Wednesday April 8th, 2009 - Celebration of Songkran, jointly with Asia House

The 13th of April marks the beginning of the Thai New Year, and the celebration of the Songkran Festival. While many people associate Songkran with the splashing and throwing of water at each other, few know of the true meaning of this celebration. Following on from the success of last year, Khun Tui Thapthimthong and Dr Orapin Dawson have organised another event this year on Wednesday, April 8th to be held at Asia House. This year the focus will be on Classical Thai dance, with a talk and demonstration.

Wednesday 29 April, 2009 - Exhibition of memo-photos of King Chulalongkorn - at Taplow Court

There will be a Presentation of Exhibition as an Annual Spring Reception of the Taplow Court on Wed 29th April. The Exhibition of the memo-photos of King Chulalongkorn's visit and the relationship of Taplow Court and Thailand (additional exhibition of King Bhumibhol's photographs) will be the central point of the Reception. It is hoped that HE Mr Kitti Wasinondh will be jointly hosting this fantastic event. Confirmation of details to follow.

For those interested, you can also "google" for further information: Siam, Taplow Court, New York Time ; or the Times Court Circular during Aug 9 - Oct 5 1897. There are records of king Chula activities in London & Taplow Ct. His activities were recently shown in a BCC programme on the Victorians broadcast on 08/03/2009. You can view this programme by visiting the BBC website at bbc.co.uk/iplayer and searching the listings for this date (08/03/2009)

Saturday 16 May, 2009 - ATS Society excursion to Taplow Court

Taplow Court, where King Rama V and his sons stayed during their visit to England. The trip will include an escorted tour of this impressive building with particular reference to its "Royal Thai" connection (including copies of the memorabilia from the Thai Embassy arranged by HE Mr Kitti Wasinondh, Dr Orapin Dawson and Dr Mike Springate). After lunch, the party will visit Eton's chapel and the King of Siam's Garden. There is a train service running from Paddington to Taplow Court and a hired mini bus will be provided from Taplow Station by the ATS Society.