A more expansive slide show can be viewed on You Tube here >>
The Tung See Meung festival in Udon Thani is quite a bizarre time, as it has nothing to do with religion or any of the planets elements - it is nothing more than 2 weeks of concentrated selling of products, of which most are available every day of the year in countless local shops. So, what exactly the point of it is, I am uncertain.
However, to mark the beginning of this festival is quite a large parade, just a few days before the Thai Kings birthday on the 5th December.
The Tung See Meung festival in Udon Thani is quite a bizarre time, as it has nothing to do with religion or any of the planets elements - it is nothing more than 2 weeks of concentrated selling of products, of which most are available every day of the year in countless local shops. So, what exactly the point of it is, I am uncertain.
However, to mark the beginning of this festival is quite a large parade, just a few days before the Thai Kings birthday on the 5th December.
The parades appear to be a little disorganised, and certainly not fluid, as you get spells of 5 or 6 minutes with nothing happening. They start off pretty well, with plenty going on with music and dancing, led by a couple in traditional dress, closely followed by my favourite aspect - traditional Thai dancing.
The local army scouts also take part, and where you reasonably expect to see a bit of a march past, looking the part - they just amble by, looking not especially interested in what they are doing, and little or no pride.
As with such parades, I act as something of a talent scout, looking for the real 'beauties' (in my eyes), so the following images are of what I considered to be the prettiest on view today. (Click on the images to enlarge)
Before the parade, there was one thing I just had to do, and something I had not done to date, and that was to get pictures of two of the three big roundabouts in Udon Thani.
Nothing works quite like it should, and I must admit I instantly saw the irony in the pictures, which sum Udon Thani up quite perfectly. When the fountain is working, it looks great, but it just doesn't work often enough.