From today until Dec 23, food enthusiasts are invited to the 15th Pla Thoo Eating and Mae Klong Famous Products Festival held in front of the Provincial Hall, Muang Samut Songkhram. Pla thoo is a kind of fish belonging to Scombridae family and Rastrelliger species like the mackerel. They live in groups off the shoreline to a depth of 200m. Three types of pla thoo are found in Thai waters _ short-bodied or Indo-Pacific mackerel, Indian mackerel (pla thoo lang) and island mackerel (pla thoo pak jingjok).
The Chaophraya Abhaibhubejhr Hospital serves as a museum of herbal medicine.
The event features more than 50 pla thoo dishes from famous local restaurants, a photo exhibition on the old local ways of life, models of fishing tools and a exhibition on mackerel as well as a display of live pla thoo. There are also concerts, music, singing, painting and cooking contests, cultural performances and movie screenings.
In conjunction with the festival, the Tourism Authority of Thailand's local office and local tourism groups have promoted the Eating Mackerel, Watching Fireflies tour packages at special prices to make mackerel and fireflies, two of the province's symbols, better known among tourists.