Phi Ta Khon Festival
One of the most famous festivals in Thailand is undoubtedly the Phi Ta Khon festival in DanSai, a small town in Loei province not far from the border with Laos. Because I can recommend everyone to attend this festival once, I will first tell you what the meaning of this festival is based on an article by Sjon Hauser. Then a few photos and finally a shortened version of an earlier piece written by me.
The Thai word Phi means spirit, so it is a spirit festival. The origin of this annual event is said to lie in an old mythological story.
Prince Wetsanthon, a reincarnation of Buddha was a generous man. So generous that he gave his father's white elephant to a neighboring country, which was ravaged by a terrible drought. The white elephant was able to summon rain through magical powers. The natives were furious at this generosity and demanded the banishment of the prince. The prince, however, remained in exile for good, until he himself had nothing left. As a result, he attained Enlightenment. King and people were deeply impressed and asked the prince to return.
On his return he was received with a grand procession. And that procession has taken place annually ever since, including all the spirits in the jungle who had benefited from the prince's generosity. Because the prince gave away the cure for drought, the white elephant, the festival is held at the end of June or the beginning of July, the period when all farmers wait for rain. Rain is absolutely necessary to make dry soil fertile again. That is why the festival is now also well equipped with fertility symbols. Such a symbol par excellence is of course the penis.
All participants are dressed in colorful suits and equipped with a large mask with an elephant trunk. A sword is sometimes carried in the hand, the hilt of which is a penis or other times simply a wooden penis. The dressed-up boys playfully approach the girls, who then retreat in fright. In any case, it is made clear that although Thailand is a Buddhist country, there is also a strong belief in ghosts.
We leave via the Motorway towards Bangkok. At the ring road around Bangkok we turn right towards Ban Pa In. Then to the North, to Nakhon Sawan. At twelve o'clock we passed this place and we decide to have lunch. We do this in a small restaurant along the road, where we can choose from a number of pans how we want our rice garnished. For three men 80 Baht. At two o'clock we are already in Phitsanulok. We don't go any further, especially when we discover an extremely luxurious hotel. The Toplang Hotel. My Thai travel companion Sun manages to reduce the asking price from 1.400 Baht per room to 1.200 Baht by negotiating and then scrap breakfast to 1.000 Baht. We overlook the temple with the thousand Buddhas.
The next day we drive Loei. The road leads through mountains and valleys. When we allow ourselves to be tempted for another cup of coffee in a beautiful wooden restaurant, we are presented with a menu, which shows that we are in the Vincent restaurant. The image on the card leaves no doubt: a painting by Van Gogh. Unfortunately, we cannot figure out why our national pride has come so far from home. When you order a simple cup of coffee, you first get a large glass with ice water, then the coffee and finally a pot of tea with small cups. That's how it is Thailand usual in the better circles. At eleven o'clock we see a sign indicating that there is a road to the Poi waterfall. We're on vacation and still in the area, so let's take a look.
We reach a wide river and just see that a car is entering the water on the other side. The driver makes a turn around some boulders. The car goes under water until just below the open windows and then rises again. Apparently the driver knows where to drive. On the right side of this autoroute, the water plunges down over large rocks. Not really spectacular. The next waterfall, before which we turn off, is called Kaeng Sopha. This one is much larger and can be called spectacular. The entrance fee is 200 Baht for foreigners, 20 Baht for Thais. Including a car, however, we pay 300 Baht. There is no rope to tie. We drive on again. The scenery here is beautiful. It is true that most of the jungle has been cut down, but the variety of forest, rice fields, grape orchards, pineapple fields and whatnot is impressive.
At one o'clock we stop at a place called Coffee Hill. A Thai hippie, who has not survived the sixties, is the owner. The Western music associated with him and his time is nice to hear. In addition to serving coffee, original Thai wine is sold here. The chateau is called Khao Koh. There are also herbal juices, herbal shampoo, herbal tea. In short, everything is healthy. We're barely in the car when a downpour breaks loose. To drive slowly. However, when we enter Lomsak at two o'clock it is dry again.
At the tourist office in Pattaya I got names of two hotels last year. One with rooms between 800 Baht and 3.000 Baht. The other so cheap, we hardly trust it. We first look for the expensive hotel, called Lomsak Nattirut Grand. It does look expensive, but less than that of the night before. Sun will make another attempt to get a reasonable price. We tell him we don't want more than 800 Baht. He comes back with a sad face. 800 is not possible, he says. We ask how much. 695 Baht is the answer.
At three o'clock we have an extensive meal downstairs in the restaurant. We see that a photo in the elevator with a masseuse of 100 kilos accurately reflects reality. There are constantly extraordinarily well-built ladies walking around. I can't bear to think about it and neither can my two heterosexual traveling companions, so it's really bad. The latter have a lot of fun with the giggling girls who serve us.
Finally we drive to Dan Sai, the place where it all started. Another beautiful road. Even more impressive because we constantly see black clouds moving menacingly along the mountain tops. The distance Lomsak-Dan Sai is 63 kilometers, but at most 10 kilometers we suffer from rain. The kilometer markers between 30 and 40 are striking. They are all there, but they are in an exceptionally playful order. Drunk road workers or a social employment project for the blind.
It is striking that we find nice coffee places everywhere in this part of Thailand. Good coffee, not expensive and always on beautiful points. In Dan Sai we first drive past a chedi, the Phra That Si Song Rak. Dating from the mid-sixteenth century, it is said to house a relic of Buddha, but I cannot verify that. In any case, many Thais make offerings here during the festival. It is striking that women are not allowed to enter the square on which the chedi is built. They are also not allowed to enter the small temple. I have never seen this in Thailand before. Now to the street where the Phitakhon festival is held.
Half past ten we arrive at the Wat Phon Chai, where a large part of the activities take place. There are indeed some groups of similarly dressed spirits dancing around the temple, but this cannot really impress us, especially since everyone carries flags with the name of a famous car brand.
Sponsored Spirits, an unusual combination. We also see two figures walking around in a colorful suit of twice human height. One is equipped with a large wooden penis with a red-painted acorn, the other only with a large head of hair. Groups of masked schoolchildren show off their artful dances on an adjacent site. Competitions are held every year to see who achieves the best performance. The kids are having a lot of fun, but it's clear their parents are having even more fun. Countless times their offspring have to pose for the digital camera.
After all, it is an Eldorado for the photographer. Many people love being photographed next to a beautiful ghost, and apparently the ghosts love posing with visitors over and over again. We walk around, drink beer and eat gigantic ice cream parties in the local ice cream parlor. We inform what and where the events will take place tomorrow. The whole thing will start at eight o'clock tomorrow and the big parade will take place from a large square ahead to the temple we have now visited.
We drive back to our hotel and have dinner in the dining room. We retire early to our rooms and sleep early too. Saturday is the big day for all local spirits. At six o'clock we leave for Dan Sai without breakfast. We are there at seven o'clock and find a parking space in an open field on the street, where the parade will take place. It will turn out later that this may not be such a good idea. First we eat a delicious soup. Then we walk to the square, where the procession will form. On an adjacent sports field of a large school, many children are already dressed up by their mothers.
Here and there are large dolls, now without human content, but with large genitals. We take our seats in a grandstand specially built for this occasion. Opposite us, groups of girls and boys in traditional clothing are waiting to be allowed to line up. A little after eight o'clock a float comes, completely in golden yellow colors, with the portrait of the king. All girls and boys line up in neat rows in front of and next to the car. The whole stands for fences that close off the large square for all traffic. After standing in the sun for half an hour, the order is given that everyone may sit down again.
There are many people walking around with an official uniform of the Pitakhon organization. And many cops and even soldiers with batons raised. The latter not because of fertility symbolism. Everyone is terribly busy, but nothing is happening. Everything was probably postponed because the mayor overslept. However, a music car always drives onto the sports field.
Running competitions take place between the large Pitakhons and between people dressed as buffalo. Everything is running together, it is a pleasant bustle. An awful lot of people have come to this event, but I rarely see a white foreigner. The float is still waiting idly. Again all kinds of groups are announced to determine which class of which school has delivered the most beautiful and best group of Pitakhons.
It is an incredibly colorful spectacle.
At about ten o'clock we leave to drink a beer in a beer bar on this street, where we also sat yesterday. On the way we see that the car is fully parked. It is now really packed with people. Sometimes they walk to the square to see if the parade has started yet. Partly they come back, because it hasn't started yet. We are on our fourth beer, when it becomes clear that there is more to it than people walking aimlessly. The parade has begun. We pay and take a look. The float passes by with all the beautiful girls and boys neatly lined up. Groups Phi Ta Khons. Many individual Phi Ta Khons. Music cars.
In a lot of literature I read that this festival resembles Halloween, but for me it is a carnival parade squared. Fantastic, so many intensely enjoying people. Once a year everyone can enjoy themselves. Dressed up in fur, wearing a mask and dancing and waving your artificial penis. We walk between this crowd of people back to the place of the car and meet Sun there. We stop here and watch. I photograph the nicest ghosts and of course the most beautiful penises. Everyone likes to stop and pose. Some boys apparently dare to go a little further and carry a stretcher with a wooden copulating couple on it. Everything is possible and allowed, as long as it pleases the spirits.
We see a group of boys and men, who have blackened themselves completely, presumably evil spirits.
They terrify girls. They also seem pretty drunk. Then a group of boys who have dunked themselves in mud. Symbolically actually a beautiful representation of what good spirits can do with dry earth through rain. Of course these guys would like to give us a hand. What does it all matter. It's party time. Incomprehensible, but it seems as if there is no end to it. We don't understand where everyone comes from or where they stay. What is certain is that they are not walking in circles. In the end we decide that we will turn the car and just ride with the procession. Sun goes with us resignedly. It takes almost an hour before we are out of the street and can turn onto a larger road. It's about two hours.
Immediately outside Dan Sai it is already quiet again. We eat in the same restaurant where we had coffee yesterday. Fine. We drive through Lomsak, then not towards Pitsanulok but towards Phetchabun. We drive on until heavy rain forces us to stop. Fortunately we find a hotel in Bueng San Phan. Shabby and cheap, but not dirty. Sunday we drive via Saraburi to the ring road around Bangkok. We will be back in Pattaya shortly after twelve.
Lomsak: 16°46’37.26″N 101°14’32.59″E
Dan Sai : 17°16'45.07″N 101° 8'50.47″E