Today we visited Lumpini Park. It is Bangkok’s largest & busiest park. It was amazing. They do so many nice things there. I will talk about the pictures a bit…
Here is a picture of the pavilion where they hold concerts during our winter. They really have three seasons hot, hotter, hottest. Concerts are during hot season. Right now it is hotter - about 95 degrees.
Here is a picture of the pavilion where they hold concerts during our winter. They really have three seasons hot, hotter, hottest. Concerts are during hot season. Right now it is hotter - about 95 degrees.
In the picture of the people out in the streets of the park they are doing aerobics. This is the neatest program. They just set up speakers and someone comes out and leads aerobics in the street. There were easily 200 people working out together. It was really neat. There was no fee, and many men joined in as well. This set-up would never work in the US for a couple of reasons. First, aerobics is always seen as a revenue generator. Secondly, we would not run a program like that on concrete…risk management.
There is a nice pool in the park. Notice the screens above the pool. It is to provide shade. Thai people do not like the sun because it is so strong there. They value pale skin. So, owning a tanning bed store would be a poor business decision and skin cancer is low here. I think we can learn something here.
The game the group is playing is takraw. It uses a softball sized rattan (like wicker) ball. Usually it is played with a low volleyball net, but this group was playing in the street like hacky sack. You can find a description of the game here. I hope to get a picture of a real game before I leave.
Within the park they also have a youth center (gym area pictured). The center is pretty rustic. There is a gym, a weight room, and some activity rooms. The weight room is a lawsuit waiting to happen. The equipment is very old and rusty. Despite the run down condition of the center, people were using it heavily & it was 5:00 on a Saturday night. The funny thing was there were no staff around other than at the door checking memberships. They could not see any of the kids at all. Don’t forget there is a weight room for youth ages 8-18 without any supervision at all! The fee to join the center is 40 baht ($1.10) per year. It reminds me a lot of a Boys & Girls Club, but it is a public agency. This is one of the few areas you will find organized recreation programs provided by a public agency.
Overall, I think the parks are very nice. This park in particular is nice as it is in the heart of Bangkok where there isn’t a blade of grass to be found. Then you stumble upon this place. It is a true escape for people in a very busy city.
There is a nice pool in the park. Notice the screens above the pool. It is to provide shade. Thai people do not like the sun because it is so strong there. They value pale skin. So, owning a tanning bed store would be a poor business decision and skin cancer is low here. I think we can learn something here.
The game the group is playing is takraw. It uses a softball sized rattan (like wicker) ball. Usually it is played with a low volleyball net, but this group was playing in the street like hacky sack. You can find a description of the game here. I hope to get a picture of a real game before I leave.
Within the park they also have a youth center (gym area pictured). The center is pretty rustic. There is a gym, a weight room, and some activity rooms. The weight room is a lawsuit waiting to happen. The equipment is very old and rusty. Despite the run down condition of the center, people were using it heavily & it was 5:00 on a Saturday night. The funny thing was there were no staff around other than at the door checking memberships. They could not see any of the kids at all. Don’t forget there is a weight room for youth ages 8-18 without any supervision at all! The fee to join the center is 40 baht ($1.10) per year. It reminds me a lot of a Boys & Girls Club, but it is a public agency. This is one of the few areas you will find organized recreation programs provided by a public agency.
Overall, I think the parks are very nice. This park in particular is nice as it is in the heart of Bangkok where there isn’t a blade of grass to be found. Then you stumble upon this place. It is a true escape for people in a very busy city.
On another note, we have already run into several ISU alumns here in Bangkok. We met the president of the Thailand ISU alumni association on the sky train. Even the president of the university here is one of our alumns. Small world.
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