I am interested in watching the royal barge procession during November as part of the Kathin ceremony, but I'm not sure of the date. I found the following website which gives a 4-day range (Nov 5-8).

http://www.80thbirthdayanniversary.go.th/e...07&month=11

I guess the planners need some flexibility in case of bad weather.

Can anyone shed light on this? Also, any recommendations on a good place for viewing would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Karl

Many years ago I watched it from a restaurant near Tha Phra Chan Pier - beautiful

There are some good articles on previous Royal barge processions on the TAT website.

Just go to their search page, key in "royal barge" and view the results.

Interesting to note that there does not seem to be anything on the website about such an event in November this year.

HM the King's 80th birthday is actually on December 5.

I understand that the barges go to Wat Arun, but does anyone know where there start? From what seonai mentions about viewing from Tha Phra Chan, I'm guessing the barges start the journey from the Royal Barges Museum.

I understand that the barges go to Wat Arun, but does anyone know where there start? From what seonai mentions about viewing from Tha Phra Chan, I'm guessing the barges start the journey from the Royal Barges Museum.

hopefully its coincides with loy kratong as im in bkk for that and would like to see it too .

But what about the time? When will the processions begin to leave the museum and arrive at the Temple of Dawn? And what happens afterwards and up til when?

But what about the time? When will the processions begin to leave the museum and arrive at the Temple of Dawn? And what happens afterwards and up til when?

Seems to me such a significant event has been very poorly publicized.

I remember when there was a similar event a year or so ago, there was a special supplement in the Bangkok Post - and maybe there will be one again tomorrow. But that really isn't very helpful for people who would like to plan ahead or who would have travel to Bangkok.

My partner was watching the news on ThaiTV and said it would be on November 5, but I'm not sure.

The Royal Barge procession will take place tomorrow, Monday, 5 November. There were practice runs on 26 & 29 Oct. and 2 Nov. Lot's of publicity on TV. I think the start time might be 15:00.

Detail found: The procession will start at the Wasukri Landing, near the National Library, with boat song chanting along the way. It will take about 45 minutes for the procession to move from the Wasukri Landing to Wat Arun. A total of 2,082 oarsmen will row 52 barges, four of which are major royal barges, namely Subanahongsa, or Golden Swan, the Narai Song Suban King Rama IX, the Anantanagaraj, or Multi-headed Naga, and the Anekajatibhujonga, or innumerable Naga figures. There will be 12 barges with animal figureheads and 36 smaller ceremonial barges.

Edited November 4, 200718 yr by lomatopo

I was told by someone who knows about these events that people will not be allowed to view along the side of the river, Im not sure if it is correct or not yet but she was pretty sure that if you wanted to view the real event you had to buy a ticket. Also, nobody will be allowed in any high buildings along the river during the time of the event as you can not be higher than the King.

The Royal Barge procession will take place tomorrow, Monday, 5 November. There were practice runs on 26 & 29 Oct. and 2 Nov. Lot's of publicity on TV. I think the start time might be 15:00.

Detail found: The procession will start at the Wasukri Landing, near the National Library, with boat song chanting along the way. It will take about 45 minutes for the procession to move from the Wasukri Landing to Wat Arun. A total of 2,082 oarsmen will row 52 barges, four of which are major royal barges, namely Subanahongsa, or Golden Swan, the Narai Song Suban King Rama IX, the Anantanagaraj, or Multi-headed Naga, and the Anekajatibhujonga, or innumerable Naga figures. There will be 12 barges with animal figureheads and 36 smaller ceremonial barges.

Thanks for that information. Very helpful. Do you know if there are any special restrictions on viewing such as have been mentioned here or if it is necessary to buy a ticket to a viewing area?

Royal barge procession ready to sail in spectacular royal ceremony

BANGKOK: -- A fleet of 52 ornate ceremonial royal barges is set sail upon Bangkok's Chao Phraya River on Monday afternoon in a royal kathin ceremony to present robes to Buddhist monks to mark the end of Buddhist lent, according to Adm. Sathirapan Keyanon, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Navy.

--TNA 2007-11-05

Unlike the APEC one, this one has been poorly advertised. Not sure why. They are a spectacular event. As someone who is generally a little cynical, the last one I saw was pretty close to perfectly executed.

Seems everyone could keep both oars in the water!

Its been widely advertised on Thai T.V. Unfortionatly the king didn’t make it out of hospital in time so only the Crown Prince was in the event. Viewers were able to watch from the river bank even though large sections were fenced off except for ticket holders.