Thailands Tuk Tuk ice sculpture wins first prize at Sapporo Snow Festival

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) led a team of Thai ice sculptors to win the first prize with their sculpture entitled “The Ubiquitous Tuk Tuk” at the 42nd International Snow Sculpture Contest 2015, held as part of the 66th Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido, Japan.

The creators of Thailand’s Tuk Tuk snow sculpture were three renowned Thai ice sculptors – Mr. Kusol Bunkobsongserm, Mr. Kritsana Wongtes and Mr. Amnoaysak Srisuk. They made up one of Tuk-Tuk-ice-sculpture-wins_0312 teams of 36 professional sculptors from Australia, South Korea, Finland, USA (Hawaii and Portland), Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore and Thailand. The snow sculpture contest was held from 4-8 February, 2015, at the International Square, Odori, Nishi 11 chome.

Mr. Sugree Sithivanich, Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications of TAT said, “The Tuk Tuk snow sculpture attracted a lot of attention from both Japanese and foreign visitors, all happily called out the word “Tuk Tuk” upon seeing the blueprint placed in front of the contest area.

We appreciate our sculptors for presenting one of the evocative elements of Thai culture to the global stage in a new memorable presentation, as a way to invite tourists to Discover Thainess by experiencing the fun of touring the city in a Tuk-Tuk.”

The Ubiquitous Tuk-Tuk is a snow sculpture of 3m wide, 3m high and 3m in depth.

It was created under the concept that the “Tuk-Tuk is a symbol of Thai ingenuity and artistry, and one of the most popular transports for tourists to experience joy and fun. In addition, the Tuk-Tuk is not only transporting passengers around town, but also
carrying the Thai legacy throughout the world.”

Tuk-Tuk-ice-sculpture-wins_01This was the sixth win in the top award for Thailand since the first in 2000, followed by three consecutive years of winning from 2008-2010. The previous win was in 2013.

Mr. Sugree added, “This participation in the Sapporo snow contest is part of TAT’s plan to promote the “2015 Discover Thainess” campaign in Japan to attract more Japanese travellers to Thailand.

For Hokkaido, we are reiterating the awareness on Thailand as a destination by showing off some unique elements of Thai culture, including showcasing the elaborate snow sculpture of the Tuk-Tuk in Sapporo and another beautiful snow sculpture of the Thai elephant in Monbetsu. We also held a Thai food festival in Asahikawa.”