Pattaya Stages Impressive International Fireworks Festival

Published : August 15, 2010 :: 12:08:20 [ 2,912 views ]

Thousands of people were in Pattaya on Saturday night to observe the impressive International Fireworks Festival organised along the entire length of Pattaya Beach Road. In honour of the Thai Royal Family and Her Majesty the Queens recent 78th birthday celebrations, the event broke several records in the process of exhibiting fireworks displays from several countries over a 3km stretch of the Pattaya Bay.

Pattaya, the 14^th of August 2010 [PDN]: Opened by Thai Defence Minister Pawit Wongsuwan and Pattaya City Mayor Ithiphol Khunpluem, the inaugural event featured an impressive array of fireworks displays from around the world including, Thailand, China, Japan, Denmark, German, America, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and Italy.

Organised in honour of the Royal Family and the recent 78^th birthday of Her Majesty the Queen Sirikit, security was kept tight throughout the festival, which saw thousands of residents and tourists alike come to observe an impressive array of over 50,000 fireworks launched from around the Bali Hai Pier and out in the Pattaya Bay.

Prior to the commencement of ‘illuminations,’ various Thai pop-stars and musicians performed onstage at the event, including, Rut, Dew, Sen, Keng and Kan. The opening display, from Chinese professionals, started at 8:00pm, with further displays organised throughout the night, concluding at approximately 10:00pm.

Italian, United Arab Emirates and Thai professionals combined to provide a spectacle in celebration of the Queens 78^th birthday, which followed a traditional candle-lit ceremony in honour of “Thailand’s mother,” her vital contribution to Thai society and care for the Thai people without discrimination.

The main and closing event, organised by Thai fireworks professionals and including displays from Australia, America, Germany, Japan and Denmark, was organised in conjunction with an emotional rendition of the Royal Family tribute anthem.

Having exploded over 50,000 fireworks from land and sea platforms/boats, the event has been hailed as the largest ever display of light in Thailand’s history. The ignition of fireworks from several boats and sea platforms in the Pattaya Bay is also a reported first for Thailand, while the 3km display is being heralded as the longest ever organisation of fireworks in the Kingdom.

Despite the presence of several notable fireworks professionals from around the world, the Thai team has been applauded for their efforts, with some sections of the audience concluding that the Thai team had in fact upstaged their world-class counterparts.

Please see more photos by PDN here

Comments

richard anderson

said :

I thought this was an exellent display of fireworks. I had family down from Nakon Savan and they were thrilled to be watching a display of very good quality fireworks,We watched them from our condo at Royal cliff garden and did not have to go down to beach road as the traffic came to a standstill, Next firework dispay we are going to is the Edinburgh New Year street party, my home town.

Email : r.anderson12@yahoo.com Date : 2010-09-10 08:42:50

Pattaya Fred

said :

A few comments:
"no one knew what was going on or which country performed".

ABSOLUTELY. There was no program available anywhere, in person on internet, to let visitors know the schedule or identify WHICH COUNTRY was involved with WHICH display.

Also, this writer talks about an "impressive array of over 50,000 fireworks launched from the Bali Hai Pier".

It is my understanding that there were NO fireworks fired anywhere near the Bali Hai pier.

There were three main "floating stages" and at one point in the show, more than 15 total floating locations were utilized.

Email : fred@pattaya.com Date : 2010-08-16 11:27:12

Hans Beanziger

said :

Seen the fireworks from the 19th floor of the Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya.
What an excellent firework show it was.
I was told by Mark Cawley the Executive Assistance Manager Food & Beverage that he made last minute arrangements to open the Bar on the 19th floor of the hotel which by the way has a stunning view over the whole Pattaya Bay area. Well done Mark!
Even tough we where not guest of the hotel some staff members offered us to buy a ticket which included beverages and some snacks. An offer we couldn’t refuse. The 19th floor seemed an excellent alternative to watch the fireworks rather than from the ground floor lobby bar.
The international firework display was really spectacular. And it was a privilege to see it all from high above. We were so lucky that we didn’t have to go down town with thousands of other people and get stuck in the traffic jam.
Posted by Hans Baenziger, owner of the Swiss Paradise Resort Pattaya.

Email : banziger@hotmail.com Date : 2010-08-15 21:51:37

tony

said :

china won by a mile or 3km's lol

Email : tony@abc.com Date : 2010-08-15 21:38:33

Rob Valence

said :

Have been there, and it was impressive!

Displaying the flag or name of whatever country was competing at a given time would have been good - no one knew what was going on or which country performed, so I think many people left prematurely. Police was unable to keep the cars from driving up the surrounding hills even though they were already jammed, so traffic was a complete mess and air quality very bad.
Apart from that, a great night and very, very lucky in terms of the weather too!

Rob

Email : rob-valence-rv1@googlemail.com Date : 2010-08-15 13:14:33

Hot News

Sponsor

Pattaya Daily News