The largest floating book fair has now been in Bangkok for ten days and it seems that their stop at Klong Toey Port in Bangkok is a total success. Many Thai and foreign booklovers have boarded the Logos Hope, with numbers reaching up to 10.000 visitors at the weekends, in the hope of finding a good book to read and also to check out the ship itself.
The book fair on board of the Logos Hope offers a large collection of fiction and nonfiction books for both children and adults. There’s a large section of Christian books as well as a very good stand with souvenirs from the Logos Hope, such as posters, postcards, books on the history of the ship, wristbands, 3D models etc. There are about 5000 different titles to choose from and the ship has half a million books on board!
But, before you enter the bookstore, you are invited in the “lifeboat theatre” where you can watch a 5-minute long movie about the mission, heritage and history of GBA Ships, the Germany-based charity that “runs” the ship. (The acronym GBS stands for “Good Books for All.”) Actually, the ship is manned by 400 volunteers from almost 60 different countries, including five from Thailand. They have committed themselves to stay on board for two years to travel the oceans and bring knowledge to the world.
After the brief video presentation, visitors can check out a wall containing an illustrated history of the GBA Ships and also learn about different tools used to navigate the seas.
As soon as you enter the book fair, you’d most likely like to know how much are the books. Well, prices are in “Logos units” and these are displayed at regular intervals. As the ship goes all over the world, the value of the books had to be converted in a system that would be easy to manage. Thus, 100 units equals to 80 Thai baht, with the most expensive books at 800 baht (1000 units) and the cheapest ones at 20 baht (25 units).
Most of the people you’ll meet on the ship, be it at the cashier counter or at the ticket booth, are young people (with strong Christian beliefs) and you are not likely to meet two staff members from the same country working at the same station. But, the ship is a great place to meet not only the volunteers running the bookstore but also the visitors who stop at the International Café to chat and leaf through the books they have bought.
In just about two hours, I had met people from Italy, Congo, Germany, South Africa and even a co-national from Romania. Obviously, the de facto language is English, but if you are lucky enough to meet a person whose native language you can also speak, they’ll be thrilled to chat with you.
The Logos Hope is open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10am to 9.30pm, but on Sundays and Mondays it opens later at 2pm and closed at 9.30pm. The entry fee is 20 baht but it’s free for children under 12 years old, who must be accompanied by an adult. Klong Toey Port is located at 444 Tarue Road. Once you’re there, just follow the signs.
The Logos Hope will have its door open for visitors in Bangkok until March 11th and then, on March 13th, it will “set sail” for Hong Kong where it is scheduled to undergo maintenance. Check out their website for future port calls.
i visited the ship it last came to montego bay, Jamaica, west indies and it was truly a great experience. I keep checking when you will next be in our ports. hope you return soon.