done as part of celebrations to mark his 80th birthday in December.

REUTERS

================================================================================

* LONG LIVE THE KING *

Edited September 14, 2007 by sriracha john

[Scott]

Sounds like a waste of teak trees to me!

I've seen the thing before, but even then it looked a bit silly--I was told it's a giant swing, but there was no swing!

[sriracha john]

The newly renovated Giant Swing, a 223-year-old landmark in Bangkok, stands outside Wat Suthat Bamrung temple in Bangkok September 12, 2007. Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej made an increasingly rare public appearance on Wednesday, presiding over the celebration of the landmark.

REUTERS

=============

Looks absolutely splendid to me... but yes, it's not a Disneyland ride.

[Oleg_Rus]

Looks absolutely splendid to me... but yes, it's not a Disneyland ride.

nice and very practical (+):-)

[lazeeboy]

thai-blogs.com

Giant Swing in Bangkok

Written by Richard Barrow

i'd like a go on that ,looks fun .