Community Work Out in Bangkok
Lumpini Park is a haven for thousands who exercise each morning
Jan 6, 2008
Drive past Bangkok's Lumpini Park in the middle of the day and it looks pleasant enough as a haven from the city's non-stop traffic, quiet and practically empty. Named after the birthplace of the Buddha, it is a place to expect peace, tranquility, opportunities for reflection and contemplation. Visitors seeking relief from the hurly burly of city life will not be disappointed.
But at daybreak it's a very different story. From 4.30 am when the gates open thousands of Bangkokians stream in to take their morning exercise in every conceivable manner, at first in the pre-dawn darkness and later under a pale pink sky framed by rows of elegant high-rise buildings beyond the park boundary. The result is one of the city's most eye-catching spectacles that visitors often miss.
Right inside the main gate is one of the largest and most active groups. An impossibly energetic and healthy-looking instructor on a raised platform leads a few hundred of Bangkok's most determined fitness devotees in dancing, twisting, high-stepping, jumping, gyrating, bobbing and hopping in time with an unending stream of western pop music.
Further into the park an unbroken procession of joggers, power-walkers and casual strollers circle the perimeter road, some struggling, some sprinting for an imaginary, self-designated finish line, others following prolonged preparatory stretching programs as if to put off the pain of actual exercise, a few moving with the easy grace of trained and experienced athletes.
Near the centre of the park a ring of fifty men stand a few feet apart, rhythmically chanting as they stretch and bend, working up to a deep-throated, shouted crescendo as a grand finale before wandering off for a drink or some breakfast.
A group of retired army officers enjoys a game of badminton behind the library. Grunting weight lifters pump iron in a fenced-off area partly obscured by bougainvillea, between lifts nonchalantly posing while pretending not to. More sedate groups stand beside the Senior citizen's club, following a pattern of slow, graceful movements learned from daily practice, raising arms and bending knees in unison, to the sound of Chinese music. Yoga groups sit on mats on the grass, deep in thought and discussing their positions as much as holding them.
Many groups are wearing distinctive, uniform outfits. "We are a wainji-o group," says Mr Yunyong Phaphaidin, a pink-shirted veteran of the park. "There are four other groups like ours, similarly dressed and meeting every day for the last five years, almost like an extended family."
Each group brings music players and loudspeakers and choreographs a sequence of exercises. Some dance with a big red fan in one hand, audibly flipping them open and closed as they complete each coordinated routine.
A few follow the movements and music from a distance, apparently not sure whether to join the group, perhaps too modest. Miss Nopmanee Somboonsub, another Lumpini veteran taking time out from her aerobic dance routine, says she used to jog. "But it's more fun with other people," she says. "Dancing like this is a great start to the day. If I miss it I feel less active later at work."
By 6.30 am most activities have finished or are winding down, amblers begin to outnumber runners and after a session of tea drinking and gossip people drift off towards their cars, buses or offices. But they will all be back tomorrow. This is one modern, healthy and fun urban custom that looks set to continue with no end in sight.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
