Giant Swing near entrance to Wat Suthat in Bangkok, Thailand

December 1969 Issue

Giant Swing near entrance to Wat Suthat in Bangkok, Thailand

The photo in the June issue depicts the Giant Swing near the entrance to Wat Suthat in Bangkok, Thailand. The current structure is a replica of the original swing, built in 1784, which stood until 2006. (Timbers of the original swing are preserved in Bangkok’s National Museum.) In a ceremony that symbolically reenacted elements of the Hindu creation myth, monks would swing from the 80-foot-tall structure and attempt to grab a bag of coins atop one of the pillars. The ritual was halted in 1935 after several fatal accidents.

Thirteen correct entries were sent in by the deadline, and TASSANEE LEE of Seal Beach, California, won the drawing. We thank Mark Varnau of Indianapolis, Indiana, for contributing the photo.

Correct answers to the puzzle were sent in by the following readers:

Bruce Croft, Henderson, NV; Thomas DeClaire, Webster, NY; Joyce Gad, Cary, NC; John Haseman, Grand Junction, CO; Ron Hess, O'Fallon, MO; Pauline Ho, Albuquerque, NM; Lloyd Lapidow, Leivittown, NY; Kathie Larsen, Seattle, WA; WINNER: Tassanee Lee, Seal Beach, CA; Sondra Markman, Edison, NJ; John McAuliffe, Silverdale, WA; Patara Sinhaseni, Bangkok, Thailand, and Edith Speir, Annandale, VA.