Poi Sang Long Ritual - Day 2

Tuesday, 31 March, according to the Abbott of Wat Kum Klang, the "official" printed festival brochure, as well as several local people, was the morning when the young boys would be dressed up in their finery and made up to be paraded through Maehongson. After yesterday's serendipitous discovery of the head shaving ceremony, we were determined to check, double check as well as to verify exactly what event was scheduled as well as its starting time.

We got up at 4:00 A. M. so that we would be at the Wat for 5:00 A. M. As we approached the Wat on foot from our parking space across the lake, we heard the continued acrimonious clanging, banging and beat of the previous day's music. We learned that as long as this music was going on, something was happening.


We arrived just about the right time at the Wat. The bot was filled with family members attending to their young boy. This morning the "Sang Long" (jewelled sons) were being dressed up in fine silks, brocades, jewelery, and complicated millinery. Their mothers, sisters, and aunts applied makeup to the boy's face that would be the envy of any Bangkok or Pattaya Kathoey (Lady Boy). In fact I suspect that many American women would love to be made up and look as elegant as these young boys do. Each family set up their spot on the floor in the bot. A few foreigners freely mingled amongst the Shan people photographing and filming the Shan tradition. Outsiders were very welcomed by the families and the atmosphere was free and relaxed.

The boys were being made up to resemble Princes. When the dressing and makeup had been completed the boys looked like they were little Maharajahs out of some Rudyard Kipling story. This was not a Halloween masquerade type skit but a financially taxing attempt to emulate royalty. Some of the clothing cost upwards to 10,000 baht ($286 USD). We were told by one family that they had gotten the cloth for their son's outfit from Cambodia. The clothing was colorful, intricate, and very fancy. Dressing up your son for his ordination is very analogous to the tradition and social pressures in the USA for having your daughter get married. To suitably impress the relatives, neighbors, and friends, families take on a large financial burden. Almost $300 for a child's outfit even in the Western World is not a trifle amount. Here in Thailand the average farm worker makes 100 baht ($3.50) a day. A can of Coke or Pepsi costs 15 baht so although I often write about how cheap things are here in Thailand, I am using an American perspective. At 100 baht a day, the average Thai farm worker is not going to be buying too many cans of soda or saving very much money in a month. To stage this family celebration many families pool resources and many end up borrowing money to finance the spectacle. We met and spoke with some young boys who had not been through the Poi Sang Long ceremony because their family could not afford the expense. Peer pressure is very strong for every family to somehow and someway to come up with the money to participate in the tradition.

The fathers focused their efforts on dressing their son in all the various articles of clothing. The proud fathers also gave their sons words of comfort and guidance. Other male members of the family sat next to the young boy. In many places, hired men also sat next to the jewelled princes. Once the boy has had his head shaved, his feet no longer touch the ground. The jewelled prince is carried upon the shoulders of his father, grandfather, uncles, and older brothers. To supplement the contingent of male relatives, some families hire men to carry their son on top of their shoulders during the rituals and parades. In many cases the porters for a particular boy are smartly dressed in pastel tailored traditional Shan outfits. Several men are required to carry the boy along the parade route. As a man becomes tired, the boy is transferred to a fresh man for his turn to carry the jewelled prince. Some of the porters with a great deal of energy from the clanging and banging music or perhaps the whiskey that you could smell on their breadth, danced enthusiastically with the boy on their shoulders. A couple of the porters appeared to have a de facto contest as to which one of them could get their prince lowest and most parallel to the ground without dropping him. I suspect that these were professional porters and not some one's crazy uncle or older brother. The fact that no princes were dropped also leads me to believe that professionals were at work. The mothers completed the outfitting of their princes by placing their gold chains around their necks and placing gold rings on their fingers. It was interesting to watch combinations of tape and yarn being utilized to ensure that the family jewels stayed on the boys small fingers.

After all 40 boys had been prepared, they ate a small breakfast of fried rice and plain water. They were carried outside to be organized into parade formation. Outside family members congregated awaiting the start of the early dawn parade. A small Asian breed of horse was waiting outside to lead the parade. The horse was immaculately groomed - to the extent that its mane had been cropped where a large garland of flowers had been carefully placed around its neck. Two men wearing traditional Shan clothing tended and led the horse. Another man who appeared to be some type of shaman led the parade along side of the horse. He was dressed in white pants and tunic with his head covered in a white turban. He carried a ceremonial offering bowl.

The boys were carried on the shoulder of a man and was surrounded by men in waiting - waiting to have their turn at carrying the boy on their shoulders. Each boy is also shielded by a large ornate golden umbrella attached at the end of a long wood pole carried by a man walking to the side of the elevated boy. The umbrellas were very ornate and decorated with flowers, garlands, and intricate decorations. The umbrellas are also heavy and unwieldy
, so just as in the case of the boy, men take their turn in carrying the umbrella and ensuring that it shelters the specific boy.

Some families also hire "professional" musicians to bang gongs, clang cymbals, and play the unusual drum in the same style as we had been hearing since arriving in Maehongson. Some of the "bands" had long mechanical racks that played several cymbals at the same time. Two men carried the rack and a third man "played" the cymbals by moving a lever back and forth. The din of the amateur musicians along with the professionals created quite an atmosphere.

The parade left the Wat complex at sunrise and headed through downtown Maehongson. The entourage stopped at a local temple in the center of town. The purpose of the stop was for the boys to let the spirits know that they were becoming Monks and to ensure that the boys had been forgiven. The parade then moved through the airport on the edge of town to visit a Buddhist temple. At this location the boys requested forgiveness from the Abbott. It was at this point that we decided to move on to our hotel to shower and have our breakfast. It had already been a long and tiring morning even though it was 8:00 A.M.