Our next big weekend trip in order was to head to the remote town of DAN SAI to celebrate the town’s annual festival called Pi Ka Thon, a thai version of Halloween but better coined as “Mardi Gras from Hell”. The world cup was just beginning and the boys dared not stray far from a T.V so the girls of Chaiyaphum (and Prae!) decided to explore this festival on our own.
We all got out of class and headed straight for the bus station.. we had 4 hours to Loei (also in the middle of nowhere) and the another hour and ½ to Dan Sai, with bus changes getting us in around 11 pm. I had arranged for us to stay in a guesthouse right outside of Dan Sai where a very helpful woman named Nok who spoke perfect English was awaiting us. Our final bus ride through the night was not the best, Thai’s tend to cram everyone they can with a ticket into the busses, whether there are seats or not, and we were the unfortunately group to get stuck standing in the aisle. On top of that the guesthouse owner had just informed us that we would have to somehow communicate with the bus driver that we did not want to be taken to Dan Sai, but rather dropped off on the side of the road somewhere and then we would walk the rest of the way through the woods to the guesthouse. We were kind of at a loss of how to a) explain our situation and b) even GET to the bus driver as we had a looong row of people standing in front of us in the aisle. To our luck we happened to be standing beside the seat of a Thai girl who spoke perfect English and offered to share her seat and soon her total assistance. She amazingly took over our phone to get us directions and with her tiny stature capabilities (no way any of us could pass 30 people in an aisle so easily) made her way back and forth to the front of the bus to let our driver know what we wanted. We finally made it to our stop on the side of the road and promised our Thai savior we would see her the next day at the festival before squeezing and climbing our way around the Thai people, not QUITE so gracefully, and spilling out into the road ready to find our home for the weekend.
We found our way through the woods and were immediately greeted by a grounds man and taken to our little cottage. The place was adorable. For 150 baht each ($4.50) we had our own cabin for about 10 people with little mats and fleece blankets (finally somewhere chilly at night!). It was something straight out of snow white. We all settled in on the porch and awaited the arrival (with their own struggles involving policemen finally escorting them the last 30 min leg of their journey) of our two other friends from Prae, in Northern Thailand. We all hung out on our porch for the next few hours, enjoying Thai whiskey and strange Thai snacks from the guesthouse owner (chips that are fish and pea flavored? French fries with strawberry sauce!?) and took in the cool mountain air and the soothing rain that pattered around our cabin before hitting our mats for our festival adventure to begin the next day.
Nok our guesthouse owner woke us up the next day to get us ready to explore Dan Sai. She had arranged for us to have our own personal pickup truck taxi for the day to take us wherever we wanted to go. After grabbing some lunch we were taken to Thailand’s most famous winery (I had NEVER even drank wine in this country), Chateau De Loei. We were promised a wine tasting, which.. wasn’t quite of the caliber we would have gotten at home (they didn’t really want to give us any wine) but it was nevertheless delicious and a luxury we rarely got to enjoy. We bought two bottles and after wandering the area around the vineyard settled in a table to enjoy our purchases. After all this REFRESHMENT it was about time to see what this festival was all about and we packed back in the truck for the final 20 minute drive into Dan Sai.
Some background information on the festival.. what everyone in Dan Sai is celebrating during Phi Ka Thon is the return of Prince Siddhartha to his village. The Price (now what we know as BUDDHA) had disappeared for a long period of time on the quest for enlightenment, and before he ultimately became enlightened he made one visit back to his village. When everyone saw him they were so surprised because they had assumed he had died they threw a giant party to celebrate. They partied so hard they apparently woke the dead, and then of course the dead came to the party and celebrated as well! HENCE, why this is now a Thai Halloween filled with drunken, dancing demons. The phallic aspect to this festival is that well, they just really like penis’s in Thailand. It isn’t a sexual symbol here but just something representing power, so basically every demon was equipped with their own wooden penis guns, staffs, chains..you name it.
We got the festival and immediately were greeted with the colorfully decorated models of demons and the people dressed in elaborate masks and costumes and quite drunkenly dancing/stumbling around the streets. Dan Sai is preeetty tiny. It reminded me a lot of our old town Inburi. All the festivities were happening on one street that was not too long, but the backdrop of the town was lush green hillsides making it a truly scenic and beautiful place. We jumped out of our truck and wandered into the streets to begin the day. There was a giant stage set up with dancing in that part of the street and bleachers so we parked there for a little while to watch the several demons dancing around. As the day went on we pretty much just wandered up and down the street. There was a lot of eating involved, and certainly drinking. In addition we jumped on trampolines set up, ate some cooked bugs (which I immediately threw up), and just mingled and took pictures with demons of all shapes and sizes.
As the sun started to set (how we made it all day I don’t know) we met up with our wonderful friend from the bus (Luk!) who invited to pick us up and take us to HER friend’s family’s house to eat dinner. Mind you we were a group of 8 people… the generosity of Thai’s to strangers never ceases to amaze me. We all piled in yet another pickup truck and headed to a thai style feast! We ate outside on mats on the ground and had grilled fish, soups , fruits, sticky rice, pork balls, and chicken all for the taking. After hanging out with our new thai friends for a bit and communicating through the universal language of FOOD, we headed back to the festival for the night celebrations.
When we got there the dancing and music on the stage from before was in full swing, as a band played and every demon was there to dance. The dancing was more like constant jumping up and down but we went right in the crowd and joined the demons, making more friends who entertained us with their phallic poles. The night finally winded down and we headed to a concert to sit and drink and all hang out before our truck taxi was back to pick us up.
The next morning came and while the festival’s biggest day was happening on Sunday, after a full day and night of very strange experiences with demons, phallic figures of all shapes and sizes, drunken thai people, and dancing around in a parking lot we had had more all the Phi Ka Thon festival we could take. We all piled back on our busses sweaty and exhausted and more than ready for the long haul home. Walking away from the weekend tired and a bit confused by everything that I saw, I was still sooo glad to come to this beautiful town in the middle-of-no-where Thailand. We came for a celebration and we got nothing less, fully experiencing a TRUE Thai festival that was certainly something not everyone gets to see here. To Phi Ka Thon! An American Halloween will never compare!
We found our way through the woods and were immediately greeted by a grounds man and taken to our little cottage. The place was adorable. For 150 baht each ($4.50) we had our own cabin for about 10 people with little mats and fleece blankets (finally somewhere chilly at night!). It was something straight out of snow white. We all settled in on the porch and awaited the arrival (with their own struggles involving policemen finally escorting them the last 30 min leg of their journey) of our two other friends from Prae, in Northern Thailand. We all hung out on our porch for the next few hours, enjoying Thai whiskey and strange Thai snacks from the guesthouse owner (chips that are fish and pea flavored? French fries with strawberry sauce!?) and took in the cool mountain air and the soothing rain that pattered around our cabin before hitting our mats for our festival adventure to begin the next day.
Nok our guesthouse owner woke us up the next day to get us ready to explore Dan Sai. She had arranged for us to have our own personal pickup truck taxi for the day to take us wherever we wanted to go. After grabbing some lunch we were taken to Thailand’s most famous winery (I had NEVER even drank wine in this country), Chateau De Loei. We were promised a wine tasting, which.. wasn’t quite of the caliber we would have gotten at home (they didn’t really want to give us any wine) but it was nevertheless delicious and a luxury we rarely got to enjoy. We bought two bottles and after wandering the area around the vineyard settled in a table to enjoy our purchases. After all this REFRESHMENT it was about time to see what this festival was all about and we packed back in the truck for the final 20 minute drive into Dan Sai.
Some background information on the festival.. what everyone in Dan Sai is celebrating during Phi Ka Thon is the return of Prince Siddhartha to his village. The Price (now what we know as BUDDHA) had disappeared for a long period of time on the quest for enlightenment, and before he ultimately became enlightened he made one visit back to his village. When everyone saw him they were so surprised because they had assumed he had died they threw a giant party to celebrate. They partied so hard they apparently woke the dead, and then of course the dead came to the party and celebrated as well! HENCE, why this is now a Thai Halloween filled with drunken, dancing demons. The phallic aspect to this festival is that well, they just really like penis’s in Thailand. It isn’t a sexual symbol here but just something representing power, so basically every demon was equipped with their own wooden penis guns, staffs, chains..you name it.
We got the festival and immediately were greeted with the colorfully decorated models of demons and the people dressed in elaborate masks and costumes and quite drunkenly dancing/stumbling around the streets. Dan Sai is preeetty tiny. It reminded me a lot of our old town Inburi. All the festivities were happening on one street that was not too long, but the backdrop of the town was lush green hillsides making it a truly scenic and beautiful place. We jumped out of our truck and wandered into the streets to begin the day. There was a giant stage set up with dancing in that part of the street and bleachers so we parked there for a little while to watch the several demons dancing around. As the day went on we pretty much just wandered up and down the street. There was a lot of eating involved, and certainly drinking. In addition we jumped on trampolines set up, ate some cooked bugs (which I immediately threw up), and just mingled and took pictures with demons of all shapes and sizes.
As the sun started to set (how we made it all day I don’t know) we met up with our wonderful friend from the bus (Luk!) who invited to pick us up and take us to HER friend’s family’s house to eat dinner. Mind you we were a group of 8 people… the generosity of Thai’s to strangers never ceases to amaze me. We all piled in yet another pickup truck and headed to a thai style feast! We ate outside on mats on the ground and had grilled fish, soups , fruits, sticky rice, pork balls, and chicken all for the taking. After hanging out with our new thai friends for a bit and communicating through the universal language of FOOD, we headed back to the festival for the night celebrations.
When we got there the dancing and music on the stage from before was in full swing, as a band played and every demon was there to dance. The dancing was more like constant jumping up and down but we went right in the crowd and joined the demons, making more friends who entertained us with their phallic poles. The night finally winded down and we headed to a concert to sit and drink and all hang out before our truck taxi was back to pick us up.
The next morning came and while the festival’s biggest day was happening on Sunday, after a full day and night of very strange experiences with demons, phallic figures of all shapes and sizes, drunken thai people, and dancing around in a parking lot we had had more all the Phi Ka Thon festival we could take. We all piled back on our busses sweaty and exhausted and more than ready for the long haul home. Walking away from the weekend tired and a bit confused by everything that I saw, I was still sooo glad to come to this beautiful town in the middle-of-no-where Thailand. We came for a celebration and we got nothing less, fully experiencing a TRUE Thai festival that was certainly something not everyone gets to see here. To Phi Ka Thon! An American Halloween will never compare!
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