Chanthaburi (Thailand) Fruit Fair 2547 (2004)
It's fruit fair time in eastern Thailand! You're looking at one of the incredible fruit-decorated parade floats at the renowned annual tropical fruit fair in Chanthaburi, Thailand, on 1 May 2004. This dragon has pineapple-rind skin, long-bean beard and scales, a small-bananas back, orange carrot-slice face and tongue, peas lips, white radish and yellow squash head, a mangosteen eye, and a banana flower topknot! The red background is made of hairy rambutans, and the round white fruits are rambutans split open. Pineapples on top, and of course one durian in a place of honor amongst it all! Chanthaburi province is the heart of Thailand orchard country, 240 km [145 miles] southeast of Bangkok, and the durian capital of the world in terms of production— Thailand produces approximately a million tons of durian per year, and over half comes from Chanthaburi province and another 25% from neighboring Rayong province. Both provinces hold festive fruit fairs at peak season, when durians, mangosteens, rambutans, mangos, longkong/langsat, jackfruit, longans, pineapples, papayas, bananas, coconuts, sugar apples, dragonfruit, and more are present in great lavish abundance. There are so many fruits around, in fact, that the talented local people use them to not only to eat but to create astounding magnificent colorful beautiful works of community folk artistry every year in the fruit fair float parade! No one in the world decorates trucks more fantastically and beautifully, with living fruits, vegetables, and flowers (and local beauty queens!) than the people of eastern Thailand!
To
view many more photos of this year's
—Shunyam Nirav |
