Maaking or Marking Time In Isaan

An "Old Mama" Prepares to Chew Some Betel Nut In Isaan

In response to a recent post on Facebook, an old fraternity brother of mine, not that he is old, it is just that we last saw each other in 1971) asked me about betel nut chewing.  I was prepared to admonish him for either not reading all my blog posts or for not remembering the one that I wrote regarding the specifics of betel nut chewing.  I have written and posted over 380 blog entries over the past four years, and I was fairly certain that I had written one about the prevalence of betel nut chewing amongst the older generation women here in northeast Thailand.  I even remembered researching the practice and getting the Latin names for the components of betel nut chewing.  Since it was late here in Udonthani, I performed a quick search of my files and could not located either the blog entry or the research documents.  The next day I did a more extensive search both electronically and hard copy.  Well, as my late grandmother used to say about herself until she was 92 years old, "I am not crazy, yet".  Later the ravages of Alzheimer's made a mockery of that belief but mercifully, for her, she did not realize it.  I did not find the blog entry but I did find the hard copy of my research.

Betel nut chewing is popular in Southeast Asia and Pacific. The practise has been going on for thousands of years.  In Thailand there is evidence of it going back four thousand years. It is very complicated in that it is not what it would seem to be.  Most of the confusion stems from improper translation from native languages to western languages during the colonial era.

First of all the practise referred to in English as "betelnut chewing" or "betel nut chewing" does not even involve a nut.  There is no such thing as a "betelnut"  The "nut" used in the practise is actually a drupe of the Areca palm (Areca catechu).  A drupe is a fruit, often referred to as "stone fruit" that has a fleshy outside with a pit containing a seed.  Mango, plum, nectarines, peach, and cherry are examples of drupes.

An Elderly Lao Loum Grandmother Enjoying A Chew

Betelnut chewing referred to in Lao language as "Mark" or "Maak" involves chewing slices of the Areca palm "nut" wrapped up in Betel (Piper betle) vine leaves with some caustic lime added.  Sometimes shredded tobacco is added to the mix inside of the leaves.  Unlike the ads for Skoal which espouse "A pinch between the cheek and gum", betelnut chewing involves packing your mouth rather full.

A Lao Women In the Luang Namtha Area of LPDR Chewing Betel Nut

Sliced or shredded Areca "nuts" are readily available in the local markets throughout Isaan,  Situated next to the burlap bags of the "nuts" are trays filled with bunches of fresh Betel vine leaves.  Not all of the Betel leaves are chewed, some are used as offerings in religious rituals.

An "Old Mama" Holding Some Betel Vine Leaves

Why?  Why would people chew betelnut?  Apparently the practice provides mild stimulation to the user.  To me it sounds akin to chewing coca leaves in the high Andes.  The effects are said to be similar to drinking a cup of coffee.  I am not a coffee drinker but there is no doubt in my mind that if I were looking for stimulation, I would have a cup of coffee or more rather than to chew betelnut.

Elderly Lao Loum Women In Isaan Chewing Betel Nut

I also believe that the practise is also a social and cultural practice.  My mother-in-law who is 72 years old regularly chews betelnut.  I have seen some men and I have seen some people around 35 years old chew but the vast majority of the practitioners have been elderly rural women over 50 years old.  Just as some cultures have worry beads, chew tobacco, smoke to occupy their thoughts and to mark time, it seems to me that betelnut chewing serves a similar function.  The "Old Mamas" seem to like nothing more than to haul out their woven baskets containing the accouterments for betelnut chewing and while away the afternoon gossiping and chewing with their friends

Betel Nut Chewers At a Lao Loum Funeral in Isaan

Chewing betel nut produces copious amounts of red saliva that can either be spit out or swallowed.  Typically the women spit it into a small plastic pail that they have lined with a plastic bag.  You can tell a betel nut chewer by the stains on their gums and teeth.

A Betelnut Chewer Flashing the Ubiquitous Red Smile

Passing An Afternoon and Entertaining Visitors In Isaan

  The European colonial powers were neither appreciative or supportive of the practise.  People who chewed betel nut were looked down upon and were considered to be members of the lowest class.  Today there are not many young people who chew.  The practise is mostly limited to people in rural areas over 50 years old.

What Goes In, Eventually Comes Out - Elderly Woman Spits out Betlejuice

Scenes from a Lao Loum Funeral

Merit Making for Funeral Ritual In Baan Tahsang

Here in Isaan, I have written of the rhythm of time marked by the cycle of work in the fields surrounding my wife's home village, Baan Tahsang (Tahsang Village).  Time is also marked by the passage of life's milestones within the extended Lao Loum family as well as within the villages that dot the Korat Plateau of Northeast Thailand.

Since we have returned to Isaan approximately two months ago, we have been immersed in the joyous milestone of the birth of a baby.  We have also enjoyed meeting all the babies that have joined my wife's extended family during the past year and one-half.  But just as there is the sweet and the sour for food, the ying and the yang of philosophy, there is the life milestone of death that marks the passage of time.

On Friday, an elderly invalid woman of Tahsang Village died.  She was the sister of Duang's aunt, which over here made her Duang's aunt.  I have never fully understood or appreciated family ties beyond aunts, uncles, and first cousins so I am overwhelmed with the extended ties in the Lao Loum culture of my wife's family.  Rather than trying to fully understand the varied and myriad relationships, I just accept whatever I am told by my wife.

The woman, who Duang also referred to as "Grandmother" had nine children during her lifetime.  Apparently "Grandmother" is an endearing term for an elderly woman just as "Old Momma" is an informal term for older women.

One of the woman's children, her youngest daughter (Duang's "cousin") had returned from the Netherlands to pay her respects to her dying mother.  She was scheduled to return to Europe on Sunday but her mother's death on Friday changed those plans.  Typically there is a three day funeral ritual in the Lao Loum culture.  The three day period allows the family time to prepare for the cremation of the deceased.  I also suspect that the three day period also has connections and connotations to Buddhism.  In Buddhism the number, 3, is very special.  During rituals, people will bow their heads three times; and repeat certain words three times.  When making offerings people will burn three joss (incense) sticks, and light three small yellow candles.  When people place gold leaf on statues, it is three squares of gold.  "Three" is significant in that it represents "Buddha", "The Teachings of Buddha", and "The Buddhist Religious Community".

A Sister of the Deceased Prays In Front of Coffin

On the day of a person's death, the family cleans the body and places it in a disposable coffin.  The disposable coffin, which will be consumed in the cremation fire, is then placed inside of a rented refrigerated coffin.  Typically the refrigerated coffin is kept inside the home but for this funeral it was placed outside underneath a covered work space next to the house.  Offerings are placed on top of the coffin.  Plastic flowers, real flowers, and strings of blinking lights are strung along the length of the coffin.  On the floor in front of the coffin, a shrine assembly is set up where people can make offerings, burn incense, and light candles. In front of the coffin as well as above it, special memorial wreath like objects are placed.  To the side of the coffin, a large framed photograph of the deceased person is placed on an easel. Next to the photograph, there is an area where donations of rice are collected in the name of the deceased.  People when they come to pay their respects donate cash and/or rice to assist the family and to make merit.  The cash is used to help defray the costs of the funeral, offered to the Monks as part of merit making ritual for the deceased, and the rice is donated to the Monks who will provide it to people who are unable to afford food from local markets.

Donations of Rice Are Consolidated to be Offered to the Monks

A vigil is maintained for the three days that the coffin is in place at the home.  Each evening at 6:00 P.M. of the first two days of the ritual, Monks visit the home and chant.

Food Is prepared For All the Ritual Attendees

During the first two days, family and friends are busy making arrangements for the cremation on the third day.  A field kitchen is set up to prepare food for people who will be participating in the three day ritual.  Tables and plastic chairs are rented and set up.  Canopies are rented and set up to shelter people from the sun and the possibility of rain. Drinking water, Lao whiskey, soft drinks need to be purchased for each table for each day.  Beef and pork are purchased and chopped into a paste like consistency to make laap, a Lao Loum specialty dish.  Women are busy preparing papaya to make "Pauk Pauk" - spicy papaya salad, a staple of Isaan cuisine.

Under Papaya Trees, Women Prepare Papaya to Make Pauk Pauk

On the third day, the day of cremation, People started arriving around 9:00 A.M. After paying their respects to the deceased, they sat at tables and commenced to eat and drink. As often happens here in Isaan the men and women drifted off to segregated groups. The atmosphere was of a grand social gathering as if an affirmation that life goes on although death has taken away a person from the community.  Part of this may be attributable to the Buddhists preparing all their life for the moment of their death and the openness of the Lao Loum death rituals.  Death is not a dark secret to be ignored and hidden from view.

A Group of Women Socializing Prior to Start of Ritual

 Children witness and participate with the community in the death rituals of family, friends, and neighbors. Death is as much a life milestone for the Lao Loum community as birth, Monk ordination, and marriage. To a certain extent, while the ritual is solemn, respectful; it was also a sort of celebration in the sense it recognized that life is suffering and that the deceased person's suffering in this life had ceased.

Monks arrived around 11:00 A.M. for the start of the merit making ritual.  The merit making ritual is offering food to the Monks in the name of the deceased.  The Monks were from the Wat inside of Tahsang Village.  They were lead by the Monk that I have nicknamed "Rocketman" because of his knowledge and participation in building as well as launching homemade rockets.  One of the other Monks was Duang's uncle who became a Monk three months ago.  He has been a subject of many of my photographs and mentioned in several of my blogs.  His transformation and progress on this path have been both reassuring and a source of joy for us.

There is an interesting aspect of funerals here in Isaan.  There is no legal gambling here in Thailand other than in a national lottery.  However I have never been to a funeral here where there was not gambling going on. The gambling is conducted off to the side.  I understand that for approximately $30 to the "right" policeman, you can get a "permit" which ensures that your gambling operation will not be "interfered" with.  From what Duang tells me, gambling at a funeral can be good for you, something about having "good luck".  She also added that when there is gambling more people attend the ritual. I don't know but Duang did win 500 baht (about $14 USD)



Gambling at the Funeral

Prior to the Monk's arrival, a grandson had his hair cut and eyebrows shaved in preparation to be a Monk for the cremation ritual.  Typically the sons, nephews, and grandsons of the deceased will become Monks for the entire three day ritual.

An Uncle Cuts Young Man's Hair Surrounded By Papaya Trees

Electric Clippers Provide A Closer Cut

Straight Razor Is Used to Remove Eyebrows

After his had washed all the clippings from himself, the Grandson went to the shrine in front of his Grandmother's coffin and made an offering.  As part of the ritual, he was asked by a Brahmin - "Are you a human?" and other liturgical questions for the young man to be a Monk for a day.

Young Man Becoming Monk for the Day

After the brief ritual, the young man retired and returned in full Monk's clothing to take his position on the raised platform with the seven other Monks for the merit making ritual.

Monks Chanting As Part of Merit Making Ritual

Paying for a funeral is a financial burden for a family.  Many people purchase commercial life insurance for the expressed purpose of paying for the funeral and big party typically held one year after the death.  The woman who died did not have commercial life insurance but participated in a government insurance program.  People pay 50 baht, about $1.50 USD, a month and when they die the local government pays 12,000 baht ($400 USD).

Part of the funeral ritual was local government officials attending the funeral and paying off on the government insurance.  The money is publicly presented and counted prior to being made as an offering to the deceased.

Nongwha District Official Presents Government Insurance Benefit

"Book of the Dead" Is Updated By Local Government Officials

After completing the merit making at the home, the coffin was loaded on to a pick up truck for the procession to the Wat.

Monks Lead the Funeral Cortage On To Wat Grounds

As part of the ritual at the front of the crematorium oven, coconut water was poured over the corpse.  Unlike previous funerals that I have attended, the pouring of coconut water was limited to only participation by the Monks.

"Rocketman" Pours Coconut Water Over the Corpse



Family, Friends and Neighbors Place "Daht Mi Jon" On Coffin

Towards the end of the funeral ritual at the Wat, people climb the stairs of the crematorium to place good luck tokens, "Daht Mi Jon" on the coffin.  These tokens are purchased at a specialty store and are made from strips of bamboo and paper.

Great Granddaughter Leaves After Paying Last Respects

The daht mi jon were collected and placed on the corpse inside of the coffin.  A cane knife was used to punch drainage/ventilation holes inside of the coffin.  The holes allowed the coconut water to drain out and to assist in the combustion when the coffin was placed in the oven.

The Coffin Is Placed Upon A Charcoal Bed

The coffin was then lifted off of the metal saw horses and placed upon a bed of charcoal atop a metal wheeled carriage.  The sides of the coffin were doused with about a liter of hydrocarbon fluid - it was not diesel, it smelled very strong but I suspect that it was not gasoline.  It might have been naphtha since when it was ignited it was not as explosive as gasoline.  The carriage was rolled into the oven, the doors were closed and secured.  A Monk took a burning decoration and placed it inside of an ignition port on the oven door to start the cremation fire.

As the fire started, a string of very large firecrackers went off.  These firecrackers were balls about 2-1/2 inches in diameter. They were extremely loud, concussive and quickly filled the area with a dense grey smoke.  I, from my position at the doors to the oven, was somewhat shell shocked by the explosions.  I suspect that was a good sign.  The fireworks were set off to scare away any bad spirits that were in the area as the woman's spirit was released by the fire.  I doubt any spirits would hang around after such  fusillade.

As the fireworks were going off, a couple of the relatives started throwing handfuls of candy, coins, and other mementos from the crematorium steps to the awaiting children and adults below.  This act represents the renunciation of material goods by the deceased persons spirit as it commences it journey.


Children React to Fireworks and Tossed Mementos

Once again I was touched by the dignity, respect and love exhibited during the Lao Loum funeral ritual.  The Lao Loum funeral rituals demonstrate the strong sense of family and community that help bind the people together.  The social fabric of Lao Loum culture is colorful and tightly woven.

A Place Called Tahsang

Food carts, one beverage and one main dishes, serving Tahsang Village

On Friday, my D700 camera arrived from Bangkok where it had spent the past month for repair.  It arrived too late for the funeral ritual earlier in the day.  However I was able to bring it with us on Saturday when we drove out to Baan Tahsang, Tahsang Village, to visit the family.

You never know what or who you will come upon when driving the back roads of Isaan so I typically carry my camera gear when we travel about the countryside.

A street of Tahsang Village

The rice crop has been planted for almost two months and is well established.  We are in the rainy season now so we experience rain just about everyday; sometimes twice or three times a day.  The days are heavily overcast and very humid - great for growing rice but not so great for sufferers of prickly heat.  The rice paddies are a resplendent vibrant green.  The sugar cane is around 2-1/2 meters high, truly as high as an elephant's eye although we did not see any elephants on this trip.  Occasionally we see elephants walking along the country roads with their handlers.  With the restrictions on logging in Thailand, many elephants that were used in the forestry industry are now unemployed.  Since elephants live so long, eat so much, and are basically bonded to their handler and handler's family, the elephants are paraded about the countryside to help support themselves from donations of food and money. Elephants have even visited Tahsang Village.

The rice harvest will commence in Late-October and the sugar cane harvest will commence in late December.  As such, there is a lull in activities in the fields of Isaan.

With the monsoon rains, many people are busy now constructing or repairing their fishing platforms along water courses and on the floodplain where the water is already noticeably higher as well as rising.  People sit on the bamboo platforms and use dip nets to catch small; very small fish to feed their family.



Tahsang Village yard

Tahsang Village is Duang's home village and is located outside of Kumphawapi about 60 KM from our home in Udonthani.  Approximately 300 people, many of them related to Duang, live in the village.  The residents of the village are mostly subsistence farmers, their activities coinciding with the demand of the various crops during specific times during the year.  Local crops are the ubiquitous sticky rice (glutinous rice), sugar cane, peanuts, cassava, and corn.

Water Buffalo headed out Tahsang Village to graze on the surrounding floodplain

Some people raise water buffalo.  They are kept in small corrals in either back or side yards.  In the morning they are herded out of the village to graze on the surrounding fallow fields and flood plain.  In the late afternoon they return to the village.  This is a rhythm that is repeated every day; a measurement of the passing of time in a small village in Northeast Thailand.

Some others raise a few head of cattle, scrawny animals that forage about the countryside for nourishment. Many villagers have chickens which are free ranch in the sense that they do not have coops and roam all about.  Somehow the villagers are able to distinguish what chicken belongs to what household.

Recently the villagers have commenced a  cottage industry cultivating mushrooms.  Several yards and vacant lots in the village now have long rows of straw covered beds where mushrooms are being grown.  The mushrooms are mainly eaten by the family that raises them with any surplus sold to fellow villagers or friends.

Once in Tahsang Village, Duang retired into her mother's house to catch up on all the village and family news and gossip.  I chose to sit outside and watch life pass me by.  Sitting at the intersection of two village streets underneath a thatched roof, I was never bored.  There always seemed to be something going on and most of the time it was interesting.  Unlike current life in the United States the people of Tahsang Village spend a great deal of the daylight hours outside.  Unlike our life back in Groton, we see many children playing outside everyday.  It is entertaining to see children unencumbered by adults, inventing their own amusements, organizing their games, and resolving their disputes.  Now that he is three years old, our grandson Peelawat, is part of one the village groups.  He plays with 4 or 5 other children, boys and girls around 4 years old.



Tahsang Villagers buying drinks and food

Saturday, Duang's brother and his wife brought their food carts to the village.  Duang's brother's cart sells beverages.  He sell cups of soda and crushed ice.  The sodas are on display in glass bottles lined along the top of his cart.  The crushed ice is stored in a plastic cooler strapped to the back of the cart. A cup of soda goes for 20 baht ($0.60 USD).  In addition to carbonated beverages, he sells cups of Cha Menow (Lemon Ice Tea).  He does sell Lipton or Nestea ice teas.  He brews fresh tea over charcoal fire, adds sugar, and squeezes fresh lemon to produce each glass of Cha Menow which he sells for 20 Baht - delicious treat for the hot and muggy Isaan days.
Duang's sister-in-law's cart uses propane to deep fry hot dogs, pork balls, and pork.  The meat is served with a hot chili sauce that is like a chocolate sauce, cucumber chunks, and greens.  Everything that she needs is loaded on to her cart.

The villagers lined up and bought their food and drinks which they ate outside their homes and readily shared with people who passed by.  Although this type might be considered as "fast foods" in many locales, it is not here in Isaan.  It does not take long to cook the food but here in Isaan shopping in a market or off a food cart is a social event.  It is another exercise to get caught up on family and village life - time to be cherished as well as savoured.  It was amusing to observe the development of this attitude even in the children.


The Ice-Cream Man Cometh

There was also a treat Saturday morning - the ice cream man came to Tahsang Village.  In Baan Chonrada, where we live, we have two ice cream men.  One man, a young man, comes early in the afternoon.  The second man, an older man, was our original ice cream man comes at dinner time.  I am loyal to the original man and when I buy, I buy only from him.  Both men sell the same prepackaged ice cream novelties from an insulated sidecar to their motorbike.  The side car has an umbrella over the top of it to help shield it from the sun or to keep some of the rain off of it.  Each ice cart blares the same obnoxious tinny tune over and over to announce their arrival to the village.  I was surprised during our stay in America to see that some of the products sold here in Isaan, Walls Magnum, were available.


"Slicing and Dicing" Ice-Cream for customers

The ice cream man who came to Tahsang Village was an affable man with bright clothing, a bright motorbike and a brillant smile.  His products were kept in an insulated box strapped directly on the back of his seat.  His ice-cream was a more Thai product than the western novelties of the Baan Chonrada vendors.  His ice-cream was available in seven flavors - long blocks about 5 cm by 5 cm by 32 cm.  The customer selects the flavor that they want.  The vendor opens the insulated box, and removes a block of the selected flavor and cuts it into the proper portion with a knife, and thrusts a bamboo skewer through the portion.  An ice-cream costs $0.15 USD.  Peelawat and his 3 friends all enjoyed an ice-cream.

Peelawat enjoying his ice-cream

The confluence of food, beverage, and ice-cream vendors made for quite a busy time outside of my mother-in-law's house.  People from throughout the village showed up to buy things and to socialize.  It seems that just about every child has a bicycle in Tahsang Village.  When they get older, like 14 years old, they start driving motorbikes. The streets are always busy with combinations of toddlers, bicycles, dogs, chickens, motorbikes, farm wagons, and pick up trucks.  Saturday one of the villagers who can not walk came over using her tricycle.  Her tricycle is a special vehicle - it does not have pedals to propel it.  She propels the tricycle by moving a vertical lever back and forth.

Mother's Day, 12 August 2555 and Connections

Merit Making On Mother's Day In Isaan

Yesterday, 12 August 2555, was Mother's Day here in Thailand.  The day coincides with the birthday of the Queen who is considered to be the mother of the Thai people.  The Thai people consider the holiday to be a very important celebration.

People travel from all over to return to their home in order to pay respect to their mother.  Gifts are given to the mothers and just as important, children prostrate themselves in front of their mother and supplicate for her blessing for the upcoming year.  This year Duang's son and his wife drove ten hours from their workplace in Rayong to Udonthani to be able to pay their respects to their mothers.

Although the holiday is on Sunday, the celebration actually starts on Friday.  On Friday, school children invite their mother and grandmother to attend a party at their school.  Food and drinks are served, entertainment is provided by the children, and speeches are given.  Typically trees or flowers are also planted on the school grounds by the children and their mothers.

This year the Thai government provided 800,000 trees to be planted to honor the Queen's 80th birthday.  The Queen is well known and honored for her contributions to sustainable development and conservation of Thailand's natural resources as well as reforestation efforts.

Duang, Tey, Mai, and Peelawat Plant A Flower for Mother's Day 2010

Duang and I had attended the school festivities at her old elementary school in Tahsang village in 2010 or 2553 if you use the Thai calander.  It was a very nice affair of which I wrote of in my blog http://www.hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2010/08/queens-birthday-and-mothers-day-here-in.html

Baan Tahsang Elementary School

There were a great deal of tears during that celebration two years ago.  The school principal had told the children about how much their mothers loved them and about all the things that their mother did to take care of them and make them happy.  This is not an isolated occurrence in Thailand.  This week another expat in the Udon area wrote on the Internet about having attended a similar "celebration" at a school where a song was started.  All the people started to sing the song but quickly everyone was crying.  The songs lyrics were about a mother who left home and her children to work so that her children could have food and clothes.  This is not uncommon here in Isaan.  The region is very poor with many mothers and fathers leaving the rice paddies and cane fields to work in Bangkok, the industrial estates surrounding Bangkok, or the tourist centers of Pattaya or Phuket Island.  The expat wrote that the sadness was too much for him to bear so he would not be attending the elementary school "celebration" this year.

Mai, Tay, and their Grandmother Crying At School Mother's Day Party

Due to Duang's shyness regarding her face, we did not go to the Tahsang Village Elementary School celebration this year but we did celebrate in other ways.
Friday night, Duang's son and wife arrived from Rayong.  They stopped at Tahsang Village on their way to Udonthani.  Peelawat wanted to be with his Aunt and Uncle so they brought him to Udonthani.  Saturday they took Duang clothes shopping for Mother's Day.  Duang ended up with two pieces of silk from which she will sew some new outfits.  Perk and Puii wanted to pay to have the cloth cut and sewn but Duang was happy to just have the cloth as a gift.
Peelawat spent the night with us and we had a very enjoyable time. He likes to look at my photographs of airplanes on the computer and I am teaching him how to use the mouse.   Although he was determined to sleep with me Saturday night, Duang and he slept in one of the spare bedrooms.  Sunday morning we had to be in Tahsang Village for a special merit making ritual at 7:00 A.M.  I had set the alarm clock for 5:00 A.M. but there was no need for that - Peelawat was up and about at 4:55 A.M.
We arrived at the village just before 7:00 A.M. for the start of the merit making ritual at Duang's Aunt's house.  The merit making ritual was to feed the local Monks from the two village Wats.

Four of the Five Monks to be Fed

Five Monks arrived - four Monks from the Wat inside the village and one Monk from the Wat outside of the village.  It is very important in religious matters to have an odd number of Monks in attendance. The Monks are from different sects as distinguished by the color of their robes.  The Monks from outside of the village wear a dark red robe and follow a more strict regimen such as eating only one meal a day.  The Monks from inside the village wear a more orange colored robe and can eat two meals a day.  Duang's family favors the "Outside" Monks and Wat so many times we have driven the dirt road past the rice paddies and through the cane field to get to the Wat on the edge of the flood plain.

As part of the merit making ritual, a bobbin of cotton string, very similar to what in the USA is called butcher's string - the string that you find binding a beef roast togetherwas rolled out and held by the Monks as they chanted. . This is very typical of the rituals, Buddhist as well as Animist, that I have observed here. Short lengths of the string  are tied around the wrists of people during Baii Sii ceremonies for weddings, healing, exorcisms, bon voyages, and to honor esteemed guests.  Longer and heavier lengths of the string are used in the funeral ritual.  As part of the blessing ritual for vehicles, intermediate lengths and smaller bundles of the string are wrapped around the steering column to protect the operators and passengers of the vehicle from bad luck as well as harm.  In some prayer rituals, single strands of the string descend from a grid of string above the worshipper with the free end coiled on top of the worshiper's head.

I am not an expert on the full meaning of the strings, but I have come to the conclusion that the string connects and facilitates communication from this world to the other world.  In a certain way, the string also binds the people together, with each other as well as with the spirit world.

A String Binds and Connects the Monks During the Ritual

Well, yesterday was a day of connections for me as well.  My number one camera is in Bangkok for repair.  Two weeks ago I brought my old digital camera, Nikon D2H, out to the village to photograph a family member becoming a Buddhist Monk.  To my disappointment, I discovered that the camera is also in need of repair.  The camera is not taking properly exposed photographs in any of the automated modes.  Once the first camera arrives, I will send the second out for repair.

Duang's Aunt had called to ensure that we would be attending this ritual and that I would be photographing it.  It was a given that we would be attending. Duang is very religious and I do not want to interfere with that.  However, taking photographs did present a challenge.  I started thinking and gave it some serious thought.  I ended up using the camera the old fashioned way - "manual mode".  I used a light meter to get the exposure, set the camera manually, and used a speedlite for fill in flash.  It worked,  It worked like it used to be in the old days.  I had been reconnected to a camera that I had not successfully used in two years.  I had reconnected to a technique that I can't recall having last used.  These connections reaffirmed the adage that "you can't always get what you want but if you try you just may get what you need".  Hmm ...sounds like that it would make a great song.  Whoops ... Mick Jagger already wrote it.  Once again the saying "Where there is a will, there is a way" proved to be prophetic and a lesson to never be forgotten.

A Familiar Face?

A while into the ritual I kept looking at one of the Monks,  He looked familiar.  I started thinking about the stereotype that certain races of people all look alike and was feeling some pangs of guilt.  After a while I moved over to where Duang was praying and asked her if the Monk was Kwan's uncle.  She confirmed that it was and that he has been a Monk for about a week now.  Another connection had been made or rather realized for the day.  I first met Kwan's uncle on my first visit to Baan Tahsang.  It was not a pleasant experience.  I had gone to the village for our wedding and the ordination of Duang's son as a Monk. He was not the village idiot although he acted like it for the entire 5 days that I was there.  He was in reality the village drunk.  It had gotten to the point where I had squared off and was prepared to punch him in the face.

Sometime later, he went off and saw a special Monk to get help to stop drinking.  I alluded to him in my first story about alcoholism cure here in Isaan, http://www.hale-worldphotography.blogspot.com/2009/01/24-august-2008-alcoholism-cure.html  There was a remarkable transformation in him after he visited the Monk and took the cure.  He became a very nice hard working person.  I actually ended up liking and respecting him very much.  He has been a subject of many of my photographs involving daily life here in Isaan.  To this day, over three years later, he remains alcohol free.

Every Thai male 20 years or older is expected to be a Monk at some point in his life. It is believed that a boy can only become a man after serving as a Monk. Even the current King of Thailand spent time as a Monk.

Being ordained as a Monk earns great merit for a boy's mother and to a lesser extent for his father. The boy's mother gains more merit because the act of becoming a Monk is not available to women. The boy's father naturally had the opportunity to earn the merit by becoming a Monk himself when he was young.

Not all young men become Monks.  There is a great deal of peer as well as societal pressure on the young man as well as his parents for a young man to become a Monk. So for a Thai man to not become a Monk at some point in his life is a bad reflection upon his parents as well as on him. Due to economic considerations, some young men do not become Monks.  I suspect that may have been the case for Kwan's uncle.  But at 46 years old and more importantly, while his mother is still alive, he became a Monk.  I was excited and pleased to see him as a Monk.

Since he has been a Monk for just one week, he was not up to speed with all the aspects of the ritual.  However the other Monks helped him out.  After some words and encouragement, he got up to sprinkle water on the participants and home in a "blessing" ritual.  In the blessing ritual which I have witnessed many times, a bundle of coarse reeds are dipped in a bowl of special water (holy water?) and flicked on the heads of people or walls of a home.  For some reason, perhaps because they feel that I need more because of my size or faith, the Monks, wherever I go always seem to be able to sprinkle (drench?) me with more water than anyone else - much to every one's amusement and delight.

Monk Blessing the People With Water

Well yesterday I got my typical heavy dose of water blessing.  I don't know if if he done something wrong the first time or not but the Monk returned to give me another blessing.  In addition to another heavy sprinkling of water on my head. he tapped the top of my head with the bundle of reeds.  We all laughed and I was told that I was very lucky and fortunate to get such a good blessing. That could be true but I was just happy to reconnect with an old friend - and most happy to see him still sober and living his faith.  Since he was part of the "Inside" Monks, he was putting some of the food into a plastic bag to eat for his second meal back at the Wat.  He was taking so much food that I offered him the use of my backpack to fill and carry back to the Wat.  Every one understood my joke and we all had another good laugh.

After the Monks had finished eating, they left the home to return to their Wats.  There was plenty of food leftover as well as food back in the kitchen so every one sat down to have a meal together.  It is planned that way and also part of the ritual.



Young Boy Praying As Directed by His Mother

The merit making ritual was very interesting to witness.  There was a great deal of chanting both by the Monks and the people.  The chants were in Pali, the original language of the Monks who brought Buddhism to Thailand.  The use of the original language and ritual connected the villagers to their long distant past.  The participation of the young children and the instruction that they received during the ritual was a connection to their future.

Last night, after Duang's son and his wife prostrated themselves on our living room floor in front of my wife seated on the couch and remained motionless as she gave them her blessing, I was so impressed with the order of Thai society.  I posted a photo of mothers, grandmothers praying with a small child in their midst and wrote " Without mothers there would be no children. Without children there would be no mothers. We need to love and protect them both for without them there would be no life."  Words for Mother's day and every other day of the year.  Mothers are our connection to the world.

Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2012 - Still Time Left

This year's Phuket Vegetarian Festival will be held from 15 October to 23 October; still plenty of time to make travel arrangements.

The religious celebration is one of my favorite events to attend and to photograph.  Duang and I have attended the festival twice, in 2008 and in 2010.  It is once again two years since we last attended so there is a strong possibility that we will attend once again.

The Vegetarian Festival is Phuket's biggest celebration and is a grand event for Phuket's Chinese community. Phuket was once a large tin mining as well as trading center. The Chinese immigrated to trade and to work in the mines. Today a large proportion of Phuket's population is Chinese. During the Vegetarian Festival, there are many ethnic Chinese visitors from throughout Thailand as well as from Malaysia and China.

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival started in the early 19th century. In 1825, a visiting Chinese opera company, that had visited from China to entertain the tin miners, caught malaria while performing in Kathu. In those days, malaria was often fatal. The opera company decided to adhere to a strict vegetarian diet as an offering to two of the Nine Emperor Gods. The opera company recovered from their illness. The people of Kathu celebrated by holding a vegetarian festival each year to thank the gods and celebrate the opera group's recovery. An additional belief that inspires the festival is to bring good luck to individuals as well to a community.

The festival is held over nine days during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calender.

The central belief of the festival is that by eating vegetarian food and observing 10 rules, believers can purify their body as well as their soul while bringing good luck to themselves along with their community.

A Shrine Volunteer Covers A Container of Rice Which Will Be
 Distributed As Part of Vegetarian Meals to Believers

The 10 rules that believers are supposed to follow are:

Maintain body cleanliness

Use only clean kitchenware that hasn't been used by people who are not participating in the festival

Dress in white

Be moral in thoughts and actions

Do not eat meat

Do not have sex

Do not drink alcohol

Avoid foods with strong flavor such as garlic and onion

People in mourning should not participate in the festival

Pregnant or menstruating women should not attend the ceremonies

During the festival, many rituals are conducted to call upon the gods. These ceremonies include body piercing, fire walking, bathing with hot oil, and climbing ladders constructed with sword rungs. The ceremonies are held at each of the nine Chinese shrines.

The largest rituals are the daily processions of believers during the morning through Phuket Town. The origins of the processions go back to the early days of the festival when a local resident went to Kansai, China to invite two deities to reside in Kathu, a district of Phuket. He returned to Phuket on the seventh night of the ninth lunar month. He brought back with him the sacred documents used in the ritual back in China. Residents of Phuket had a grand procession down to the dock to welcome him back upon his arrival from China. Today's processions commemorate his original welcoming ceremony.

Spiritual Mediums, called "Mar Song", also written as "Ma Song", become possessed by the Nine Emperor Gods. The Mar Song are dressed in clothes befitting the god that has possessed them. People believe that the god will protect the mediums from harm while they perform the various rituals and acts of self mutilation.

Each of the main Chinese shrines parades through Phuket Town on their appointed day during the festival. During the parade the Mar Song demonstrate the power of their respective Emperor God by withstanding the pain of their ordeal. For devotees, the Mar Song through their ordeal, are able to remove evil spirits and can bestow good luck upon others as well as for the community. With their power and devotion Ma Song are highly respected and revered. Along the parade route many people and businesses set up tables of offerings to receive blessings from the passing Mar Song. Long strands of firecrackers are set off as a Mar Song approaches to scare away the evil spirits. The greater the sound and noise the more effective the ritual of driving the evil spirits away on to the Ma Song. 
As the processions advance, huge amounts of firecrackers are set off. The air becomes filled with the sharp staccato of bursting firecrackers, flashes of light, flying shards of bright red firecracker paper wrapping, and huge clouds of choking sulphurous smoke. The fusillade of firecrackers is especially heavy for the passing of the shrine idol. The shrine idol is placed on a chair that is carried upon the shoulders of several young men. The young men wrap shirts around their heads to afford some protection from the onslaught of firecrackers that are thrown at their bare feet or explode above their head from suspended strings. Power of the Emperor God is manifested in the ability of the young men to not be frightened or injured by the sound, fire, and confusion created by hundreds of firecrackers exploding about them. Other followers assist the young men when the firecrackers commence small fires on the shrine idol. They rapidly wave cotton tee shirts around the suspended chair to extinguish the flames.

The Mar Song are considered to be warriors. Their bodies are typically heavily tattooed with Oriental designs. The Mar Song are in a trance like state - they appeared to be talking or chanting to themselves with their heads trembling from side to side almost as if they had Parkinson's disease. The trance-like state for some people is attributable to a form of self hypnosis. For the devotees, the trance is due to possession by an Emperor God.

The morning processions will occur from Wednesday the 17th through Tuesday the 23rd.  The processions commence at 7:00 A.M.  Participants in the procession are members of specific shrines for each day.
For 2012 the participants and schedule are:

          Wednesday, 17 Oct - Sapam Shrine

          Thursday, 18 Oct - Sam Kong Shrine

          Friday, 19 Oct - Baan Tha Rue Shrine

          Saturday, 20 Oct - Bang Neow Shrine and Chering Thalay Shrine

          Sunday, 21 Oct - Jui Tui Shrine

          Monday, 22 Oct - Kathu Shrine and Yok Ke Keng Shrine

          Tuesdy, 23 Oct - Sui Boon Tong Shrine

If your time is limited, I would recommend attending the processions on Sunday and Monday.

To get the full experience of the processions and associated ritual, you can visit the shrine before the start of the procession.  I recommend that you arrive before 6:00 A.M. to witness close up the preparations of the Ma Song.  Be forewarned, the preparations include piercing the Ma Song with various objects ranging from needles to assault rifles  It is quite a spectacle and a unique experience.

Headed Home With A Vegetarian Meal From the Shrine