20 Weird and Interesting Facts about Thailand You Wouldn’t Want to Miss
11 One of the food markets in Thailand is located along a train track. Every time the train comes the shopkeepers take the food displayed inside and put them back out after it leaves.
Maeklong’s food market is perhaps one of the most active markets in the sense that it gives the shopkeepers a lot of exercise bringing out and putting back the crates of vegetables, fish and eggs. The market has become famous for this and is called “Talat Rom Hup” meaning “umbrella pull down market”.(1, 2)
12 There is a not-so-well-known temple in Thailand called Wat Samphran Temple that is 17-storey tall with a huge dragon spiraling and scaling it to the top.
The temple, though rarely featured as part of regular tourist location, has a giant bronze statue of Buddha. According to those who have visited the temple there are various other statues and shrines in the temple. The dragon is a hollow structure with parts of being able to be walked in while many other parts of the temple are closed to the public.(source)
13 The Monkey Buffet Festival held annually in Lopburi, feeds over 2,000 local population of monkeys with fruits and vegetables.
Lopburi Province is situated in the north of Bangkok and during the festival an estimated 4,000 kilograms of fruits are used to feed the monkeys. The festival is celebrated to thank and reward the monkeys for attracting tourists.(1, 2)
14 There was a temple in Thailand called the Tiger Temple built as a sanctuary for tigers and tourist attraction for an admission fee.
In the beginning when the temple was first built in 1999 there were eight tigers at the temple. The tigers in the temple were taught to be friendly with visitors and to let them take pictures with them. However, the temple was mired in many controversies and reports of animal abuse from animal rights activists, until in May 2016 it was closed by officials after finding almost 40 frozen cubs in a raid.(source)
15 Each year in Mekong River a phenomenon known as Naga Fireballs occurs when balls of fire spontaneously explode over the surface of the water. According to local myths, the balls are spitted by the serpent Naga that haunts the river.
So far there haven’t been any scientific proofs, though one explanation suggests that the marshy environment releases flammable phosphine gas which turns into a fireball. Another explanation involves the concept of plasma formation in the air.(1, 2)
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