My Hometown Chiangmai

by Piyada Toranupap
(Chiang Mai, Thailand)

Hello,I'm from Chiang Mai and my name is Piyada Toranupap. I'm 19 years old and I'm a first-year student at The Faculty of Social Sciences of Chiangmai University. My major is Geography.

One of the most memorable experiences of my life was last year when I went to the Elephant Camp at Mae Tang in Chiangmai for the first time with my family. They have a special feature in the show of elephant artists painting on papers made there from elephant dung. It was very popular with the tourists. I got to ride an elephant. His name was Play Doung. He's very cute. He took us across the river and into the wild forest. By the way Play Doung ate all the time. We gave him some bananas and sugarcanes. Before we left he said good bye to us with a happy, smiley face. I very much liked him. When we finished riding the elephant we took an ox cart ride as well as a bamboo raft down the Mae Tang River next.

Another interesting thing about my hometown, or Thailand is "Yee Peng" or "Loy Krathong." It"s on November 23 - 25 of the year. It is celebrated for two nights under the full moon. Loy Krathong, refers to flying away misfortune and bad things in the past and asking for good luck in the future. We have many activities other than floating flower Krathong on the river, such as contests of Krathong making and beauty pageants. We also send floating lanterns into the sky. For me, Loy Krathong is interesting because It's part of the beautiful Thai Lanna culture. Loy Krathong is an old Thai festival. It shows the beliefs of Thai people and the importance of the river.