Pandering to us with their cuteness for a good cause this week are 1,600 paper mache pandas, the famed work of French sculptor Paulo Grangeon. This massive herd previously toured Europe and is now making its throughout Asia. Until Mar 19, the pandas will appear at 10 major landmarks around the city (plus Ayutthaya), for three hours at each location — a panda flashmob, if you will.
Sure, you’ll have a more relaxed opportunity to view the pandas when they settle into Central Embassy from Mar 24 to Apr 10, but when are you ever going to see 1,600 panda sculptures all over Sanam Luang, Lumpini Park and Hua Lamphong Train Station? You feel? Here’s the schedule for the flashmobs.
No doubt the sight of all those cute little pandas occupying a large public square will make for an impressive and jovial scene, but when you realise that 1,600 represents the number of pandas left on the planet, you start to understand the big picture of a dying population.
