Ban Dongphayom
Encyclopedia
Ban Dongphayom is a village (muban
) in the Nakhon Pa Mak
subdistrict of Bang Krathum District
of Phitsanulok Province
, Thailand
.
.
The second element dong (Thai: ดง) means forest or jungle
.
The third element phayom (Thai: พยอม) is a type of rainforest
tree of the genus Shorea
indigenous to Thailand.
While there is no common name for phayom in the English language, Philippine mahogany
is a mixture of Shorea genuses. A loose translation of the name as a whole would be Phayom-wood Forest Village. There are few phayom tress left in Ban Dongphayom, as villagers have cleared the majority of the land for agriculture over the years. The phayom tree is an endangered species
.
.
It is situated on land between the Wang Thong
and the Wat Ta Yom
Rivers, within the Nan Basin
(part of the Chao Phraya Watershed
).
A canal flows through the village,
which leads to Ban Grong Greng
, where it joins another canal that joins the Wang Thong River
at Ban Sam Ruen
.
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Ban Dongphayom is a rural agricultural residential village. Resident farmers in Ban Dongphayom are primarily engaged in the business of growing rice
. However, most farms are diversified, growing sugar cane, banana
s, mango
s, papaya
s, chili pepper
s, coconut
s, spices and herbs. Farmers in Ban Dongphayom also typically raise livestock such as cattle
, chicken
and pig
s. A public pharmacy is also run from one of the homes in Ban Dongphayom which supplies medication to Ban Dongphayom villagers and residents of surrounding villages in Nakhon Pa Mak. Villagers also engage in fishing
in the canal
which flows through the village. As of 2001, running water had just been installed in Ban Dongphayom, and the water quality was not yet suitable for drinking. Electricity
is available and most homes have television
s. Phone lines, however are not installed. Some villagers use mobile phone
s and CBs for communication outside the village. Transportation in and out of the village is facilitated by narrow dirt roads. These roads are the primary route for transportation in Ban Dongphayom, although the canal is navigable for small boats. Small bridges such as the bridge
at Ban Dongphayom prevent larger vessels from navigating the canal.
and other wildlife. Venomous snakes are a threat to the residents, and villagers take precautions in their daily activities to avoid being bitten. Mosquitos are also a problem due to the amount of standing water in the nearby rice farms, although there are no recent cases of Malaria
reported. Siamese fighting fish
(Betta splendens) are found in the canal flowing through the village, and children of the village often collect them for pets. Crabs live in the standing water of the rice farms as well.
Residents of Ban Dongphayom are Theravada
Buddhists. Ancestor worship is practiced, and homes often have shrines dedicated to elders of the family who have died. Offerings of food and drink are placed beside the shrines. Children of Ban Dongphayom attend school in neighboring Ban Sam Ruen
. They travel to school by bicycle and on foot. There is no bus service. Children enjoy playing soccer in the village soccer field and swimming in the canal. Instances of children drowning are relatively high, as there are lillies and other tall weeds below the surface of the canal which often entangle with swimmers. Many of the elders in the village attribute the drownings to evil spirits in the canal. Large celebrations are commonplace in Ban Dongphayom, as local weddings and other events such as coming-of-age ceremonies and death anniversaries are well attended by the entire community. Celebrations involve days of preparation and entertainment is customary. Singers and dancers are typically hired for these events. Traditional ethnic clothing is no longer worn by villagers of Ban Dongphayom, other than for certain religious ceremonies. Men of the village, however, often obtain astrological tattoos on their bodies, which they believe protect them from danger.
Monks use different tools to make the tattoos. Some of the monks use sharpened sticks of bamboo; others use thin weighted metal rods.
Wat Dongphayom was built in the 1980s on the grounds of a defunct cemetery. The temple has two monks. Ban Dongphayom villagers generally worship at nearby Wat Sam Ruen, not at Wat Dongphayom, although Wat Dongphayom has merit-making activities on Buddhist days. Funerals of Ban Dongphayom residents are generally held at nearby Wat Grung See Jayrin. Wat Dongphayom consists of a single small building, and does not have a chedi.
The exact date of the race is not tied to the calendar, but rather depends on the water level of the canal.
Muban
Muban is the lowest administrative subdivision of Thailand. Usually translated as village, they are the subdivision of tambon. As of 2008, there are 74944 administrative villages in Thailand. As of the 1990 census, the average village consisted of 144 households or 746 persons.A muban does not...
) in the Nakhon Pa Mak
Nakhon Pa Mak
Nakhon Pa Mak is a rural subdistrict in the Bang Krathum district of Phitsanulok Province, Thailand.-Etymology:The first element nakhon means town or city. The second element pa means forest. The third element mak means betel palm...
subdistrict of Bang Krathum District
Amphoe Bang Krathum
-Etymology:The first element bang means village or settlement. The second element krathum means bur-flower tree .-Geography:...
of Phitsanulok Province
Phitsanulok Province
Phitsanulok is a provinces of Thailand, located in the north. Neighboring provinces are Loei, Phetchabun, Phichit, Kamphaeng Phet, Sukhothai, Uttaradit. In the north-east it also has a short border with Xaignabouli of Laos....
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
Etymology
The first element ban (Thai: บ้าน) means home or villageVillage
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
.
The second element dong (Thai: ดง) means forest or jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
.
The third element phayom (Thai: พยอม) is a type of rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
tree of the genus Shorea
Shorea
Shorea is a genus of about 196 species of mainly rainforest trees in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The genus is named after Sir John Shore, the Governor-General of the British East India Company, 1793-1798. They are native to southeast Asia, from Northern India to Malaysia, Indonesia and the...
indigenous to Thailand.
While there is no common name for phayom in the English language, Philippine mahogany
Philippine mahogany
Philippine mahogany is a common name for several different species of trees and their wood.*Botanically, the name refers to the species Toona calantas in the mahogany family Meliaceae....
is a mixture of Shorea genuses. A loose translation of the name as a whole would be Phayom-wood Forest Village. There are few phayom tress left in Ban Dongphayom, as villagers have cleared the majority of the land for agriculture over the years. The phayom tree is an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
.
Geography
Ban Dongphayom lies in the western portion of Nakhon Pa Mak, bordering Ban Sam RuenBan Sam Ruen
Ban Sam Ruen is a village in the Nakhon Pa Mak subdistrict of Amphoe Bang Krathum District of Phitsanulok Province, Thailand.-Etymology:The first element ban means village. The second element sam means three...
.
It is situated on land between the Wang Thong
Wang Thong River
The Wang Thong River is a river in Thailand. Its source lies in the Phetchabun Mountains in the Khao Kho District, Thailand.It flows through Thung Salaeng Luang National Park and forms Namtok Sri Dit and Namtok Kaeng Sopha in the Wang Thong District of Phitsanulok Province, and finally flows...
and the Wat Ta Yom
Wat Ta Yom River
-Geography:This river of many names originates in the mountains of the Noen Maprang District of Phitsanulok Province where it is referred to as the Chomphu River ,...
Rivers, within the Nan Basin
Nan River
The Nan River is a river in Thailand. It is one of the most important tributaries of the Chao Phraya River.-Geography:The Nan River originates in Nan Province. The provinces along the river after Nan Province are Uttaradit, Phitsanulok and Phichit. The Yom River joins the Nan River at Chum Saeng...
(part of the Chao Phraya Watershed
Chao Phraya River
The Chao Phraya is a major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It runs through Bangkok, the capital city, and then empties into the Gulf of Thailand.-Etymology:...
).
A canal flows through the village,
which leads to Ban Grong Greng
Ban Grong Greng
Ban Grong Greng is a rural village in the northwest portion of the Nakhon Pa Mak subdistrict of Bang Krathum District of Phitsanulok Province, Thailand.-Etymology:The first element ban means village....
, where it joins another canal that joins the Wang Thong River
Wang Thong River
The Wang Thong River is a river in Thailand. Its source lies in the Phetchabun Mountains in the Khao Kho District, Thailand.It flows through Thung Salaeng Luang National Park and forms Namtok Sri Dit and Namtok Kaeng Sopha in the Wang Thong District of Phitsanulok Province, and finally flows...
at Ban Sam Ruen
Ban Sam Ruen
Ban Sam Ruen is a village in the Nakhon Pa Mak subdistrict of Amphoe Bang Krathum District of Phitsanulok Province, Thailand.-Etymology:The first element ban means village. The second element sam means three...
.
Government
The current village headman of Ban Dongphayom is Phu Yai Ban Lamiet Muenpet. This position is an elected post, which is then followed by appointment by the Ministry of the Interior.Economy
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
. However, most farms are diversified, growing sugar cane, banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s, mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
s, papaya
Papaya
The papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...
s, chili pepper
Chili pepper
Chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The term in British English and in Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia and other Asian countries is just chilli without pepper.Chili peppers originated in the Americas...
s, coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
s, spices and herbs. Farmers in Ban Dongphayom also typically raise livestock such as cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
, chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
and pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
s. A public pharmacy is also run from one of the homes in Ban Dongphayom which supplies medication to Ban Dongphayom villagers and residents of surrounding villages in Nakhon Pa Mak. Villagers also engage in fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
in the canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
which flows through the village. As of 2001, running water had just been installed in Ban Dongphayom, and the water quality was not yet suitable for drinking. Electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
is available and most homes have television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
s. Phone lines, however are not installed. Some villagers use mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s and CBs for communication outside the village. Transportation in and out of the village is facilitated by narrow dirt roads. These roads are the primary route for transportation in Ban Dongphayom, although the canal is navigable for small boats. Small bridges such as the bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
at Ban Dongphayom prevent larger vessels from navigating the canal.
Wildlife
Ban Dongphayom is a natural habitat to a wide variety of insects, reptiles, amphibians, fishFish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and other wildlife. Venomous snakes are a threat to the residents, and villagers take precautions in their daily activities to avoid being bitten. Mosquitos are also a problem due to the amount of standing water in the nearby rice farms, although there are no recent cases of Malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
reported. Siamese fighting fish
Siamese fighting fish
The Siamese fighting fish , also known as the betta , is a popular species of freshwater aquarium fish. The name of the genus is derived from ikan bettah, taken from a local dialect of Malay...
(Betta splendens) are found in the canal flowing through the village, and children of the village often collect them for pets. Crabs live in the standing water of the rice farms as well.
Culture
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
Buddhists. Ancestor worship is practiced, and homes often have shrines dedicated to elders of the family who have died. Offerings of food and drink are placed beside the shrines. Children of Ban Dongphayom attend school in neighboring Ban Sam Ruen
Ban Sam Ruen
Ban Sam Ruen is a village in the Nakhon Pa Mak subdistrict of Amphoe Bang Krathum District of Phitsanulok Province, Thailand.-Etymology:The first element ban means village. The second element sam means three...
. They travel to school by bicycle and on foot. There is no bus service. Children enjoy playing soccer in the village soccer field and swimming in the canal. Instances of children drowning are relatively high, as there are lillies and other tall weeds below the surface of the canal which often entangle with swimmers. Many of the elders in the village attribute the drownings to evil spirits in the canal. Large celebrations are commonplace in Ban Dongphayom, as local weddings and other events such as coming-of-age ceremonies and death anniversaries are well attended by the entire community. Celebrations involve days of preparation and entertainment is customary. Singers and dancers are typically hired for these events. Traditional ethnic clothing is no longer worn by villagers of Ban Dongphayom, other than for certain religious ceremonies. Men of the village, however, often obtain astrological tattoos on their bodies, which they believe protect them from danger.
Monks use different tools to make the tattoos. Some of the monks use sharpened sticks of bamboo; others use thin weighted metal rods.
Wat Dongphayom
Wat Dongphayom (Thai: วัดดงพยอม) is a small temple in Ban Dongphayom.Wat Dongphayom was built in the 1980s on the grounds of a defunct cemetery. The temple has two monks. Ban Dongphayom villagers generally worship at nearby Wat Sam Ruen, not at Wat Dongphayom, although Wat Dongphayom has merit-making activities on Buddhist days. Funerals of Ban Dongphayom residents are generally held at nearby Wat Grung See Jayrin. Wat Dongphayom consists of a single small building, and does not have a chedi.
Ban Dongphayom Boat Race
Ban Dongphayom is the starting point for an annual long-boat race. One such race took place on October 6, 2001 and was publicized by Thailand's Department of Agriculture Extension.The exact date of the race is not tied to the calendar, but rather depends on the water level of the canal.