50th Anniversary Celebration Thailand
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Dawn breaks over the Laos bank of the 'Mighty Mekong' heralding the big event of our trip. It's Saturday 14th November 2015 and we have an early start to the day. We will travel the fifty five kilometers to Khok Samran and the 50th Crown Airfield Opening Celebration. The airfield was already a hive of activity as our friends prepared for our arrival. My orders were to pull up outside the Obajors Office because as the rollover shows, we had a light flashing Police escort into Crown Airfield. What a start! |
And there they were, our welcoming party of locals in their traditional garb. Infectious smiles on their faces waiting to greet us as we exited the bus. I say infectious because already we were smiling, recognising a similar scenario to that of the previous day. We left the coach around 09:20 to be mobbed by our hosts bearing garlands destined for our necks. Familiar faces could be seen amongst the crowd as we mingled. After a few minutes of milling around order was finally established as our hosts organised into four lines. |
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A dance troop of mature ladies was formed and very attractive ladies they were too. The rythmic banging of drums and cymbals started. Our guard of honour danced before us for a few minutes for our entertainment. Eventually they led us off on a circuitous route to the marquee, where villagers who had been involved with us fifty years previously awaited us. They wore lime green 'T' shirts so we could identify them as such. We were given refreshments as we sat to await the start of proceedings. |
We settled down in our seats to await the start of Khok Samrans version of the Baci as we now know it to be. Opposite at the end of a raffia mat, a red carpet led to stage some thirty-ish metres away. Two white clad young ladies carried the Pah Kwan from the stage to a position in front of the marquee. They were followed by six ladies in turquoise, each carrying a golden bowl laden with yellow petals which they sprinkled slowly down on the ground as they walked into position, as the pictures show. |
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The petal throwers too were followed by ten more dancers in different coloured dresses. As the Pah Kwan escort remained seated, each petal thrower in turn stood and spread their petals around themselves. The ten dancers performed the 'Rahm Chern Kwan' as this was going on. The whole ritual must have taken a good ten minutes in heat that was scorching. I could see beads of sweat on the performers faces even the two white clad escorts. Their smiles became fixed as they stoically did their duty in the Baci ceremony. |
The final phase of the Baci was enacted by the symbolic giving of food, a hard boiled egg and a small ball of sticky rice. Then the guest's had a white (symbolizes purity) thread of silk or cotton tied on the wrist of the individual who is receiving wishes for their well being and good luck. Here Mike Stanbridge as guest of honour, receives the well wishes of the male contingent of the Obajor's office. The rest of our host's spread out amongst us and administered the same hospitality to us. Check the slideshow for more pictures. |
 |
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Then the music started again and a different dance troop took center stage. Comprising female dancers and male musician/dancers, they seemed a professional outfit as they produced their own music rather than from a recording. I seem to remember they were from Yasothon and not a local troop. They were extremely enthusiastic, lot's of whooping from the men as the women swayed and gyrated in time to the beat of the drums. The time now was around 09:45 and the heat continued to build. |
We were encouraged to join in the dancing. Soon getting the hang of things was June Stanbridge, dressed coincidentally in pink and a traditional Thai skirt. June was soon showing everyone she's still got the moves, I suspect she had mastered them the evening before at Ban Pao. Indeed the young lady behind June is smiling in admiration of her skills. The rollover shows the group getting stuck in dancing in various styles and degrees of dexterity |
 |
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By this time the villagers had joined with us and we were having a great knees up when the noise level from the drumming section went up. Two of the drums were placed one on top of the other (see image left). The Drum Major was lifted on top of this precarious pyramid, he stood slowly into an upright position as the dancing and drumming went on around him. I admired his bravery and athleticism as he balanced atop of the drum tower. The crescendo was reached with one last shout and then the dancing was all over. |
We returned to the marquee to socialise withour host's. The school traditional Thai Orchestra took to the stage to play as we did so. Jim Curtis and friend Annan had re-connected a good decade ago when Jim first returned to Thailand. Alan Myers and boot boy Lem too had hooked up way back in 2010. The village headmen Glom and Air were known to us from our negotiations to set the celebration up. Other locals introduced themselves and told us of their involvement with us fifty years previously. |
 |
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We moved outside for the final phase of our celebrations. The Nyamphur of Loeng Nok Tha and his wife were the senior government officials. He took the stage to make a speech surrounded by more LNT and Khok Samran officials and headmen. He was followed by a senior Thai Army officer from I believe the Thai Army Engineers. He too made a speech which recognised the British and Commonwealth soldiers efforts in the building of Crown airfield. For this officer to give up his own time to attend was a big gesture to us. |
Mike Stanbridge some fifty years after leaving Crown Airfield, finds himself on his return making a speech as the Chairman at the OCA 50th Crown Airfield Opening Celebration. Mike started by saying how delighted we all were to be here, became quite emotional as he praised the people of Khok Samran for their hospitality. Remarking how the Thai people hadn't changed from how he remembered them from fifty years before. Speeches over and it was time to present the gifts we had bought with us. Here the Nyamphur receives a signed England shirt from Mark Wareham. |
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Other gifts of mugs and caps were exchanged from ourselves to the Thai's and from the Thai organisors to their own guest's. Pictures in the slideshow. Now we were at the final act of the gathering which was the playing of the 'Lament' by Neil Campbell. We had insisted to our Thai friends that this would be the finale to the programme to honour the men who lost their lives on Crown. I made a video of Neil's performance, you can view it by clicking on his image left. Needless to say Neil did us proud yet again. |
The attendees of the 50th Celebration stood in respectful silence whilst the 'Lament' was played and the two minutes silence observed. One or two Thai's didn't realise the significance of the occasion until it was made known to them and then they behaved impeccably. There was a moment of panic when the Nyampur found the OCA cap, which we'd presented to the less senior officials, very desirable. He'd already had the top gift i.e. a signed England shirt and a 50th Celebration mug, step forward Mark Wareham to volunteer his own OCA cap. |
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A final photocall for a group shot of the major participants of the Crown Airfield 50th Celebration. Too large to present in one frame, I've used the rollover to fit everyone in as the photographer couldn't get it in on one shot. The 'Celebration' programme was over and it was time for everyone to get to know each other on an informal basis. Our hosts certainly didn't waste any time heading for their favourite 'Falang' to record for posterity our time together. I'll use the slideshow as usual to try and cram as many pix in as possible. |
Our day didn't end here as we went off to lunch in Loeng Nok Tha, but I'll continue that on the next page. I take this opportunity to introduce our excellent English speaking joint Master of Ceremonies. They worked at LNT school teaching English. Their names are Chokthawi Bunchan and Krit-on Bubphamala. The picture in the rollover shows the surprise we all had on the day. The two young ladies were foreign exchange students again at LNT school. If my memory serves me correctly they were from Scotland and had a really good time on the day. |
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As I mentioned above, our day didn't end here as we boarded the coach and headed back up the 212 for lunch. We ate at an excellent modern restaurant on the southern outskirts of Loeng Nok Tha. I will go into more detail about the remainder of the day on the next page. We have organised the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Post Crown Road Opening from the 2nd April until 13th April 2018. We expect it to be as good if not better than what you've seen here, If you wish to take part it's not too late to book. Contact Neville Wareham on Nevillewareham @aol.com |
Slideshow
A slideshow of pictures taken during this phase of the trip is shown below in chronological order. Place your cursor into the picture window to freeze the motion, remove it allow the slideshow to restart. Depending on your connection, it may take a while for the pictures to download and the slideshow to start |
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