Hello from the land of a thousand smiles! It’s Day 3 here at the World Seagrass Conference 2010 in Phuket, Thailand and it’s been three days of very interesting talks and presentations (and yummy Thai food).
We were really fortunate that the first day of our conference coincided with the Thai festival of Loy Kratong. Throughout the day, delegates were encouraged to create their own flower floats to be released into water bodies as part of the traditional ritual carried out during Loy Kratong. Making the flower float was fun, albeit embarrassing afterwards when I compared my haphazard (I didn’t employ the use of a random number table in the design) arrangement of flowers and leaves to the more intricate designs that were on display. Let’s just say I’ll be keeping my day job…
In the evening, we were treated to a yummy and authentic Thai dinner, followed by some singing and elegant dancing by Anchana and her students — that is until the rest of us joined in! After dinner and dance, it was time to release our flower floats, and what a pretty picture that made with all our floats drifting in the hotel pond. The evening ended with fireworks — a spectacular end to the night.
This afternoon, we’ll be going on a fieldtrip — snorkeling and to a local fishery — so stay tuned for more updates.
Siti Maryam Yaakub