Activity

November 16

One day before the joint Japanese-Thai Great Exhibition of Asian Cultural Exchange, around 70 Japanese people arrived in Bangkok. The new Bangkok airport, named Suvarnabhumi Airport, opened on September 28, 2006, and designed by Dr. Trungjai Balanasonbh, the former National Silpakorn University provost, who is known by many of the Japanese artists. They must be the first group of artists form Japan, who arrived at the new airport named by His Majesty the King. “Suvarnabhumi” means the “land of gold” in the language from the era of the Kingdom of Siam. This new airport was a very fitting place to greet the artists from Japan-“Jipang=the land of gold.” With its modern architecture, the beauty of the airport could easily be taken for Charles De Gaulle Airport in France. In about thirty minutes from the airport, the artists, having come from Narita and Kansai airports, arrived at Millennium Hilton Hotel to be greeted by Somlabh Kittiyakara from the Royal Family, and began their three-night, five-day Japanese-Thai Friendship Exchange.

November 17

At 9:00 a.m., an explanatory session for the Japanese-Thai Friendship Exchange was held for one hour in the hotel, and Permanent Secretary of the Tourism Authority of Thailand presided over a ceremony to welcome the participating Japanese artists and their companions.

11:00 a.m.
Led by a police car and three police motorcycle formation, we set off for a lunch and an audience with Princess Soamsawali. At 2:00 p.m., we arrived at Ampon Palace, the venue for the audience, and rehearsed our etiquette for the audience for one hour until she appeared.

3:00 p.m.
Despite her busy schedule with various official obligations, Princess Soamsawali granted us an audience. As we were directed by an official from the Thai Royal Household Agency, we greeted the Princess with a bow as she entered the room and moved ourselves to face her until she sat in her chair. We bowed once more as she sat down. The Japanese artists and their companions were jubilated to see her bright smile. It is normally painful to keep our postures until the audience with the Princess is over. However, despite standing for such a long time, all of us were able to solemnly maintain our composure by dint of the tension we felt from the lofty atmosphere with the Princess and in the palace. We first offered the Princess with a donation for the International Red Cross and the UNAIDS fund on behalf of our company, which manages the Great Exhibition of Asian Cultural Exchange; at the same time we presented the Princess with an itemized list of the art works to be donated to His Majesty the King. After this, we received a Japan-Thai Art Friendship Special Envoy emblem from Her Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali as the event manager. Lastly, the audience with the Princess was completed when we were invited for a commemorative photo with the Princess. (Because there were 70 people at the audience, FINNESE took the liberty of representing the group on this occasion.) A tea-break was arranged for us by special consideration of the Princess upon our exit from inside the palace.

3:20 p.m.
After Ampon Palace, we moved to Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, the site of the Exhibition, for the opening ceremony. With the police in the lead, we sailed through the usually jammed Bangkok city centre Sukhumvit Road, an area known for its traffic jam, and arrived at the Centre right on time (5:00 p.m.). In attendance at the opening was Serien Highness Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol (Chatri), who is well known for his devotion to cultural exchange. Prince Chatri is called Steven Spielberg of Thailand, since he was ordered to tackle with the development of cinema culture of Thailand by His Majesty the King. Rehearsals of the opening ceremony took place until the Prince arrived on time at 6:30 p.m. The Japanese artists performed rehearsals as though each was the real thing, and after the Prince finally arrived, the ceremony went off without a hitch.

* This was possible through the earnest rehearsals by the Japanese artists.
Thank you very much.

7:30 p.m. 
A dinner party was held in the restaurant inside the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. Unfortunately, Prince Chatri could not attend due to his official duties. However, a scholar, Madame Suree Jitsakanont, who was familiar with the Thai Royal Family, was in attendance, and gave a speech that praised the contributions that the Japanese artists have made to the exchange with Thailand.

At 9:20 p.m., the dinner was over and we departed for our hotel.
At 9:50 p.m., we arrived at our hotel and the second day of our stay was completed.

November 18

9:00 a.m.
We left for a school run by Madame Nualnoi Timkul (Professor Noi) to participate in the second major objective of this trip, the “Child Play Program.” Professor Noi’s school was for abandoned children and mentally-challenged orphans. Professor Noi covers the living and education expenses of those children completely with her own money, and we heard that she was running 50,000 Baht in debt every month. That is why a portion of the participation fees for this art exhibition will be donated to Professor Noi’s school. (272 individuals x 304 Baht [approx. 1,000 Yen] = 82,688 Baht [272,000 Yen]).

10:30 a.m.
The bus stopped on a large street and we arrived at professor Noi’s school nestled in an alley in between the narrow streets of downtown. The children greeted the Japanese artists with a welcome dance. We couldn’t detect any loneliness in the bright and lively faces of the dancing children. We thought this was because Professor Noi is aware of their loneliness. First, Anuwat Boonithee, Director of WAC, greeted us, then Professor Noi made the introduction, and the theme for this collaborative production was revealed to be ‘What we like.’ We were told that ‘what we like’ didn’t necessarily have to be material things such as food, items or people, and then the production began. The adults took up brushes, the children were invited to write on them and proceeded to fill our vision plane with the ‘what we like.’ The eyes of both the children and the adults seemed to be overflowing with the same kind of gleeful enthusiasm. About one hour later, the product was completed and then a demonstration was given by a Japanese calligrapher. The calligrapher helped the children manipulate brushes in a form of participatory seated hand-writing. The style, as it made the visual connect from ideographic Chinese characters like the moon and the sun to pictures, seemed to have piqued the children’s interest. When the final picture from the characters was completed, the session was wrapped up by a lively exchange with the Japanese artists during a commemorative photo opportunity.

November 19

After touring Ayutthaya and Kanchanaburi, famous for “the Bridge on the River Kwai,” in the morning, we began the last night of our stay in Bangkok.

6:00 p.m. 
With the attendance of M.R. Somlabh, a farewell party was organized. As the evening gradually grew darker, a presentation ceremony took place to award us with the Japan-Thai Art Friendship Special Envoy emblem we received during the audience with Princess Soamsawali. M.R. Somlabh, First Secretary of Her Royal Highness, acted on her behalf. After the presentation, we enjoyed pleasant conversation over the dinner. At 7:05 p.m., the Finesse representative gave a final farewell and sent up a symbolic firework to mark the finale of the event.

7:40 p.m.
With the police in the lead, we arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport for our return trip home.