Tourists Make Winter Holiday In Northern Thai Provinces

BANGKOK, November 20 (TNA) - While Bangkok and several provinces in Central and lower Northern regions are battling against fierce flood, temperatures in the two northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai have dropped significantly, drawing a large number of tourists to visit them. A large crowd of tourists from Bangkok and several other provinces flocked to the northern capital of Chiang Mai during the weekend and visited several attractive tourist destinations there, especially the Doi Suthep temple. Majority of tourists were teenagers and they preferred to walk the more than 300 staircases which led them to the elegant temple instead of travelling by cable car on belief they would gain more merits from doing so. Aged people, meanwhile, were more than happy to pay 20 baht per head in using it, enabling the temple to earn several tens of thousands baht daily. Vendors selling souvenirs at the beginning of staircases also made brisk business. In the northernmost province of Chiang Rai, the 22nd annual Bua Tong Ban or Blooming Mexican Sunflower Festival has drawn a large number of tourists to visit the festival which is held in a village of Mae Fa Luang district. As the festival ends Sunday, traffic heading to the festival site which is near Thailand-Myanmar border was without doubt very heavy. Although the annual festival is closing late Sunday, the yellowish flower will continue blooming until late January next year and many more tourists are expected to travel there to appreciate its beauty. At Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Hang Chat district of Lampang province, two small elephants offered bouquets welcoming 20 pretty girls who have entered the final round of 2012 Miss Belgium beauty contest . The contestants will perform several activities during their stay in the tranquil North. (TNA)