Baguio and Thailand: Is there a connection?

Queen Sirikit Park was created in honor of Queen Sirikit Sirikit Kittiyakara (Thai: สิริกิติ์ กิติยากร; RTGS: Sirikit Kittiyakon), is the queen consort of Bhumibol Adulyadej, King (Rama IX) of Thailand. She met Bhumibol in Paris, where her father was the Thai ambassador. 

Marriage of Queen Sirikit of Thailand:

On 4 October 1948, while Bhumibol was driving a Fiat Topolino on the Geneva-Lausanne road, he collided into the rear of a braking truck 10 km outside of Lausanne. 

He hurt his back and incurred cuts on his face that cost him most of the sight in one eye.^[

He subsequently wears an ocular prosthetic. While he was hospitalized in Lausanne, Sirikit visited him frequently.

 She met his mother,The Princess Mother Sangwan, who asked her to continue her studies nearby so that the king could get to know her better. Bhumibol selected a boarding school for her in Lausanne, Riante Rive. 

A quiet engagement in Lausanne followed on 19 July 1949,^[1] and the couple married on 28 April 1950, just a week before his coronation.

August 12: Mother's Day In Thailand:

Queen Sirikit's birthday, as is the king's, is a national holiday, and is also Mothers' Day in Thailand.

 She is particularly revered in the more remote and traditional parts of the country, where the monarchy is regarded as semi-divine. 

Her work in promoting tolerance and understanding for the Muslim minorities in the southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat have made her especially popular amongst local Muslims. 

The queen has a strong bond with southern Thailand. She spends months in the Muslim-majority provinces every year. The queen is considered to be one of the more quiet diplomats

( Info taken from www.wikipedia.com)

The Queen Sirikit Park:

It was built in 1992 and named after Queen Sirikit to celebrate her 60th birthday.

 It contains many fountains and pools where lotus flowers bloom.

The park can be reached easily from the Mo Chit Station on Sukhumvit Line of the BTS Skytrain, or the Chatuchak Park Station on the MRT Blue Line.

Trivia:

Botanical Garden. A part of the "Chatuchak Discovery Garden", it is a collection of the local plants, the plants named after the royal family, the plants from royal residences and exotic plants from other countries. 

The garden is grouped into several areas to be reached by a walkway. They are "Banana Tree Garden" of over 70 varieties, "Plumeria Yard" showing several colors of charming flower, "Asoke Yard" where a collection of extraordinary beauty of flowering trees are grown, "Ixora Yard" that creates delicate colorful flowers throughout the year, "Hibiscus Yard", a collection of fascinating flower plants.

(http://office.bangkok.go.th)

Personal Notes

I am not a queen, in fact I am just a tourist hoping to get a glimpse of what it feels like to be a queen.

Aug. 12 is also my birthday.

 Being the nature lover that I am instead of going to shopping malls and wasting my money and time, my friends and I decided to celebrate my birthday at Queen Sirikit Park instead.

Since it was the Queen Mother's birthday in Thailand we where able to get a glimpse of the Thai Bonsai contest that was ongoing and we also got the chance to see some musical performances by some jazz singers in Thailand.

Whenever I feel like doing something special I go to the park.
 Nowadays very few people even ponder on doing that. 

Parks are now something rare and people hardly ever think of it.
 Most of the time even if they are in the park they fail to connect with nature because they are too busy looking at their iPhone and gadgets.

For me and some of my friends, nature is the place to connect, it is the place to feel and to dream again.

 It is where you get to relax for free...nature provides beauty that was meant to be free for everyone in the first place.

I applaud the Thai government for funding the Queen Sirikit Park, they had been able to set aside money for the funding and maintenance of the park.

 I could not help but imagine what if this was done in my country too.

What if Mayor Mauricio Domogan would take the time to revive Burnham Park? and when I say revive...it is not to place iron fences...when I say revive I mean can they truly take care of the park and make sure that people can sit and relax without being disturbed...

Burnham Park nowadays is filled with illegal peddlers and people cannot sit in peace and reflect in the park due to the lack of order and discipline.

It used to be one of the best parks in the Philippines, it used to be legendary.

 Today the city government of Baguio is hopelessly putting so many artificial lighting in order to make it presentable..But will it truly revive the beauty of our beloved park?

It is my wish that one day the people in Baguio and the entire country will realize the value of the trees, the flowers and fresh air.

Everything is so congested in the city, people are getting depressed and are looking for ways to express their creativity.
The art community of Baguio is alive more than ever, because the yearning for places to cultivate their soul is lacking.
The only way people can maintain their sanity is to embrace art.

I don't know if Thailanders understand how fortunate they are for having Queen Sirikit park.

 In our hometown Baguio city  this is a right that we have to fight for.

 We have to rally on the streets just so we can save our precious trees.

We are fighting for the remaining open spaces that we have that are being threatened.

While people in Thailand can sit and relax on a free park, we on the other hand have to fight with all our might to gain equal rights for something that people in other countries enjoy without worry.

Residents in Baguio are fighting for clean air, for the remaining Pine trees...for our parks to be maintained, for our open spaces to remain free for public use...

Pine trees..are being cut everywhere in exchange for shopping malls and condominiums, we hardly have any open space where we can freely run and unwind.

It is with the hopes that we are not yet too late, that we can still save our remaining open space and have this kind of joy that people in Thailand experience.

Because Baguio...we deserve this too....