HRH King's Birthday celebration in Sakon Nakhon

The word was out, parade starts at 4 pm from the city gate park. So why were they gathering at the local temple? Turns out, they split the parade into two segments, starting from two locations The city gate gathering began marching 5 pm. Timing was a bit late for the temple parade, there was about a 20 minute delay between parade arrivals at the provincial grounds.    Seemed to be one of those days no one knew for sure if alcohol sales were prohibited or not. Some bars were closed, others were not 5 pm, the parade is underway There wasn't really very much of a spectator crowd along the parade route, parade participants outnumbered spectators.  Even though most participants were really into the spirit of the parade and it's purpose, many seemed to be preoccupied texting or ordering pizza, or arranging a dinner date after the parade.  Did notice many local restaurants did brisk business after the parade.    Ah yes, early in the parade I saw a group of school girls looking in all directions to see if it was safe, then making their great escape (away from the parade).

Sakon Nakhon