Nong Nooch Cultural Centre, Pattaya, Thailand

Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens hosts some pretty good cultural and traditional performances as well as an elephant show too….

The famous Cultural Extravaganza is presented five times a day at 10.30am, 1.30pm, 15.00pm ,16.00pm, 17.00pm at the Nong Nooch Theatre..

The Cultural Extravaganza show happens in the theatre area and it is air-conditioned and comfortable, and gives visitors to Thailand a little taste of Thai culture and history…

With beautiful costumes and performance, you will leave the theatre with some new memory made..

The second one is an elephant show at the elephant theatre… OK, this is somewhat a sensitive issue.. I’m well aware of many people being against animals performing and all, with the believe most of the animals are ill treated…, on the other hand, I also feel animals in captivity nowadays seem to have a better chance of living better considering all the poaching and the disappearing habitat of these animals (because of human greed) , provided that they are not ill treated…. So I am on neutral ground…

Anyway, once the Cultural Extravaganza is over, on the way out, you will find yourself at the elephant theatre….

There are dozens of elephants there.. Both adults and babies.. Each with a dedicated mahout…

However, I can see and like to think that the elephants here looked healthy, well treated and not over driven or overworked at all. I cannot see any scars on the elephants which you can sometimes see when these gentle beasts fall into unscrupulous animal handlers’ hands…

When my tour guide Amy asked who want to take a photo with the elephant I unwittingly volunteered to be raised above the ground by two elephants and then wrapped around another elephant’s trunk and raised above the ground..

We then sat back and watch the elephants play football, basketball, bowling and also painting… That as well as begging for bananas, bananas which the crowd are encouraged to purchase to feed the elephants…

For more cultural experiences, you can witness the pomp and splendour of Thai tradition and ceremonies, graceful dances from all over the country at the Nong Nooch Tradition Centre…

There, you can find the Thai Boxing Stadium and Thai Boxing Academy…

We were overly dressed for our little Thai Boxing lessons but it was plenty of fun donning the gloves and learning from the patient pros…

We also got to learn more about Muay Thai and watch an actual fight happen at the stadium…

Thai Kick Boxing or also known as “Muay Thai” it’s the national sport of Thailand. The kick boxing allows the boxer to use a punch, knee, elbow, arms, and legs for fighting. Most of the boxers are of medium weight or light weight, since they have to be fast and flexible to move.

There is also an open area for visitors to learn and experience two of Thailand’s most famous festival.. The Loy Krathong and also Songkran….

For the Loy Krathong experience, everyone gets to make a little wish before setting the recyclable floating lotus lantern into the little conveyor belt that sends the lanterns into the river… (before it is fished out back later on)

For the Songkran experience, those who want to experience it can change the clothing supplied by Nong Nooch Tradition Centre… And start splashing each other once the signal is given…

Baby elephants join in the fun…. And it was amusing seeing the baby elephant enjoy itself by splashing itself with water and another one surrendering after being splashed until it fell down in mock defeat before clambering to its feet again later…

There is also the Thai Cultural Center, presenting groups of traditional Thai houses and cultural shows such as martial arts, hill tribe music and dance, a Thai wedding ceremony and so on…

We had the most wonderful experience checking out these houses and the arts and craft as well as indulge in a special and most delicious dinner with an amazing performance, not to be missed…