Threshing Time

Golden Rice Pours Out of Threshing Machine

Driving along the country roads of Isaan this and last week, you will see many activities in the parched golden rice paddies.  The first indication of what may be ahead as you travel is three to five motorbikes parked along the paved road or just off of the road.

Looking at the paddies beyond the congregation of bikes, you will observe colorfully dressed Lao Loum people cutting rice, stacking sheaves of rice that has dried in the field for about a week, and threshing rice. The people are fully clothed for protection from the sun, dust, and irritation of dry plant materials.

Since the rainy season ended about three or four weeks ago the fields are dry and dusty.  If the farmers are threshing the rice the air is filled with chaff.  To avoid inhaling dust and chaff the farmers typically wrap a soccer jersey around their face leaving just a narrow slot for their eyes.  One benefit to the end of the rainy season is that we often have brilliant blue sky now.  The combination of brilliant blue sky, yellow straw, golden grain and various color schemes of the worker's clothing presents many interesting photography opportunities.

As Children Watch, Rice Is Threshed In the Field

To thresh the rice the farmers contact a person who has a truck mounted threshing machine.  The truck mounted threshing machine go from paddy to paddy all day long with the emphasis on speed.  The farmers typically compensate the owner of the thresher with a share of the resulting rice.  Typically the fee for threshing is one 50kg bag of rice for every 20 bags threshed.  For 100 bags threshed the fee is typically 4 bags.

To minimize the time that the thresher stays at their paddies, the farmers spread a large fine mesh blue net on a flat piece of round.  The rice that had been spread flat out in the paddies to dry in the sun are bundled into sheaves.  The sheaves are gathered and transported to the blue net.  The sheaves are piled high on top of the blue net.  Any rice kernels that separate in the rough handling of the sheaves falls on to the net and at the end of the threshing is bagged.  The threshing machine typically has a two man crew.  One man sits on the side of the machine behind a cantilevered shelf on the machine.  His job is to manually feed the sheaves, that are thrown on to the shelf by the farmers, into the machine.  His partner monitors the various exposed belts and pulleys of the threshing machine to ensure smooth operation.  The second crewman also repositions the chaff shoot as necessary during the threshing operation as well as monitoring the engine.  Together the two man crew sets up and dismantles the machine for transport.

The separated rice grain streams out the end of the threshing machine in a golden flow into 50 kg bags.  The filled bags are carried to the edge of the blue net where one of the farmers closes them and ties them off with thin strips of bamboo.  Once the threshing is completed, the number of filled bags is tallied and the thresher takes his fee before he sets off to his next appointment.

A Woman Ties Off Filled Bags

The farmers then load up the remaining bags of rice on to farm wagons or trucks to be transported to their home.  The bags are offloaded and placed in elevated small storage sheds next to their house.  Eventually most of the rice will be taken to a miller to remove the husk but that is subject of a blog to be written soon.

For some people who have too small a crop to afford mechanized threshing, threshing their rice is done the old fashioned way; by hand.  When Duang was young she threshed rice by hand with her family.

Threshing Rice The Old Fashioned Way

Just outside of Tahsang Village I came upon a man and his wife threshing rice by hand.  I found it very interesting so I stopped to learn about it and to photograph it.  Just as with the farmers who were using a mechanized thresher, these farmers had laid out a blue net and placed their sheaves upon it.  The man used two pieces of bamboo that had cotton rope which connected them together - sort of like "nunchucks".  Two pieces of bamboo connected with cotton string?  I had seen that once before!!  It was during the event that I documented in my blog entry, "Two Funerals and an Excorcism", that I saw young village men using smaller versions of this device to capture the "Phii Ling" (Monkey Ghosts) that had infested their village. http://www.hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2011/01/two-funerals-and-excorcism.html  Life can be seen as a serious of isolated events much like the pages of a coloring book with a collection numbered dots.  I still find great satisfaction and joy in being able to connect today's dots to see the depth and magic in current events just as the child connects the numbered dots to discover a hidden picture.  Coloring the ensuing revelation, or in my case photographing it, only adds to the wonder.  Last week's connections of the Royal Barges to the paintings at the Grand Palace and further back to the Thai Epic, "The Ramakian" is another example.

The farmer was very skilled in using the device to select a sheave from the pile, secure the selected sheave, lift the sheave high over his head and flail the sheave four to five times against the ground and growing mound of free rice kernels.  With a quick movement of his wrists. the farmer released the sheave of straw flying to a growing pile of waste.

A Sheaf of Straw Is Sent Flying

The Pile of Rice Grows As Spent Sheaf Is Discarded

Farm Wagon Awaits A Pecious Cargo - Next Year's Food

The normal 40 minute drive from Tahsang Village to our home in Udonthani ended up taking 3 hours on Sunday.  Three great stops to observe the threshing had lengthened the duration of the journey.  The time spent to observe and photograph was for me a worthwhile investment to learn and better understand the life of the Lao Loum farmer here in Isaan.

Thailand Royal Barge Procession

The Royal Barge, "Suphannahongsa" (Golden Swan)

Finally after one week of photo editing and post processing, I am ready to share the experience of witnessing last week's Royal Barge Procession in Bangkok.

The Royal Barge Procession is quite a unique event. The first Royal Barge Procession was conducted over 700 years ago. The purpose of last week's procession was to transport HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkom down the Chao Phraya River to Wat Arun where he would be making offerings of robes to the resident Monks.

Following the end of Buddhist Lent also referred to as Buddhist Retreat on 30 October of this year there is a one month period of special merit making known as Kathina. Kathina is a time when people show appreciation to the Monks by offering them gifts, typically robes.

The legend is that long ago thirty Monks were travel to spend the Buddhist Retreat with Gautama Buddha but they didn't make it to him in time.  The Buddhist Retreat started before their arrival at their destination so they stopped where they were.  When they finally got to Gautama Buddha after the Buddhist Retreat ended, he rewarded their obedience and faith by giving them some cloth that had been given to him.  The Monks were to make the cloth into a robe to be given to one of them.  They used a frame called a "kathina" to help in making the robe hence the term "Kathina" for the season and its associated festivals.  When the Royal Family of Thailand offers robes to Monks the merit making ritual is known as "The Royal Kathin Ceremony"

Sometimes The Royal Kathin Ceremony is determined by the King to require a Royal Barge Procession.  In the 19th century, previous King did not want to create more confusion and gridlock in the streets of Bangkok so he traveled by river to make the robe offerings which started the modern use of the Royal Barge Procession for the Royal Kathin Ceremony.

There are two formations for a Royal Barge Procession major and Minor.  For this procession the major as in "Major Battle Formation" was decided upon.  The major battle formation consists of five columns of barges where as the minor procession consists of three columns.  The main battle formation consisted of 52 barges and 2,200 costumed Thai Navy sailors rowing the craft.



Five Columns of Barges In the Major Formation



 

A Royal Barge Procession is a grand event which requires a great deal of planning, coordination, and logistics. Some of the barges are over 100 years old and must be inspected and repaired to ensure that they are seaworthy. Because the Chao Phraya River is a main commercial artery for Thailand, the river must be cleared of all traffic prior to the procession for the safety and security of the participants. Like many rivers in heavily populated areas, the Chao Phraya River also has a great deal of debris floating down it to the sea. Part of the preparations involved for the procession is cleaning the river of floating debris.

Picking Up Debris Prior to Procession

To ensure that the procession fulfilled expectations, starting on September 27th and ending on November 6th, there were 7 rehearsals and two dress rehearsals for the procession.

The Suphannahongsa Royal Barge Proceeding Down River - A Magnificent Sight

There are four Royal Golden Barges in the procession.  The grandest, which HRH Crown Prince Maha sat in is the Suphannahongsa (Golden Swan). The Hongsa or Hamsa (Pali, the native language of Buddhism in Thailand) is a mythical winged swan like creature that the Hindu god, Brahma, rides. The current vessel was launched in 1911.  It was constructed from a single teak tree and is 46.15 meters long.  It is propelled by 50 oarsman.

The Hamsa carries a garland from its mouth at the bow of the barge.  The garland is a polished wood ball covered with small mirrors, followed by chandelier type arrangement of mirrors after which are three crystal ornaments and finally a large tassel of yak fur. Yak fur?  Although there are no yaks in Thailand, yak fur was selected it is from an animal that is considered high and noble.  Yak fur also glistens in the light and does not mat together when it is wet (something to definitely consider for the front of a boat).  When dry, yak fur fluffs up very nicely as can be seen in this photograph.

The bow of Subannahongsa is adorned with a large floral garland made from fresh jasmine, roses, false globe and amsranth.

Royal Barge Anantanagaraj (Anata, The King of Serpents)

Second in ranking of the four Royal Barges is the Anantanagaraj Royal Barge.  It is 44.85 meters long, propelled by 54 oarsman, and was launched in 1914.  The figurehead of the barge is a seven headed serpent, a mythical creature named "Naga".  The Naga is said to have raised its heads and sheltered Buddha from a storm once while he was meditating.



Royal barge Anekkachatphuchong (The Variety of Serpents)

The oldest of the Royal barges is the Royal Barge Anekkachatphuchchong.  It is 45.67 meters long, propelled by 61 oarsmen, and was built in the late 19th century by order of King Rama V.  The most distinctive feature is rather the lack of a distinctive ornamental bow figurehead.  The Anekkachatphucchong is artistically pleasing in it's simple but elegant bow. It is a fine example of beauty and elegance in its simplicity.  It is the lightest barge displacing 7.7 tons.

Royal Barge Narai Song Suban Ratchakan Thi Kao (God Narayana on his Carrier Garuda)

The newest Royal Barge, Narai Song Suban Ratchakan Thi Kao, was launched on May 6, 1996 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of King Rama IX ascending to the throne.  The barge is 44.3 meters long and propelled by 50 oarsmen.  It is also the heaviest barges displacing 20 tons.

The Royal Barges are accompanied by five classes of escort barges.  The bows of escort barges have figueheads of mythical creatures from the Thai epic, "Ramakian" or a painting of a mythical creature.

There are two barges of the Suea Class.  These barges are distinguished by painted tiger (Suea) faces on the bow and tiger stripes along their side.  Cannons on these barges are mounted above the bow whereas on the other barges the cannons are mounted in the bow.  The Suea class barges are the Suea Thayan Chon and the Suea Kamron Sindh.  Each barge is propelled by 26 oarsman and are roughly 22,2 meters long.

Suea Class Barge, Sueaa Kamron Sin, Underway

 

The Ekachai Class Barges, Ekachai Hern How and Ekachai Lao Thong. have paintings, a pattern of gold leaf over black lacquer, of a half Naga half dragon mythical creature, the Hera, on them. The bow figureheads are tapered cylinders which represents the beast's horn. These barges do not have cannon on them.  They are a little over 29.6 meters long and propelled by 38 oarsmen.

A Ekachai Class Escort Barge with Crew

Four Krabi Class Barges participate in the Royal Barge Procession.  Krabi Class Barges are distinguished by Monkey Warrior figureheads.  The Monkey Warriors are mythical creatures from the Thai epic, "Ramakian".  Hanuman, white monkey warrior, is on the bow of the Krabi Prab Muang Marn.  Nilaphat, black monkey warrior, adorns the bow of the Krabi Ran Ron Rap. The other two Krabi Class barges have crowned figureheads of ruler from mythical land of Kishkindha kingdom.  The Pali Rang Thawip has a figurehead with a green body and the Sukrip Khrong Mueang has a red body figurehead.

Krabi Prap Mueang Man (Hanuman Figurehead)

The Pali Rang Thawip (foreground)

The procession includes two Krut Class Barges, the Krut Hen Het and the Krut Tret Traichak.  The figureheads on Krut Class barges are garudas that have nagas on their feet and wings.  Garudas are mythical creatures that transport the Hindu god, Vishnu.  They are also the enemies of nagas.  Again these creatures are creatures of the Ramakian.  Krut Hern Het has a red garuda and the Krut Tret Traichak has a pink garuda figurehead. They are propelled by 34 oarsmen.

Krut Hern Het

The last class of escort barges is the Asura Class.  There are two barges in the class, each propelled by 40 oarsmen.   Their figureheads are mythical creatures called Asura, half bird and half ogre.  The bottom half is bird with the top half being an ogre.

Two Asura Class Escorts

The remainder of the escort barges are smaller scout boats

A Scout Escort Barge

Another Type of Scout Escort Barge

Besides the stunning visuals of the various Royal Barges and the Escort Barges, the costumes of the various personnel on board the barges was extremely colorful and interesting.  Oarsmen wore distinctive uniforms depending upon the class of barge that they were assigned to.  Officers, Signalmen, Standard Bearers, Steersmen, Timekeepers, Drummers, and Chanter all have unique uniforms.

Besides the visual smorgasbord of shapes, colors, and textures be it barges or costumes, there was an audio component of the Royal Barge Procession.  Just before the start of the procession, perhaps 5 minutes before it commenced there were loud flourishes that trumpeted over the river.  The flourishes put the flourishes played for the President of the United States to shame but then again these were fit, if not for a King, then for a Crown Prince.  It was amazing how quiet the scene was.  The river had been closed to traffic for over 6 hours and due to import of the event the crowds were extremely respectful as well as quiet.  After the interlude following the flourishes, the silence was broken by a single voice broadcast over the river by powerful loudspeakers on the other side of the river.  The voice was a mature, I believe alto, and evoked memories of holy rituals.  I later found out that the lilting almost haunting chant was specifically written for this procession.  It was chanted by a man on the Royal Barge, Anantanagaraj, and broadcast to the sound systems along the river. Receivers and amplifiers on the various other barges except for the Suphannahongsa, so that the oarsmen can hear the chant and respond to it.  As the Procession got fully underway, his chanting was answered by the oarsmen in the barges and the staccato beat of wooden poles striking the bottom of  the escort barges by the fore and aft timekeepers for setting a rowing cadence.  At some points in the 45 minute procession, buglers on the escort barges would blare out some commands.  So the Procession was impressive to listen to as well as to observe.

At our hotel we were subjected to some special rules due to the Royal barge Procession.  People were not allowed to stand on their balconies, look out of their room's windows, our stand on the elevated terraces of the hotel.  Why?  Doing so would put common people in an elevated position over HRH The Crown Prince which would be a violation of protocol.  The swimming pool alongside of the river was also closed again so as to not violate protocol.  Guests were expected to be properly dressed also just as if you were to visit a Wat (Temple).  There were two policemen standing along the river with us for security purposes and to ensure protocol was not violated.  These were requirements were quite reasonable and willingly accepted by everyone for such a spectacular event.

The river remained closed until after sunset.  What goes down the river must go back up the river.  After the merit making of the Royal Kathin Ceremony at Wat Arun, Thai Royal Navy vessels towed the barges back up the river to their home berths or storage locations,

As Twilight Descends On Bangkok, Some barges Are Towed Up River

It had been a long day but a spectacular day for us.  It was so interesting to witness such a unique event, an event that has it origins over 700 years ago.  I know that given another opportunity to witness a Royal Barge Procession, we will take advantage of it.  My only concern will be how to witness some of the rehearsals and dress rehearsals as well.

This Is Thailand - That's What I Call Service!

Yesterday, after I had completed editing and post processing my photographs from last week's Royal barge Procession, I commenced to write my blog about the experience.  As I often do when writing my blog entries, I perform some Internet research to ensure that my perceptions are correct and to enhance the sharing experience by providing additional facts in the blog entry.

To make it easier on me, I often make a print copy of the information from the Internet especially when the article contains some of those long Thai spellings.  Well after only printing one page, my printer ran out of ink.  Well it did not run completely out of ink, it ran out of "Light Cyan" which is one of the SIX (6) ink cartridges required for my three year old Epson RX650 All-In-One Printer.

The problem with this and similar printers is that when cartridge is out of ink, the printer will not print.  Really, is Light Cyan all that important?  The other problem is that Epson seems to reinvent their cartridges every two years so today's cartridges are not retroactive.  We drove out to the big mall in the center of Udonthani to buy a full set of replacement cartridges.  We came close, but as they say "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades".  We found one store that had 5 of the cartridges but not the one I really needed.  We founded another store that had 4 cartridges but also was missing the one that I really needed.  They did offer to back order the cartridges and they would be available in a week.  The stores that had cartridges were selling them for 550 Baht (almost $20 USD each).  Foolishly I thought that we could easily find a full set or at least the color that I needed elsewhere.  Well the other 6 stores that we went to in the mall had no cartridges.

Undeterred I decided to stop at the IT Mall on our way home.  The IT Mall is several floors of space dedicated to computer and cell phone products.  The Mall supposedly opened up a month ago but it is still be built out.  The Mall provides stalls where small vendors can sell their services and products.  Many of the vendors that we saw were familiar names from when they used to be at the big mall in the center of town; before it greatly expanded and went upscale.

We must have looked at another 15 shops with no luck.  But we were not out of luck or unlucky.  At one stall which specialized in modifying printers to use external ink tanks that you filled with bulk ink, offered to check to see if she could get the Epson Cartridges.  She said that it would take 5 minutes and wrote down my wife's cell phone number.  We wandered around some more in search of the cartridges to no avail.  The woman called and said that she would keep trying.  We drove home and later in the evening the woman called saying that she had found the cartridges for 550 Baht each and did I want them?  Duang replied yes and the woman said that we could pick them up the next day in the morning.  A while later she called to confirm that I would really pay for the cartridges since 3,300 Baht (roughly $110 USD) was a substantial risk for her to take.  Once again Duang replied "Yes".  Well "This Is Thailand" and the saying "Good for you, good for me" is frequently the guide as to how business is conducted; the woman offered to deliver the cartridges to our home in the morning.  This was good for her but it was actually great for me.  The IT Mall is in a very congested part of the downtown area with a narrow spiral tower to access parking - challenges I am willing to take on but definitely prefer not to.

Sure enough the woman and her son who is her technician came to the house.  My printer has some small spots of fungus on the underside of the glass which I have been thinking about having taken care of however there are no phone directories to help find a repair service.  Her son looked at it and said that he could clean it.  I then asked about modifying the printer to use the external ink tanks.  He could do it for about the cost for another set of replacement cartridges.  The ink for the external bulk tanks are around 100 Baht ($3.00 USD) each color for 100 ml of versus the $20 USD each for 10 ml of Epson inks.  Since they need the old Epson cartridges for the modification, I will wait for the new cartridges to be used up.  Oh, when I am ready to have the printer cleaned and modified, Duang can call and they will pick it up and later deliver it to our home.  Now that is what I call service.!

This is one of the reasons that I enjoy living here in Thailand.  People want your money but they are willing to work for it.  Large companies such as Epson may create unacceptable business practices but there a plenty of people here who make use of these types  of business practices to create cheaper alternatives - "Good for me, Good for You"

The King's Barge - 9 Nov 2012 Bangkok

A very, very short clip of the King's Barge transporting HRH The Crown Prince to Wat Arun in Bangkok where he will make an offering of robes to the Monks.

Praya Palazzo

Praya Palazzo Hotel At Dusk

We travelled to Bangkok last Thursday in order to witness the Royal Barge Procession on Thursday 9 November.  The Royal Barge Procession is a unique Thai event that has been conducted 17 times during the 66 year reign of Thailand's current King.

Based upon Richard Barrow's Facebook comments and his blog www.thaitravelblogs.com, I became aware of a small boutique hotel in Bangkok called Praya Palazzo.  I was interested in staying at Praya Palazzo due to its location.  The hotel is located on the bank of the Chao Praya River across from Phra Sumen Fort and a liitle ways downstream from King Rama VIII Bridge. More importantly for photography, the sun would be at my back for taking pictures of the Royal Barge Procession.

Further research on the hotel's website as well as on my preferred travel site www.agoda.com convinced me to book our stay at the hotel.

Praya Palazzo is a renovated mansion that was built in 1923 by a noble man, Khun Praya Chollabhumipanish, who worked in the Royal Court Custom Dept.  Later the home became a Muslim school and eventually was abandoned and entered into severe decay.  It was later purchased and renovated by a university architecture professor.  The hotel opened for guests in 2011.

The hotel is advertised as being accessible by water which is true in general.  There is limited land access which involves walking a ways along the top of a 2 foot wide cement dike along the Chao Praya River with local canals and homes on the other side.  Supplies, trash, and guests are transported on hotel boats which are much more pleasant and safer mode to get to and from the hotel.

We took a taxi from the old Bangkok airport, Don Muaeng, to Phra Athit Pier directly across the river from the hotel.  We called the hotel and a short time later the hotel boat arrived.  Upon arrival at the hotel's pier, we were greeted by the hotel management and staff.  We were given a glass of apple juice and a cool hand clothes to refresh ourselves.  While our check in was handled in the adjoining office, we were given a tour of the facilities.  The facilities are very tastefully decorated with attention to detail and commitment to historical accuracy.

Room 132 Ready for Guests

The hotel has 17 guest accommodations.  Our room, Room 132, was a superior room located on the ground floor on the front end of the main building.  It was very comfortable and relaxing - just what one would expect and hope for from a boutique hotel.  We had a tub in our bathroom with plenty of water pressue and copious amounts of hot water.  The brass plumbing fixtures fit in very well with the decor of our room.

Fresh Flowers Placed by Staff As Part of  Downturn Service

The entire staff was extremely friendly and attentive.  It seemed more like we were staying in someone's home rather than at a hotel.

Morning At Praya Palazzo

We ate all our meals at the hotel rather than crossing the river.  Due to the Royal Barge procession the river was closed to traffic the morning of November 9.  The service in the hotel dining room was excellent.  The food was very good and beautifully presented.

It turned out that the hotel was in a perfect location to view the Royal Barge Procession.  In addition to the great location to view the barges, the staff and other guests at the hotel proved to be very interesting people to while away the time with leading up to the procession.

Our stay at Praya Palazzo was memorable and very enjoyable.  I have stayed at the Shangri-La Hotel before and although it's loction is more convenient for touring the city, I prefer the Praya Palazzo for its overall value based upon price and most especially the atmosphere created by its staff.

Homework Assignment - The Rest of the Story

Last Friday, 9 November 2012 (2555 in Thailand), my wife and I witnessed a very special event, "The Royal Barge Procession" in Bangkok, Thailand.  It was the 17th time that there has been a Royal Barge Procession in the 66 year reign of of Thailand's current King.

Many years ago in the USA, there was a news commentator named Paul Harvey.  His famous by-ine was "And now for the rest of the story ..."  He would then provide background and details, mostly unknown, regarding some of the more popular stories both past and present.  Well this event, for me, was the rest of the story to a blog that I had written regarding our December 2010 visit to the Royal Barge Museum.

http://hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2011/01/royal-barge-national-museum.html

During our visit, we saw some of the Royal Barges in storage.  More interesting, some of the barges were being renovated.  As part of our two hour stay at the museum we also saw some videos showing past Royal Barge Processions.  As much as I wanted to see and photograph such a grand spectacle I never expected that I would be able to.  As luck would have it or as my wife prefers to say "Buddha take care" this year we had the opportunity to witness the grand procession.  It was everything and more that I expected it to be.  But, that will be the subject of an upcoming blog.

It was thrilling to see some of the renovated boats completed, manned, and underway on Friday.

For now, I recommend that people read the blog "Royal Barge Museum" to prepare for the rest of the story which should be posted in the next few days.

A Special Ok Phansa in Tahsang Village

We were unable to witness the wax castle procession in Sakon Nakhon this year because of our commitment to attend Ok Phansa celebration in my wife's home village.  Ok Phansa occurs on the day following the full moon in the 11th lunar month (October) of the year.  It signifies the end of Buddhist Lent which is also referred to as the end of the Buddhist Retreat.

In Thailand the Buddhist Retreat is known as Vassa.  Buddhist Lent starts the first day of the waning moon in the eighth lunar month (July).  Buddhist Retreat lasts thre lunar months.  During the period, Monks are supposed to remain at their home Wats or monasteries.  The practise predates Buddhism when religious holy men in India would not travel during the rainy season would not travel about in order to prevent damage to crops growing in the fields, reduce the likelihood that they could kill insects that they were unable to see in the mud or water, and also to reduce the likelihood that they could injure themselves.

For the Theravada Buddhists of Thailand, there is also a connection between the practise of the Retreat and the life of Buddha.  There is a legend, a belief for others, that Buddha retreated to heaven to give a sermon to his mother who had died seven days after his birth.  He stayed in heaven for three months.  When Buddha returned to Earth, he was welcomed back with great enthusiasm and joy.  The welcome back celebration was so joyous that the gods and goddesses joined in.

With this background I can better understand why Ok Phansa is such a joyous celebration here in Isaan.  This year Ok Phansa in Tahsang Village (Baan Tahsang) was an even greater celebration.  For two years the "Outside" Wat's Bot has been being rebuilt.  The "Outside" Wat which is the Wat that Duang's family prefers is located outside of the village on a dirt road in the middle of the sugar cane fields at the edge of the seasonal floodplain.  The "Outside" Wat is home to Dhammayuttika Nikaya minority sect of Theravada Buddhism.  Dhammayuttika Nikaya Monks are more strict than the majority sect, Maha Nikaya. The robes of Dhammayuttika Nikaya Monks are darker - more of a brownish color than the bright yellow-orange of the Maha Nikaya Monks.

The Bot was being constructed as funds were available to pay the general contractor.  Currently the roof is completed with at least 1.2 meters of perimeter walls installed. About 20% of the exterior walls, the portions where the Buddha statue is located and the area where the Monks sit to eat and perform rituals, have been erected.  The walls are a type of cinder block with skim coat of cement on both sides. The floor is rough finished concrete which eventually will be tiled.  Since people place woven reed mats, sahts, on the floor for worshipping the absence of tile is not a problem.

To mark the end of the Buddhist Retreat which coincides with the end of the rainy season, and to help raise funds to complete the Bot, 100 Monks were going to the "Outside" Wat to participate in a special merit making ritual.

During Buddhist Lent many women made extra merit by wearing white clothing when participating in merit making rituals and when praying.  Some of the women also attended overnight women's retreats at the Wats where they recited and studied scriptures.  They also listened to sermons delivered by the Monks.  On the night of Ok Phansa there would be one last retreat for women.  My wife, and her mother were going to participate along with a couple of the other grandmothers that I knew in the village.

The celebration at the Wat was a large community event.  Water and soft drinks were provided to the Monks and other attendees.  Drinks were free.  Underneath canopies that you see throughout Isaan for religious celebrations, weddings, funerals, and Monk ordinations, people were passing out food to the attendees.  Once again the prepared food had been donated and passed out for free.  Some people donated ice cream for the Monks.  Others had donated green coconuts to refresh the Monks.  Other people donated ice tea, and juice cups for the attendees.  It was a very impressive demonstration of generousity and community commitment.

As Duang tended to the distribution of soft drinks and water, I remained in the Bot taking photos of the preparations for the arrival of the Monks.  After a while a felt a little tap on my shoulder.  I turned my head to see my 3-1/2 year old grandson smiling next to me.  Peelawat remained with me for just about the entire day.  That was very fortunate for me.  After the local Monks had eaten, one of them brought a plate of food for Peelawat and I to eat.  Later in the afternoon, one of the visiting Monks brought a small cup of ice cream for us.  A little later another Monk brought us a big bowl of ice cream.  Peelawat took the bowl and gave me the little cup!  After a while Peelawat, placed his head on my feet and went to sleep until Duang came to take him back to the village,

Since we had donated drinking water and soft drinks for the celebration, we arrived at the Wat early so that Duang could help distribute them to people.  There was an air of excitement punctuated by the staccato of innumerable firecrackers thrown by young boys.  Morlam music blared from the PA system which added to the festive atmosphere.

Monks Consulting Upon Arrival At the Bot

Gradually the Monks arrived.  Just before the designated time for the merit making ritual, the Monks entered the Bot.  As a Monk arrived he would greet the other Monks and break off with typically an older Monk.  They seemed to enter into a ritualistic consultation.  It reminded me of the portion of the ordination ritual where the person to be ordained is questioned to ensure that he is a  human and not a Naga (snake) pretending to be a man so that he can be a Monk. I was observing a ritual for sure because I saw a couple of the younger Monks stop, retrieve a book from their cloth bag, and refer to the book as they recommenced their consultation.

There so many Monks that there was no room for other people inside of the Bot.  Along three sides of the Bot were canopies where people sat on sahts to worship or clusters of people under the shade of trees to worship.  Like all events that I have attended here in Isaan, all generations attended and participated in the ritual.

The merit making ritual lasted for about one hour.

After the Monks left, most of the people left for their homes.  Many Tahsang villagers remained behind to clear up and clean up the grounds.  I retreated to a small building on the Wat grounds that is used to prepare food and where sahts are sometimes woven.  Underneath the corrugated metal roof of that open air structure I managed to get a photograph of one of Duang's aunts.  I had attended her husband's funeral ritual almost three years ago.  To me, this aunt epitomizes the hardship, suffering, and dignity of the Lao Loum people.

It had been another interesting day for me in Northeast Thailand and I had witnessed a little more of the Lao Loum culture.

When I was a young school boy I had read a special book, "The Golden Bough: a Study in Magic and Religion" by the Scottish anthropologist Sir James Fraser.  The book contains information on many religious practises and rituals from around the world as well as across the ages.  I was impressed to learn that so many of today's Christian beliefs as well as rituals have roots to cultures far and distant in time as well as space.  As I am immersed in the Lao Loum culture especially its religious heritage of Hindu, Animist, and Buddhism practises, I am experiencing some of what piqued my interest so many years ago in the far away land of Connecticut.  I am fond of stating in regards to current events that nothing happens in a vacuum.  For something that happens today, if you look carefully you will see the foreshadowing, warnings, and the signs of it to come in the past.  So I believe it is with religion.  Whatever today's faith maybe, it's foundation is connected to other faiths in the past.