Thailand, Cambodia brace for solar eclipse
Thailand, Cambodia brace for solar eclipse
BANGKOK (Agencies): Thailand's flood-drenched northern and northeastern provinces are anticipating a deluge of tourists on Oct. 24, the date of an expected total solar eclipse, a news report said recently.
The date has already drawn hotel bookings from around the globe. The Bangkok Planetarium has predicted that the total solar eclipse will be visible in Thailand for one or two minutes between 10:40 and 11 a.m. on Oct.24, depending on the viewer's location.
The eclipse will cut a path from northwestern to northeastern Thailand, before continuing to Cambodia and southern Vietnam - where eclipse fever is also high.
In Thailand, the ten best locations for viewing the phenomenon are the following provinces - Tak, Kamphaeng Phet, Lop Buri, Nakorn Sawan, Phetchabun, Nakhon Ratchasima, Phichit, Sa Kaew, Uthai Thani and Buri Ram - all of which have been hard hit in recent months by floods, caused by unusually heavy monsoonal rains and tropical storms.
The eclipse will last longest in Nakhon Ratchasima's Khon Buri district, where it will be visible for one minute and 58 seconds, Thai astronomers have predicted.
According to a survey conducted by The Nation, an English- language daily, all ten provinces have reported full bookings of hotels for months in advance, and all are planning a host of eclipse-related money spinners, such as sales of heavily tinted eclipse peepers, books explaining the phenomenon and touristic sideshows such as Thai boxing matches.
The last total solar eclipse in Thailand occurred on June 2, 1955 and the next one is expected 75 years from now.
In the old days, the area's residents believed a solar eclipse was caused bory Rahu, a mythical giant who tried to eat the sun. Villagers set off firecrackers and made loud noises to scare the sun-eater away.
Today, instead of being a harbinger of disaster, the solar eclipse is likely to be a source of greater tourism revenues.
Cambodia
Visitors to Cambodia should be ready for a hail of bullets when the moon eats the sun later this month.
Superstition surrounds the total eclipse of the sun which some expect to be a crucial event -- be it good or evil -- for a country struggling to shake off the after-effects of 25 years of strife.
"You're going to see every Cambodian with a gun shooting at the moon, they're going to try and help the sun escape... we're talking about something akin to World War III," said one local entrepreneur, who plans to cash in with commemorative goods.
This home of Cambodian culture is bracing for an influx of eclipse-watchers. Top hotels here have been booked up for some time.
Watchers are being advised to buy welding goggles or to use glass smoked over a candle to avoid blindness from looking directly at the eclipse.
The authorities also want to prevent a fusillade greeting the eclipse -- but are not quite sure how.
Siem Reap Governor Toan Chay told Reuters he must ensure soldiers, police and other gunowners keep the safety catches on their weapons during the total eclipse of the sun, lasting one minute 53 seconds, over the five towers of the 12th century Angkor Wat temple.
Chay must also warn peasants about the harmful effects of looking directly at the eclipse, due to begin at 10:58.39 a.m. (03:58:39 GMT) on Oct. 24.
Many questioned seemed unexcited -- but not hoteliers, travel agents, journalists and the Tourism Ministry.
"It couldn't have been designed better to give Cambodia a boost," said New Zealand businessman Graham Cleghorn. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime event."
The governor said he expected First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh to come and watch the solar eclipse, whose path crosses just north of the national symbol Angkor Wat.
For hundreds of visitors, the eclipse merits flying to Siem Reap and booking into one of 14 hotels and 32 guest houses listed by the Tourism Ministry.
Thai and Cambodian travel agents are offering special three or four-day eclipse packages, with Switzerland's Diethelm Travel asking $300 for flight and board from Oct. 23 to 25.
Learng Juone, 60-year-old head monk of a temple next to Angkor Wat, said: "It's very rare. When I was young and an eclipse came it was completely dark -- we couldn't see each other.
"If the sun comes out of the mouth of the moon or the stomach, the country will be prosperous.
"If the sun comes out of the bowels, it means danger for the country, it means famine... the country will suffer disaster."
At Kes Sararam temple in Siem Reap town, nun Lim Seap told Reuters that Buddhists believed an eclipse meant "something bad in the past will change".
She said old people had told her that if you tapped a tree during the phenomenon and shouted "fruit, fruit, fruit," a bounteous crop would follow. Cows rapped thrice to shouts of "fat, fat, fat" would gain weight.
Governor Chay said locals had told him pregnant women must place a pot of lime in front of their belly as the moon crossed the sun to prevent giving birth to a mentally retarded child.
"If you are building something and the construction is not finished, you should put a grass roof on your building". That, he said, would ensure prosperity.
He said those watching an eclipse in a bowl of water could tell "the sun or the moon are very much afraid" if the liquid shook. In that case, a drum should be beaten to help them escape.