On the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the friendly relations between Philippines and Thailand no less than the Minister of Culture of Thailand the Hon. Teera Slukpetch graced the said event. Fittingly, Bangkok’s sister City, The City of Manila and its Mayor Alfredo Lim spearheaded the celebration.
Two beauties from the land of smile.
These cultural performers were flown all the way from Chiang Mai, Thailand just for this occassion.
Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim giving a gift to Thai Minister of Culture Teera Slukpetch. Thai Ambassador to the Philippines Kulkumut Singhara Na Ayudhaya looks at the exchanging of gifts ceremony.
Perhaps the most applauded part of the program is the performance of the traditional Thai puppet play Hun Lakhon Lek. In this intricate art form, each puppet are controlled by three puppeteers all of whom are classically trained dancers and would move in unison with all of the movements being performed by the puppet. I think in Bangkok, the only place where one can see a live performance of traditional Thai puppet play is in Joe Louis Restaurant in Suan Lum Night Bazaar (which is a sad reminder that this is a dying art form in Thailand). Filipinos who were able to watched this during the celebration should consider themselves lucky.
Here, the puppeeters are controlling a puppet of the playful Hindu monkey God Hanuman.
The other puppet is that of Sita, of the Hindu epic Ramayana. These puppets shows the influence of Indian art, culture and religion on Thailand.
The puppets “paying” their respects to Mayor Lim and to Minister Slukpetch
The Thai dance troupe making their curtain call
Performers from the reknown Sining Lahi Cultural Dance Troupe from Rajah Lakandula High School performed several Filipino folk dances.
