At the That Luang festival, held in November, I saw a couple of musicians, both a little drunk. The smart young Indian was perhaps selling roti (pancake) or fabrics. The young woman and child were staying in one of the salas (rest houses). Many people came to the festival from the surrounding countryside and camped there. 

 

The Rocket Festival (Boun Bang Fai) took place at the end of May or beginning of June, at the onset of the rainy season. It was a three-day festival with its origins in ancient animist belief, which had been adapted to fit in with Buddhist ritual. It was essentially a fertility festival in terms of the earth and human sexuality. On the first few days, there were parades around town, and the giant rockets were displayed on floats. Young men wore women’s clothing, blackened their faces and carried phallic symbols (in the form of carrots or other long vegetables) and turtle shells representing the female organs. They also sang lewd songs, much to the merriment of the women onlookers, and carried ‘porno puppets’ who performed coitus operated by strings (interestingly, all in the missionary position). On the  third day, the rockets were taken to the river and fired towards Thailand. Once, one struck a buffalo, fortunately not causing serious injury and thus averting an international incident. The rockets were judged on their performance and the beauty of their decoration, and the winners would gain much merit as well as a financial reward. Losers would be thrown into muddy water and forced to drink lao-lao (rice liquor). The purpose of firing the rockets is to ‘remind’ the Sky God (Phaya Thaen) to drop water on the earth. 

 

I heard that when the Pathet Lao took over in 1975, it was decided that this primitive ritual was unprogressive, and so it was banned. Drought followed, and the Party reconsidered. The festival was partially reinstated, but without its more explicit aspects. This story may not be true, but I like it, and it should be.

Nowadays, a sanitised and politically correct version of the festival is in place, and rockets are no longer fired towards Thailand.