Dateline: Bangkok, November 2, 2009

Ever feel like packing up your troubles and sending them off on a slow boat to nowhere and starting life afresh? Well a few million people did just that last night and I was part of the milling throng.

Loy Krathong is the Thai annual festival that falls on the full moon of November when one launches a candle-lit, incense-adorned, flower-bedecked, birthday cake-sized float, onto the nearest river. The ceremony acts as both a token of homage to Mother Water and as an act of self-redemption—as it floats away, so does any bad luck you may have accumulated during the year.

Quite frankly I hadn’t made any plans to observe the occasion, but friends telephoned in the afternoon and expected me to pull all the right strings--with only hours to go, they insisted we celebrate.

I immediately thought of the Bangkok Marriott Resort and Spa; it has a long terrace right on the river. Years ago, everyone thought Bill Heinecke (CEO of Minor International) was nuts when he bought the empty lots way down river from the Oriental and on the “wrong” side, but today the skytrain crosses the river and major condos and other hotels like the Millenium Hilton and the Peninsula have helped made the “wrong” side “right!”

Last evening we took the skytrain to the hotel boat dock on the Chao Phraya River at (BTS Skytrain Station, Sapin Taksin), and hailed the converted rice barge with the Trader Vic’s sign on top. Most hotels on The River of Kings have such boats to ferry their guests, but the Marriott boat is the only one that provides cold towels and bottled water on the 15-minute ride to the resort.

The river was roiling and little Krathongs bobbed along in our wake. From a distance the riverside resort’s terrace glows with flaming torchlight and illuminated palm trees. It’s one of the most desirable places to be in all of Thailand this festival night, and only through the gracious hospitality of Lars Kerfin, Director of Operations, were we able to be there. I first met Lars at the Pattaya Marriott, another Minor International property, and when he moved to Bangkok to be at the Resort and Spa , he hosted a great weekend for us. I knew the Riverside Terrace would be full tonight, but Lars did his magic, and here we are.

The Riverside Terrace provides tasteful, traditional Thai dancing, storytelling, and music. In addition, tonight eight lovely employees from housekeeping, F&B, etc. were in dazzling costumes, dancing, and answering questions – Miss America-style, competing to be Miss Loy Krathong or something (I didn’t quite get the word). I think they all won…or should have.

Dinner is a vast buffet every evening and tonight it sprawled all over the bank of the river with more food stations than I’ve ever seen. From sashimi and lobster to eggplant lasagna and pizza, to baby back spare ribs and the most exotic Thai dishes, it was an astounding culinary event with something for everyone. I finished with wedges from the largest cheese selection I’ve seen in Asia.

Finally it was time to launch our Krathongs, and as the sky erupted with a vast fireworks display, I bade my troubles goodbye...looking forward to another blissful year in Bangkok.

You should have been there; hope to see you next year. :-)

Uncle Ted

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