Koh Kret เกาะเกร็ด is a small island in the Chao Phraya River in Nonthaburi Province, Thailand. It is around 3 km long and 3 km wide with an area of over 4.2 square kilometers. It has seven main villages, the largest and most populous being Ban Mon. The island is best known for Thai-Mon people who make pottery for a living. The island is only accessed by ferries.
Koh Kret was originally a meander located on the Chao Praya river. Due to Chao Praya river's curvy path, ships would take longer to reach Ayutthaya, Siam's capital at the time.
During the reign of King Thaisa, the king wanted to reduce shipping time and improve the kingdom's economy. He planned a canal which would bypass the meander and act as a shortcut for maritime transport. The canal was dug in 1722, requiring around 10,000 men and taking over a month to complete. After the canal was dug, shipping to Ayutthaya became faster and the canal was called "Klong Lat Kret" by locals. As time passed, the canal became ...
Hỏa Lò Prison, known to American prisoners of war as the “Hanoi Hilton,” is one of Hanoi’s most powerful historical sites, linking the eras of French colonial rule and the Vietnam War.
Built by the French between 1896 and 1901 as Maison Centrale, it was designed to hold Vietnamese political prisoners and revolutionaries.
Overcrowding, shackles, solitary cells, and a guillotine defined life inside its thick stone walls. After 1954 the prison came under North Vietnamese control, and from 1964 to 1973 it held captured American pilots, including John McCain. Most of the complex was demolished in the early 1990s, leaving only the gatehouse and a portion of the original structures, which now serve as a museum.
Located at 1 Hỏa Lò Street in Hoàn Kiếm District, a short distance from Hoàn Kiếm Lake, the museum is open daily from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Adult tickets cost 50,000 VND, with discounts for students and seniors and free entry for children under 16. An audio guide is available for an...
The Khlong Tan Sunday morning market, officially known as Khlong Tan Railway Station Market and commonly called Talat Lao or the Laos Market, has operated for several decades along the active railway tracks beside Khlong Tan Railway Station in Bangkok.
Some longtime vendors report selling there for more than twenty years, while others have done so for no less than forty years, recalling earlier days when traders helped clear overgrown areas near the station and under a nearby bridge to establish informal stalls.
Traders from eastern provinces such as Prachinburi, Chachoengsao and Sa Kaeo, along with many from Isan regions including Sisaket, Kalasin, Sakon Nakhon, Chaiyaphum and Ubon Ratchathani, began bringing seasonal produce, wild ingredients and regional specialties into the city, often arriving by train or vehicle on Saturday evenings to set up for the following morning.
The informal name “Laos Market” arose because a large share of the goods reflect Isan culinary traditions, which share ...
Thai long boat racing, known as reua yao, is one of the country’s oldest living traditions, with roots stretching back more than six centuries to the Ayutthaya Kingdom. In those days the long, narrow wooden craft served first as war canoes and later as a form of military training that built strength, coordination and courage among soldiers.
Over time the practice moved from the battlefield into the heart of community life. After the end of the Buddhist rains retreat, when rivers and canals ran high, villages would gather to race, make merit, honour the spirits of the water and celebrate the unity of their people.
The boats themselves were carved from single great logs of hardwood, treated with reverence and blessed through rituals that still open every major race today. What began as preparation for war and a religious festival evolved into a cherished national sport, now contested for royal trophies and watched by thousands along the banks of Thailand’s waterways.
This same spirit of tradition...
