Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
his lightning bolt and thousand eyes, is represented in the jade coloured image at the
front of Amarin Plaza, next door to the Erawan Shrine. Small elephant figurines and fresh
marigold garlands are the offerings here. On the opposite side of the road, Vishnu, the god
of mercy, is mounted on his celestial vehicle Garuda in front of the InterContinental. He
was erected in 1997, in the wake of a fire that badly damaged the hotel shortly before it
opened, and is there to protect local businesses and the wellbeing of all worshippers with
a mighty power that deflects evil spirits from the vicinity. Offerings here are yellow items,
such as marigold garlands, pieces of yellow fabric, and even Thai desserts such as
tongyip
and
tong yod
.
Next to the InterContinental stands Gaysorn Plaza, and here on a plinth outside the
fourth floor stands an image of Lakshmi, the goddess of luck, wealth and fertility. She is
the consort of Lord Vishnu, and her presence is believed to enhance his power. Offer-
ings are dark pink lotus blossoms, coins and sugar cane. Ganesh, the elephant god, sits
in a shrine in front of the Isetan department square at CentralWorld, on the other side
of the junction. He is the son of Shiva, the lord of the gods, accidentally beheaded by his
father who was then directed to decapitate the first creature he saw, to provide a replace-
ment head. The creature happened to be an elephant. Ganesh has a mouse as his celestial
vehicle, and is known for his creativity, love of the fine arts and encouragement of success.
Offerings here are marigold garlands, milk, traditional desserts, sugar cane and fruit such
as bananas and apples. Close to the Ganesh Shrine is the shrine of Trimurti, a combina-
tion of the qualities of three gods: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva
the Destroyer. Hence this is a very powerful shrine. Thais regard Trimurti also as being the
god of love, and the belief is that he descends from heaven to this shrine at 9.30 p.m. every
Tuesday and Thursday, which is why you will find young Thais praying here fervently at
these times and offering the traditional nine red incense sticks, red candles and red roses.
Many years before Siam Square was laid out, the adjacent area had briefly been part of
Thailand's first airport. Aeroplanes came surprisingly quickly to Siam. The Wright broth-
ers flew the world's first powered aircraft in December 1903, and only seven years later,
at the beginning of 1911, a Belgian pilot named Charles van den Born sailed into the port
of Bangkok to give a series of flying demonstrations, part of a Far East tour that had star-
ted in Saigon and after Siam went on to Hong Kong and Canton. One of the few pieces of
land suitable for an aircraft was that of the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, and here M van
den Born set up his machine, a Farman Mk
IV
biplane named Wanda, built by the Anglo-
French pilot and aircraft designer Henry Farman. Between 31
st
January and 6
th
February,
with an extra day added on 9
th
February due to demand, Thai and foreign dignitaries were
