Bangkok
Buddha with a beat – Wat Suthi Wararam transformed

It’s Visakha Bucha Day like you’ve never seen it before.
Bangkok’s Wat Suthi Wararam has unveiled a bold and modern makeover to entice young people and a new audience to Buddhism. Wat Suthi Wararam is coming alive with Monks chanting to electronic music, projection mapping and a digital art exhibition.
“Bodhi Theatre: Buddhist Prayer Retold” combines vivid animation and Buddhist chants set to electronic dance rhythms in a contemporary effort to attract more people to the teachings of Buddha.
Visakha Bucha Day is one of the most important Buddhist holidays in the Thai calendar and this year it takes place on May 19, 2019. It is important as it was the day of three important incidents that occurred during the life of Lord Buddha. They all happened on full moon of the sixth lunar month.
The show will be presented every weekend until June 9 at Wat Suthi on Charoen Krung Road, Bangkok.
Traditional and ornate on the outside. Funky and modern on the inside.
Abbot, Phra Suthee Rattanapandit says, “The aim is to encourage more young people to study Buddhism at the temple.”
“We teamed up with young artists and designers who used modern technology to create this contemporary digital art in the temple. The artwork is intended to help people more easily understand Buddhist teachings.”
Supported by the National Innovation Agency, “Bodhi Theatre” was conceived and executed by a network including the Why_Not Social Enterprise, Awakening Creative, Another day Another render, Art of Hongtae, Korky and What_If.
Thawatchai Saengthamchai, managing director at Why_Not and manager of this project, acknowledges that it’s not easy changing the “young generation’s habits”.
“But we decided to find a way to modernise the temple experience to attract a changing society. We selected hi-tech tools to get people back to the temple.”
The team has not only re-visualised and simplified a complex message, but it also created fun activities for visitors to the temple. They can paint cloth bags and send themselves best wishes on a postcard stamped with the chant’s emblem.
All proceeds from the sale of coffee go to the temple. Admission to the event itself is free, but seats can be booked in advance at BodhiTheater.com.
The show runs every 35 minutes from 2 to 6pm.
SOURCE: The Nation
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Bangkok
Chatuchak market is in worst crisis in 5 decades due to Covid-19, vendors say

Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok’s biggest market and a popular tourist destination, is hit hard by the new wave of Covid-19. With the lack of foreign tourists due to travel restrictions over the past year, as well as more locals staying at home despite the market’s strict disease control measures, the number of visitors at the market has dropped by 90%.
Vendors at the market say this is the worst situation in 50 years. Most of them report no sales at all. With little to no income, many shops at the market have shut down. Although the BMA is trying to relieve the situation by lowering the rental fees by half, that seems not enough to help the business. Some of the vendors have tried online trading, but sales are still low.
SOURCE: Thai Visa
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Bangkok
Eating out until 11pm in Bangkok is waiting for approval

Bangkok restaurants may soon be allowed to stay open a little later. Health officials are considering easing up Covid-19 prevention measures by extending restaurant dine-in closing times to 11pm. If the proposal by the Thai Restaurant Association is given a green light, it may lead to the lifting ban of alcohol drinking.
After the order of shutting entertainment venues and banning alcohol sales in Bangkok, Samut Prakan, and Chonburi, the revenues in the alcohol beverage business plummeted. Under disease control measures, restaurants in Bangkok are ordered to stop dine-in services at 9pm and all alcohol sales are banned at restaurants to limit gatherings.
According to the president of the Thai Alcohol Business Association, the current ban on alcohol is estimated to cost about 90 billion baht in revenue. The lifting of the ban is then believed to stimulate the economy.
The Thai Chamber of Commerce says the Cabinet might review the proposal on closing hours tomorrow and act immediately to provide relief to restaurant operators as well as those in the alcohol beverage business.
SOURCE: Coconuts Bangkok
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
At least 19 Covid-19 cases linked to 2 parties, including celebrity’s birthday

At least 19 Covid-19 cases are related to 2 parties – a 5-day New Years celebration in Chiang Mai and a birthday party in Bangkok for a famous TV and radio host Techin Ployphet, aka DJ Matoom, on January 9.
A senior police officer in Bangkok is the latest case possibly linked to the Bangkok “party cluster.” The officer tested positive for Covid-19 after coming in contact with someone who attended the celebrity’s birthday at the Vertigo restaurant and bar at the Banyan Tree Hotel.
After the party, the actor, as well as other attendees, later tested positive for Covid-19. DJ Matoom also attended a New Year’s celebration in Chiang Mai from January 1 to 5, which is also linked to a number of cases.
Department of Disease Control director general Opas Karnkawinpong says a man who attended the Chiang Mai probably carried the virus to Bangkok and spread it at DJ Matoom’s birthday party.
Since the police officer’s positive test result, the Criminal Records Division at the Royal Thai Police headquarters is temporarily closed for cleaning after a senior police officer tested positive for Covid-19.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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