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24 October 1995


Cool Water Palace

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Well done, Saeb! I've got into eclipse watching recently, first clouded out in France, 1999, then I saw two under cloudless skies in Zambia and Zimbabwe. I'm planning for the one on March 26 across North Africa and SW Asia. It occured to me to check whether there'd been one in Thailand in recent years. So let's see the photos.

The next opportunity relatively near to Thailand will be on 1 August 2008 across central Russia and China, but that will be near sunset in China, and is likely to need a good vantage point. Then there's one across China, late morning on 22 July 2009, when Nanjing may be a good base.

What was the response of Thais, and how well was the risk of eye damage publicised?

Edited by Cool Water Palace
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I was sitting in / on a pier restrurant in Pattaya having Lobster Thermador with my best friend who had just moved to Thailand to live.... Magical night even if there were no Ladies involved... Still remember calling another friend (Lady) back in the States, and discribing the eclipse and our situation to her... Made such an impression that she flew over two months later for a 30 day holiday...

Pianoman

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What was the response of Thais, and how well was the risk of eye damage publicised?

I remember it quite well, was on the roof of the condo along with several Thais and had an excellent view of it. It was well publicised along with news casts explaining how to view it and even handing out free glasses/film for safety. Some of the Thais on the roof had setup viewing boxes (cardboard box with hole(s) in them to project the eclipse), very neat. The university astronomy club was, of course, out in force.

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Photos taken by NASA's Fred Espenak from Dundlod, India. A movie clip is available on this page.

http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/eclipse/image...pse_images.html

An interesting article from an eclipse chaser who veiwed it in Nakhon Sawan.

http://www.eclipsechaser.com/eclink/ecjrnl/ecj95.htm#ecsite

and photos from Nakhon Sawan.

http://www.eclipsechaser.com/eclink/image/total95.htm

Spectacular for sure!

Edited by Tippaporn
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Photos taken by NASA's Fred Espenak from Dundlod, India. A movie clip is available on this page.

http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/eclipse/image...pse_images.html

An interesting article from an eclipse chaser who veiwed it in Nakhon Sawan.

http://www.eclipsechaser.com/eclink/ecjrnl/ecj95.htm#ecsite

and photos from Nakhon Sawan.

http://www.eclipsechaser.com/eclink/image/total95.htm

Spectacular for sure!

Just checked the above images - wow! check them out, wonderful...

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I was in Thailand and I made a special trip up north with a group of Thais and Expat from our office.

I have two memories of the trip.

One was the complete wonder at the eclipse itself, it is breath taking.

The other memory that will stay with me is that while I and the expats where watching the eclipse, the Thais among us where all down on their knees, faces in the dirt and hands heald above their heads wai-ing the bl00dy thing.

I doubt any of them actually saw the eclipse….

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I was in Thailand and I made a special trip up north with a group of Thais and Expat from our office.

I have two memories of the trip.

One was the complete wonder at the eclipse itself, it is breath taking.

The other memory that will stay with me is that while I and the expats where watching the eclipse, the Thais among us where all down on their knees, faces in the dirt and hands heald above their heads wai-ing the bl00dy thing.

I doubt any of them actually saw the eclipse….

There was a similar response by villagers in Zambia. they believed it would be unlucky to see it, and so stayed in their houses/huts. There was a report also of an eclipse 150 years ago, when Shaka, the Zulu warrior, was pursuing enemies across the Zambezi. An eclipse occurred just at that time. I forget the full historical details, but there was a lot in the local media about it.

By the way, the observer in Pattaya would have only seen a partial eclipse. There's no comparison with seeing the whole thing, although an annular can be awesome. I wish I'd gone to see the one in Spain a few weeks ago, after seeing one in North Scotland, but only just because of cloud streaks, at dawn in May 2003.

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I saw it in BKK, not a million miles from Sukhumvit. The old crone who owned the compund where I lived laid on a party of sorts - black chicken, black duck, black eggs, black khanom and lots of cola.

(Even a few bottles of mekhong).

Everyone on their knees praying at a high rate of knots - something to do with an evil spirit eating the sun. Once the sun re-appeared they let rip with the party & no, I never made it back to work that PM!.

Luckily I had my camera kit to hand and got some decent pics. Was fun though. :o

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I remember seeing it in Nontaburi near the clock tower near the river.

We all got out the office and had our special specs and a bottles of beer. The specs were rubbish.

I took them off and saw the thing by looking in a puddle of water.

It wasn't a full eclipse in Nontaburi, but I believe it might have been up country.

That year the Loy gratong festival was on my 30th birthday the next week - man was that a crazy night!

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