'Took in the boat'

Good luck or chok dee plays a very important role in Thai life. Think, for example, of Songkran, the Thai New Year, where water is lavishly thrown for three days and you have to come from a good family to not come home soaking wet.

Loy Krathong is also such a national festival where small homemade boats with offerings and burning candles are launched for good luck. In addition to these major national holidays, there are also many local good luck festivals.

Hua Hin

The residents of the seaside hamlet of Chai Talay in Hua Hin are not left behind and celebrate their own party every September. The underlying idea is to appease the God of the sea for good luck and to drive away the evil spirits, who are the representatives of bad luck. You write your name on small dolls, which are for sale everywhere near the harbor during the weekend in question. Then they are collected and placed on a boat. Accompanied by a crowd of people and lots of children, the procession heads for the sea.

monks

It would Thailand would not be if the monks also did not make an appearance. Of course respect must be shown to the spirits of the sea and therefore a whole Buddhist ceremony is part of the whole. According to Thai tradition, food must also be eaten. After all, after this ceremony on an empty stomach you would not have the strength to push the boat out to sea. With all the little dolls on board, the boat leaves over the turbulent waves with an unknown destination towards the horizon. To drive away bad luck, the boat including all the dolls will go under somewhere. At least that's the story they tell.

Not bad

It's a nice story, but to sink a boat in reasonable condition, the Thai goes a little too far. When darkness has fallen I see a group of young men take the boat out of the water again and an hour later the barge is no longer to be seen in any fields or roads. Respect for the spirits agreed, but letting money disappear into the water is not an option for a Thai either. Everyone has been taken back into the boat for a year, but luck will smile on everyone all year long.