Rocket Festival
Encyclopedia
A Rocket Festival is a merit-making ceremony traditionally practiced by Ethnic Lao people
throughout much of northeast Thailand and Laos
, by numerous villages and municipalities near the beginning of the rainy season. Celebrations typically include preliminary music and dance performances, competitive processions of floats, dancers and musicians on the second day, and culminating on the third day in competitive firings of home-made rockets. Local participants and sponsors use the occasion to enhance their social prestige
, as is customary
in tradition
al Buddhist folk
festival
s throughout Southeast Asia
. See also Gift culture.
fertility rite
s held to celebrate and encourage the coming of the rains, from before the 9th Century discovery of black powder. It may also be said that Lao culture is not lacking in earthy, bawdy themes, with rockets festivals the most sexually oriented and bawdy of the lot. Coming immediately prior to the planting season, the festivals offer an excellent chance to make merry before the hard work begins; as well as enhancing communal prestige, and attracting and redistributing wealth as in any Gift culture.
Scholars study the centuries old rocket festival tradition today as it may be significant to the history of rocket
ry in the East, and perhaps also significant in the postcolonial socio-political development of the Southeast Asian nation states. Economically, villages and sponsors bear the costs in many locations in Laos
and in northern Isan
(Northeast Thailand
). The festivals typically begin at the beginning of the Rainy Season, in the sixth or seventh lunar month
s.
Anthropology Professor Charles F. Keyes advises, "In recognition of the deep-seated meaning of certain traditions for the peoples of the societies of mainland Southeast Asia, the rulers of these societies have incorporated some indigenous symbols into the national cultures that they have worked to construct in the postcolonial period. Giving the "Bun Bang Fai or fire rocket festival of Laos" as one example, he adds that it remains "…far more elaborate in the villages than in the cities…."
's. However, even villages may have themed floats
conveying government messages, as Keys advises. They may also include fair
s. In recent years the Tourism Authority of Thailand has helped promote these events, particularly the festivals in the Thai provinces of Nong Khai
and Yasothon
-- the latter boasting the largest and most elaborate of these festivals.
from Ubon Ratchathani Province
, with its world-famous Candle Festival
, Yasothon's provincial capital
has elaborately staged its now world-famous Rocket Festival annually over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday weekend that falls in the middle of May.
Raw Friday features all-night performances of Mor Lam Sing
(Thai
–Isan
: หมอลำซิ่ง), which continue intermittently into the wee hours of Monday. Mor Lam Sing is a type of morlam that is very popular among the local Isan-Lao population. The performance goes on all night and the locals have great fun. Outsiders have a hard time understanding the humour, which is often rather bawdy.
Saturday brings on the competitions for Hae Bangfai Ko . "Hàe"http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/22631.html are street parades or demonstrations usually featuring traditional dance and accompanying musicians
, typically with khaen
, Gong
s, Lao-Isan Klong Yao
, long drum), and an electric guitar
, powered by an inverter
and car batteries
in a handcart
that also mounts horn loudspeakers.
Bangfai Ko are richly decorated rockets mounted on traditional but highly decorated oxcarts, or modern floats
. Most but not all bold Bangfai Ko are for show and not actually capable of flight. Many sport the heads of Nāga
s; if equipped with water pumps and swivels, they are actually capable of spitting on spectators.
The principal theme of any Hae Bangfai is the Nāng Ai Phādāēng legend (below), so many floats (or highly decorated oxcarts) also depict the couple and their retinue. Other modern themes present as well, as suggested by Keyes (ibid.) Participating groups compete for prizes within their categories. Hàe typically end in a wat
, where dancers and accompanying musicians may further compete in traditional folk dance. All groups prominently display the names of their major sponsors.
Recalling the fertility rite origins of the festival, parade ornaments and floats often sport phallic symbols and imagery. Amid the festive atmosphere, dirty humour is widespread.
Festivities also include cross-dressing
, both cross-sex and cross-generational, and great quantities of alcohol
. Perhaps the most popular beverage, both because it is cheaper than beer
and has a higher, 40-percent alcohol content, is a neutral grain spirit
called Sura , but more generally known as Lao Whiskey ' onMouseout='HidePop("82092")' href="/topics/Sato_(rice_wine)">Sato
, a brewed rice beverage similar to Japanese sake, may also be on offer; sweet-flavored sato may be as little as seven-percent alcohol, but it packs a surprising punch.
Sunday competition moves on to the launching of Bangfai, judged, in various categories, for apparent height and distance travelled, with extra points for exceptionally beautiful vapor trails Those whose rockets misfire are either covered with mud
, or thrown into a mud puddle (that also serves a safety function, as immediate application of cooling mud can reduce severity of burns
). While popular and entertaining, the festival is also dangerous, with participants and spectators alike occasionally being injured or even killed. On May 10, 1999, a Lan 120 kg rocket exploded 50 meters above ground, just two seconds after launch, killing five persons and wounding 11.
s used as missiles or weapons, but Bang Fai skyrocket
s are gigantic black-powder bottle rockets. Tiny Bottle rocket
s are so called because they may be launched from a bottle. In the case of the similar appearing Bang Fai, also spelled 'Bong Fai' , the 'bottle' is a bong , a section of bamboo
Culm used as a container or pipe (and only colloquially as a pipe for smoking marijuana
.)
Related to the Chinese Fire Arrow
, Bang Fai are made from bamboo bongs. Most contemporary ones, however, are enclosed in pvc
piping
, making them less dangerous by standardizing their sizes and black powder charges (which contest rules require be compounded by the rocketeers, themselves). Baking or boiling a bong kills insect eggs that otherwise hatch in dead bamboo and eat it, inside out. Skipping this step may cause the bong to disintegrate and melt the pvc piping. Vine
s tie long bamboo tails to launching racks. The time it takes for the exhaust to burn through the vines (usually) allows a motor to build up to full thrust; then the tails impart in-flight stability. Ignition comes from a burning fuse
or electric match
.
Bang Fai come in various sizes, competing in several categories. Small ones are called Bang Fai Noi . Larger categories are designated by the counting words for 10,000, 100,000 and 1,000,000: Meun "Saen" and the largest Bang Fai, the Lan . These counting words see use in many contexts to indicate increasing size or value. Lan in this context may be taken to mean extremely large as well as extremely expensive and extremely dangerous: Bang Fai Lan are nine metres long and charged with 120 kg of black powder. These may reach altitudes reckoned in kilometers, and travel dozens of kilometers down range (loosely speaking, as they can go in any direction, including right through the crowd). Competing rockets are scored for apparent height, distance, and beauty of the vapor trail . A few include skyrocket pyrotechnics. A few also include parachutes for tail assemblies, but most fall where they may.
. She is famed as the most beautiful girl. He, an outsider, comes to see for himself, lavishes her with gifts and wins her heart; but must win a rocket festival tournament
to win her hand. Unwittingly, he becomes part of a love triangle.
Phangkhi and Nang Ai have been fated by their Karma
to have been reborn throughout many past existences as soul mates Stories about the couple, however, say they have not exactly been lovers: in many a past existence, she has been a dutiful wife, but would not yield an inch in an argument to anyone and he only wanted to satisfy himself . She becomes fed up and prays never to be paired with him, ever again. Nang Ai is reborn as the daughter of Phraya Khom ' onMouseout='HidePop("89632")' href="/topics/Cambodia">Khmer
; but even if her father was a Cambodian
overlord, Nang Ai Kham is still the genuine article), while Phangki is reborn as the son of Phaya Nak, the Grand Nāga who rules the Deeps
. (He is depicted in parades in the guise of a prince, riding alone, dogging the new pair.) Phangki isn't invited to the tournament, and Phadaeng's rocket fizzles. Nang Ai's uncle is the winner, so her father calls the whole thing off, which is considered to be a very bad omen
, indeed. Pangkhii shape-shifts
into a white squirrel to spy on Nang Ai, but she espies him and has him killed by a royal hunter. Pangkhii's flesh magically transforms into meat equal to 8,000 cart
loads. Nang Ai and many of her countrymen ate of this tainted flesh, and Phaya Nak vows to allow no one to remain living who had eaten of the flesh of his son. Aroused from the Deeps, he and his watery myrmidons rise and turn the land into a vast swamp. Nagas personify waters running both above and below ground, and nagas run amok are rivers in spate: all Isan is flooded. Phadaeng flees the rising flood with Nang Ai on his white stallion
, Bak Sam , but she is swept off by a Naga's tail, not to be seen again. (Bak Sam is seen in parades sporting his stallion's equipage that legend says dug a lick
called Lam Huay Sam ' onMouseout='HidePop("44031")' href="/topics/Amphoe_Khok_Pho_Chai">Amphoe Khok Pho Chai
. The legend also tells that receding waters left behind the Nong Han Kumphawapi Lake
of the Kumphawapi District
marsh
, which, too, may be seen to this very day.) Phadaeng escapes, but pines away for his lost love. His ghost then raises an army of the spirits of the air to wage war on the nagas below. The war continues until both sides are exhausted, and the dispute is submitted to King Wetsawan , king of the North, for arbitration
. His decision: the cause of the feud
has long since been forgotten and all disputants must let bygones be bygone.
The legend is retold in many regional variations, all of which are equally true for they relate events in different existences. One 3000-word poem translated to English from this rich Thai-Isan tradition, "…is especially well known to the Thai audience, having been designated as secondary school supplementary reading by the Thai Ministry of Education, with publication in 1978. There is even a Thai popular song about the leading characters." The original was written in a Lao-Isan verse called Khong saan, replete with sexual innuendo
, pun
s, and double entendre
.
Keyes (op. cit., p. 67, citing George Coedès) p. 48, says "Phra Daeng Nang Ai" is a version of the Kaundinya
, legendary founder of Funan; and Soma, the daughter of the king of the Nāga. Keyes also wrote that such legends may prove a valuable source
of toponyms.
When the Lord Buddha was in his bodhisatta
(Pali
) (Thai
: โพธิสัตว์ , phothisat) incarnation as King of the Toads Phaya Khang Khok , and married to Udon Khuruthawip , his sermons drew everyone, creatures and sky-dwellers alike, away from Phaya Thaen , King of the Sky)http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/6347.html. Angry Phaya Thaen withheld life-giving rains from the earth for seven years, seven months and seven days. Acting against the advice of the Toad King, Phaya Naga
, King of the Nāga
(and personification of the Mekong
) declared war on Phaya Thaen—and lost.
Persuaded by Phaya Naga to assume command, King Toad enlisted the aid of termite
s to build mounds reaching to the heavens, and of venomous scorpion
s and centipedes to attack Phaya Thaen's feet, and of hornets for air support. Previous attempts at aerial warfare
against Phaya Thaen in his own element had proved futile; but even the Sky must come down to the ground. On the ground the war was won, and Phaya Thaen sued for peace.
Naga Rockets fired in the air at the end of the hot, dry season
are not to threaten Phaya Thaen, but to serve as a reminder to him of his treaty obligations made to Lord Bodhisatta Phaya Khang Khok, King of the Toads, down on the ground. For his part Phaya Nak was rewarded by being given the duty of Honor Guard
at most Thai and Lao temples.
After the harvest
of the resulting crops, Wow thanoo , man-sized kites with a strung bow, are staked out in winter monsoon winds. They are also called Túi-tiù , from the sound of the bowstring singing in the wind, which sing all through the night, to signal Phaya Thaen that he has sent enough rain.
All participants (including a wow thanoo) were depicted on murals on the front of the former Yasothon Municipal Bang Fai Museum, but were removed when it was remodeled as a learning centre.
An English-language translation of a Thai report on Bang Fai Phaya Nark Naga fireballs
at Nong Khai
gives essentially the same myth (without the hornets and wow) from Thai folk : The knowledge of Thai life-style http://www.thaifolk.com/doc/literate/payanak/payanak_e.htm.
For an alternate English-language version, see Tossa, Wajuppa and Phra 'Ariyānuwat ; Phya Khankhaak, the Toad King: A Translation of an Isan Fertility Myth in Verse ; Lewisburg : Bucknell University Press London ; Cranbury, NJ : Associated University Presses ©1996 ISBN 0-8387-5306-X.
Thai
martial arts film
, Kon Fai Bin
, depicts the Rocket Festival. Set in 1890s Siam, the movie's hero, Jone Bang Fai ("Fireball Bandit"), is an expert at building the traditional bamboo rockets, which he uses in conjunction with Muay Thai
martial arts to defeat his opponents.
Thai political protests in April 2010 similarly had Red Shirts
firing in downtown Bangkok.
)
Lao people
The Lao are an ethnic subgroup of Tai/Dai in Southeast Asia.-Names:The etymology of the word Lao is uncertain, although it may be related to tribes known as the Ai Lao who appear in Han Dynasty records in China and Vietnam as a people of what is now Yunan Province...
throughout much of northeast Thailand and Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, by numerous villages and municipalities near the beginning of the rainy season. Celebrations typically include preliminary music and dance performances, competitive processions of floats, dancers and musicians on the second day, and culminating on the third day in competitive firings of home-made rockets. Local participants and sponsors use the occasion to enhance their social prestige
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
, as is customary
Norm (sociology)
Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit...
in tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
al Buddhist folk
Folk
The English word Folk is derived from a Germanic noun, *fulka meaning "people" or "army"...
festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
s throughout Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. See also Gift culture.
History
These Buddhist festivals are presumed to have evolved from pre-BuddhistBuddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
fertility rite
Fertility rite
Fertility rites are religious rituals that reenact, either actually or symbolically, sexual acts and/or reproductive processes: 'sexual intoxication is a typical component of the...rites of the various functional gods who control reproduction, whether of man, beast, cattle, or grains of seed'..They...
s held to celebrate and encourage the coming of the rains, from before the 9th Century discovery of black powder. It may also be said that Lao culture is not lacking in earthy, bawdy themes, with rockets festivals the most sexually oriented and bawdy of the lot. Coming immediately prior to the planting season, the festivals offer an excellent chance to make merry before the hard work begins; as well as enhancing communal prestige, and attracting and redistributing wealth as in any Gift culture.
Scholars study the centuries old rocket festival tradition today as it may be significant to the history of rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
ry in the East, and perhaps also significant in the postcolonial socio-political development of the Southeast Asian nation states. Economically, villages and sponsors bear the costs in many locations in Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
and in northern Isan
Isan
Isan is the northeastern region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Prachinburi mountains south of Nakhon Ratchasima...
(Northeast 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...
). The festivals typically begin at the beginning of the Rainy Season, in the sixth or seventh lunar month
Thai lunar calendar
The Thai lunar calendar , or Dai calendar , Tai calendar, is Thailand's version of the lunisolar Buddhist calendar used in the southeast Asian countries of Cambodia, Laos and Burma, for calculating lunar-regulated holy days...
s.
Anthropology Professor Charles F. Keyes advises, "In recognition of the deep-seated meaning of certain traditions for the peoples of the societies of mainland Southeast Asia, the rulers of these societies have incorporated some indigenous symbols into the national cultures that they have worked to construct in the postcolonial period. Giving the "Bun Bang Fai or fire rocket festival of Laos" as one example, he adds that it remains "…far more elaborate in the villages than in the cities…."
Today
Today, it is not so likely for the villages to stage "Bun Bang Fai" more elaborate than highly promoted YasothonYasothon
Yasothon is a town on the Chi River in the northeastern region of Thailand. It is the capital and administrative center of Yasothon Province and seat of its City District. Within this district, subdistrict Nai Mueang comprises the bounds of the town proper, which had a population of 21,134 in 2005...
's. However, even villages may have themed floats
Float (parade)
A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Carnival of Viareggio, the Maltese Carnival, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Key West Fantasy Fest parade, the...
conveying government messages, as Keys advises. They may also include fair
Fair
A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...
s. In recent years the Tourism Authority of Thailand has helped promote these events, particularly the festivals in the Thai provinces of Nong Khai
Nong Khai
Nong Khai is a city in North-East Thailand and is the capital of the Nong Khai Province...
and Yasothon
Yasothon
Yasothon is a town on the Chi River in the northeastern region of Thailand. It is the capital and administrative center of Yasothon Province and seat of its City District. Within this district, subdistrict Nai Mueang comprises the bounds of the town proper, which had a population of 21,134 in 2005...
-- the latter boasting the largest and most elaborate of these festivals.
Yasothon's Festival
Since the March 1, 1972, separation of YasothonYasothon Province
Yasothon is one of the provinces of Thailand, located in the North-East of Thailand on the Chi River. Neighboring provinces are Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani, Sisaket and Roi Et.-Geography:...
from Ubon Ratchathani Province
Ubon Ratchathani Province
-History:The area was part of the Khmer Empire. Before the late eighteenth century, this area evidently was outside Siamese or Thai Ayutthaya Kingdom....
, with its world-famous Candle Festival
Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival
The Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival, the most elaborate of the traditional parading of candles to wats , is held in Ubon Ratchathani, Isan, Thailand, around the days of Asanha Puja and Wan Kao Pansa .At the start of the Lenten period, it is traditional in preparation for the rainy season for...
, Yasothon's provincial capital
Yasothon
Yasothon is a town on the Chi River in the northeastern region of Thailand. It is the capital and administrative center of Yasothon Province and seat of its City District. Within this district, subdistrict Nai Mueang comprises the bounds of the town proper, which had a population of 21,134 in 2005...
has elaborately staged its now world-famous Rocket Festival annually over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday weekend that falls in the middle of May.
Raw Friday features all-night performances of Mor Lam Sing
Mor lam
Mor lam is a traditional Lao form of song in Laos and Isan.Mor lam means expert song, or expert singer, referring to the music or artist respectively. Other romanisations used include mo lam, maw lam, maw lum, moh lam and mhor lum...
(Thai
Thai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
–Isan
Isan language
Isan language is the collective name for the dialects of the Lao language as they are spoken in Thailand. It is spoken by approximately 20 million people, which is nearly one-third of the entire population of Thailand, predominantly in the Isan region of northeastern Thailand. There are also large...
: หมอลำซิ่ง), which continue intermittently into the wee hours of Monday. Mor Lam Sing is a type of morlam that is very popular among the local Isan-Lao population. The performance goes on all night and the locals have great fun. Outsiders have a hard time understanding the humour, which is often rather bawdy.
Saturday brings on the competitions for Hae Bangfai Ko . "Hàe"http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/22631.html are street parades or demonstrations usually featuring traditional dance and accompanying musicians
Music of Thailand
The music of Thailand reflects its geographic position at the intersection of China and India, and reflects trade routes that have historically included Persia, Africa, Greece and Rome...
, typically with khaen
Khene
The khene is a mouth organ of Lao origin whose pipes, which are usually made of bamboo, are connected with a small, hollowed-out hardwood reservoir into which air is blown, creating a sound similar to that of the violin...
, Gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
s, Lao-Isan Klong Yao
Goblet drum
The goblet drum is a hand drum with a goblet shape used mostly in the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe....
, long drum), and an electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, powered by an inverter
Inverter (electrical)
An inverter is an electrical device that converts direct current to alternating current ; the converted AC can be at any required voltage and frequency with the use of appropriate transformers, switching, and control circuits....
and car batteries
Car battery
An automotive battery is a type of rechargeable battery that supplies electric energy to an automobile. Usually this refers to an SLI battery to power the starter motor, the lights, and the ignition system of a vehicle’s engine...
in a handcart
Cart
A cart is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people...
that also mounts horn loudspeakers.
Bangfai Ko are richly decorated rockets mounted on traditional but highly decorated oxcarts, or modern floats
Float (parade)
A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Carnival of Viareggio, the Maltese Carnival, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Key West Fantasy Fest parade, the...
. Most but not all bold Bangfai Ko are for show and not actually capable of flight. Many sport the heads of Nāga
Naga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:* Nāga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.-People:* Nayan / Nayar/Nair people of Kerala Society* Naga people, a diverse ethnic identity in Northeast India...
s; if equipped with water pumps and swivels, they are actually capable of spitting on spectators.
The principal theme of any Hae Bangfai is the Nāng Ai Phādāēng legend (below), so many floats (or highly decorated oxcarts) also depict the couple and their retinue. Other modern themes present as well, as suggested by Keyes (ibid.) Participating groups compete for prizes within their categories. Hàe typically end in a wat
Wat
A wat is a monastery temple in Cambodia, Thailand, or Laos. The word "wat" means "school".- Introduction :...
, where dancers and accompanying musicians may further compete in traditional folk dance. All groups prominently display the names of their major sponsors.
Recalling the fertility rite origins of the festival, parade ornaments and floats often sport phallic symbols and imagery. Amid the festive atmosphere, dirty humour is widespread.
Festivities also include cross-dressing
Cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
, both cross-sex and cross-generational, and great quantities of alcohol
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
. Perhaps the most popular beverage, both because it is cheaper than beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
and has a higher, 40-percent alcohol content, is a neutral grain spirit
Neutral grain spirit
Neutral grain spirit is a clear, colorless, flammable liquid that has been distilled from a grain-based mash to a very high level of ethanol content...
called Sura , but more generally known as Lao Whiskey ' onMouseout='HidePop("82092")' href="/topics/Sato_(rice_wine)">Sato
Sato (rice wine)
Sato is a traditional northeastern Thailand beer style that has been made for centuries from starchy glutinous or sticky rice by growers in that region. Just as other regional varieties made not from grapes but cereal are commonly called wine rather than beer, sato is commonly called Thai rice...
, a brewed rice beverage similar to Japanese sake, may also be on offer; sweet-flavored sato may be as little as seven-percent alcohol, but it packs a surprising punch.
Sunday competition moves on to the launching of Bangfai, judged, in various categories, for apparent height and distance travelled, with extra points for exceptionally beautiful vapor trails Those whose rockets misfire are either covered with mud
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...
, or thrown into a mud puddle (that also serves a safety function, as immediate application of cooling mud can reduce severity of burns
Burn (injury)
A burn is a type of injury to flesh caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation or friction. Most burns affect only the skin . Rarely, deeper tissues, such as muscle, bone, and blood vessels can also be injured...
). While popular and entertaining, the festival is also dangerous, with participants and spectators alike occasionally being injured or even killed. On May 10, 1999, a Lan 120 kg rocket exploded 50 meters above ground, just two seconds after launch, killing five persons and wounding 11.
Bang Fai (the rockets)
Jaruat is the proper term for rocketRocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
s used as missiles or weapons, but Bang Fai skyrocket
Skyrocket
A skyrocket is a type of firework that uses a solid rocket motor to rise quickly into the sky. At the apex of its ascent, it is usual for a variety of effects to be emitted...
s are gigantic black-powder bottle rockets. Tiny Bottle rocket
Bottle rocket
A bottle rocket is a very small skyrocket. A typical bottle rocket consists of a rocket engine attached to a stabilizing stick. The user can place the stick in an empty bottle , and ignite the rocket engine; the mouth of the bottle guides the stick, stabilizing the rocket in its first moments of...
s are so called because they may be launched from a bottle. In the case of the similar appearing Bang Fai, also spelled 'Bong Fai' , the 'bottle' is a bong , a section of bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
Culm used as a container or pipe (and only colloquially as a pipe for smoking marijuana
Bong
A bong is a filtration device/apparatus generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco,or other herbal substances.In construction and function a bong is similar to a hookah, except smaller and more portable...
.)
Related to the Chinese Fire Arrow
Fire Arrow
Fire arrows are an early form of gun powder rocket which were attached to a stick. The Chinese are credited with the first use of fire arrows in a military application, they may have developed fire arrows from their use of fireworks.- Design :...
, Bang Fai are made from bamboo bongs. Most contemporary ones, however, are enclosed in pvc
Polyvinyl chloride
Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in...
piping
Pipe (material)
A pipe is a tubular section or hollow cylinder, usually but not necessarily of circular cross-section, used mainly to convey substances which can flow — liquids and gases , slurries, powders, masses of small solids...
, making them less dangerous by standardizing their sizes and black powder charges (which contest rules require be compounded by the rocketeers, themselves). Baking or boiling a bong kills insect eggs that otherwise hatch in dead bamboo and eat it, inside out. Skipping this step may cause the bong to disintegrate and melt the pvc piping. Vine
Vine
A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...
s tie long bamboo tails to launching racks. The time it takes for the exhaust to burn through the vines (usually) allows a motor to build up to full thrust; then the tails impart in-flight stability. Ignition comes from a burning fuse
Fuse (explosives)
In an explosive, pyrotechnic device or military munition, a fuse is the part of the device that initiates function. In common usage, the word fuse is used indiscriminately...
or electric match
Electric match
An electric match is a device that uses an externally applied electric current to ignite a combustible compound.-Use:Electric matches can be used in any application where source of heat is needed at a precisely controlled point in time, typically to ignite a propellant or explosive...
.
Bang Fai come in various sizes, competing in several categories. Small ones are called Bang Fai Noi . Larger categories are designated by the counting words for 10,000, 100,000 and 1,000,000: Meun "Saen" and the largest Bang Fai, the Lan . These counting words see use in many contexts to indicate increasing size or value. Lan in this context may be taken to mean extremely large as well as extremely expensive and extremely dangerous: Bang Fai Lan are nine metres long and charged with 120 kg of black powder. These may reach altitudes reckoned in kilometers, and travel dozens of kilometers down range (loosely speaking, as they can go in any direction, including right through the crowd). Competing rockets are scored for apparent height, distance, and beauty of the vapor trail . A few include skyrocket pyrotechnics. A few also include parachutes for tail assemblies, but most fall where they may.
Nang Ai, Phadaeng, and Phangkhi
Nang Ai , in full, Nang Ai Kham is queen of the pageant and Phadaeng is her championChampion
A champion is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition.There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, and even further divisions at one or more of these levels, as in soccer. Their champions...
. She is famed as the most beautiful girl. He, an outsider, comes to see for himself, lavishes her with gifts and wins her heart; but must win a rocket festival tournament
Tournament
A tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...
to win her hand. Unwittingly, he becomes part of a love triangle.
Phangkhi and Nang Ai have been fated by their Karma
Karma
Karma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
to have been reborn throughout many past existences as soul mates Stories about the couple, however, say they have not exactly been lovers: in many a past existence, she has been a dutiful wife, but would not yield an inch in an argument to anyone and he only wanted to satisfy himself . She becomes fed up and prays never to be paired with him, ever again. Nang Ai is reborn as the daughter of Phraya Khom ' onMouseout='HidePop("89632")' href="/topics/Cambodia">Khmer
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
; but even if her father was a Cambodian
Khmer people
Khmer people are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon–Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
overlord, Nang Ai Kham is still the genuine article), while Phangki is reborn as the son of Phaya Nak, the Grand Nāga who rules the Deeps
Deeps
The Deeps is the English term for the Hebrew Tehom , found in the opening verses of the Book of Genesis. It is believed by Biblical scholars to come from the Sumerian word Tiamat, the name given to the Salt Water, and means "The Mother of All Life", , a title similar to one that, in the Bible, was...
. (He is depicted in parades in the guise of a prince, riding alone, dogging the new pair.) Phangki isn't invited to the tournament, and Phadaeng's rocket fizzles. Nang Ai's uncle is the winner, so her father calls the whole thing off, which is considered to be a very bad omen
Omen
An omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change...
, indeed. Pangkhii shape-shifts
Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is a common theme in mythology, folklore, and fairy tales. It is also found in epic poems, science fiction literature, fantasy literature, children's literature, Shakespearean comedy, ballet, film, television, comics, and video games...
into a white squirrel to spy on Nang Ai, but she espies him and has him killed by a royal hunter. Pangkhii's flesh magically transforms into meat equal to 8,000 cart
Cart
A cart is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people...
loads. Nang Ai and many of her countrymen ate of this tainted flesh, and Phaya Nak vows to allow no one to remain living who had eaten of the flesh of his son. Aroused from the Deeps, he and his watery myrmidons rise and turn the land into a vast swamp. Nagas personify waters running both above and below ground, and nagas run amok are rivers in spate: all Isan is flooded. Phadaeng flees the rising flood with Nang Ai on his white stallion
Stallion
A Stallion is a male horse.Stallion may also refer to:* Stallion , an American pop rock group* Stallion , a figure in the Gobot toyline* Stallion , a character in the console role-playing game series...
, Bak Sam , but she is swept off by a Naga's tail, not to be seen again. (Bak Sam is seen in parades sporting his stallion's equipage that legend says dug a lick
Lick (stream)
A lick is a small watercourse or an ephemeral stream. It ranks hydrologically between a rill, shown left, and a stream, shown right....
called Lam Huay Sam ' onMouseout='HidePop("44031")' href="/topics/Amphoe_Khok_Pho_Chai">Amphoe Khok Pho Chai
Amphoe Khok Pho Chai
Khok Pho Chai is a district of Khon Kaen Province, northeastern Thailand.-History:The minor district was established on April 30 1994 by splitting it from Mancha Khiri district....
. The legend also tells that receding waters left behind the Nong Han Kumphawapi Lake
Nong Han Kumphawapi Lake
Nong Han Kumphawapi is a lake in Northeast Thailand, located north of the town Kumphawapi, Kumphawapi district, Udon Thani Province.The lake is very shallow, mostly not exceeding a depth of 1 meter...
of the Kumphawapi District
Amphoe Kumphawapi
Kumphawapi is a district in the southern part of Udon Thani Province, northeastern Thailand.- Etymology : is from Sanskrit pitcher, water-pot, as reflected in the name of February, associated with the zodiac sign of Aquarius. is from Sanskrit pond, synonymous with หนองนํ้า, บึง...
marsh
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
, which, too, may be seen to this very day.) Phadaeng escapes, but pines away for his lost love. His ghost then raises an army of the spirits of the air to wage war on the nagas below. The war continues until both sides are exhausted, and the dispute is submitted to King Wetsawan , king of the North, for arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
. His decision: the cause of the feud
Feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...
has long since been forgotten and all disputants must let bygones be bygone.
The legend is retold in many regional variations, all of which are equally true for they relate events in different existences. One 3000-word poem translated to English from this rich Thai-Isan tradition, "…is especially well known to the Thai audience, having been designated as secondary school supplementary reading by the Thai Ministry of Education, with publication in 1978. There is even a Thai popular song about the leading characters." The original was written in a Lao-Isan verse called Khong saan, replete with sexual innuendo
Innuendo
An innuendo is a baseless invention of thoughts or ideas. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging , that works obliquely by allusion...
, pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
s, and double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
.
Keyes (op. cit., p. 67, citing George Coedès) p. 48, says "Phra Daeng Nang Ai" is a version of the Kaundinya
Sage Kambu Swayambhuva
Kambu Swayambhuva was a Hindu sage prince of Kamboja lineage who finds mention along with sage Agastya, Kaundinya Swayambhuva, king Rajendra Chola, king Ashoka Maurya and king Pushyamitra Shunga in Shloka-22 in Ekamata Stotra. The legend holds that Kambu Swayambhuva was a learned prince who had...
, legendary founder of Funan; and Soma, the daughter of the king of the Nāga. Keyes also wrote that such legends may prove a valuable source
Geomythology
Geomythology is the study of alleged references to geological events in mythology. The term was coined in 1968 by Dorothy Vitaliano, a geologist at Indiana University....
of toponyms.
The Myth of the Toad King
Almost everyone, native and visitor alike, will say Bang Fai are launched to bring rain, as in the Tourism Authority of Thailand link, below. However, a careful reading of the underlying myth, as presented in Yasothon and Nong Khai, implies the opposite: the rains bring on the rockets. Their version of the myth:When the Lord Buddha was in his bodhisatta
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...
(Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
) (Thai
Thai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
: โพธิสัตว์ , phothisat) incarnation as King of the Toads Phaya Khang Khok , and married to Udon Khuruthawip , his sermons drew everyone, creatures and sky-dwellers alike, away from Phaya Thaen , King of the Sky)http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/6347.html. Angry Phaya Thaen withheld life-giving rains from the earth for seven years, seven months and seven days. Acting against the advice of the Toad King, Phaya Naga
Phaya Naga
The Phaya Naga or Naga are mythical serpent-like creatures believed by locals to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong river or estuaries.Some have tried to explain sightings as oarfish , elongate fish with red crests. However these are exclusively marine and usually live great depths...
, King of the Nāga
Naga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:* Nāga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.-People:* Nayan / Nayar/Nair people of Kerala Society* Naga people, a diverse ethnic identity in Northeast India...
(and personification of the Mekong
Mekong
The Mekong is a river that runs through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is the world's 10th-longest river and the 7th-longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annually....
) declared war on Phaya Thaen—and lost.
Persuaded by Phaya Naga to assume command, King Toad enlisted the aid of termite
Termite
Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
s to build mounds reaching to the heavens, and of venomous scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
s and centipedes to attack Phaya Thaen's feet, and of hornets for air support. Previous attempts at aerial warfare
Aerial warfare
Aerial warfare is the use of military aircraft and other flying machines in warfare, including military airlift of cargo to further the national interests as was demonstrated in the Berlin Airlift...
against Phaya Thaen in his own element had proved futile; but even the Sky must come down to the ground. On the ground the war was won, and Phaya Thaen sued for peace.
Naga Rockets fired in the air at the end of the hot, dry season
Dry season
The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...
are not to threaten Phaya Thaen, but to serve as a reminder to him of his treaty obligations made to Lord Bodhisatta Phaya Khang Khok, King of the Toads, down on the ground. For his part Phaya Nak was rewarded by being given the duty of Honor Guard
Color guard
In the military of the United States and other militaries, the color guard carries the National Color and other flags appropriate to its position in the chain of command. Typically these include a unit flag and a departmental flag...
at most Thai and Lao temples.
Harvest
Harvest is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper...
of the resulting crops, Wow thanoo , man-sized kites with a strung bow, are staked out in winter monsoon winds. They are also called Túi-tiù , from the sound of the bowstring singing in the wind, which sing all through the night, to signal Phaya Thaen that he has sent enough rain.
All participants (including a wow thanoo) were depicted on murals on the front of the former Yasothon Municipal Bang Fai Museum, but were removed when it was remodeled as a learning centre.
An English-language translation of a Thai report on Bang Fai Phaya Nark Naga fireballs
Naga fireballs
The Naga fireballs , also referred to as Mekong lights, are a phenomenon seen in the Mekong river—in Thailand and in Laos —in which glowing balls rise from the water high into the air...
at Nong Khai
Nong Khai
Nong Khai is a city in North-East Thailand and is the capital of the Nong Khai Province...
gives essentially the same myth (without the hornets and wow) from Thai folk : The knowledge of Thai life-style http://www.thaifolk.com/doc/literate/payanak/payanak_e.htm.
For an alternate English-language version, see Tossa, Wajuppa and Phra 'Ariyānuwat ; Phya Khankhaak, the Toad King: A Translation of an Isan Fertility Myth in Verse ; Lewisburg : Bucknell University Press London ; Cranbury, NJ : Associated University Presses ©1996 ISBN 0-8387-5306-X.
Etymology
- Bun merit (Buddhism)Merit (Buddhism)Merit is a concept in Buddhism. It is that which accumulates as a result of good deeds, acts or thoughts and that carries over to later in life or to a person's next life. Such merit contributes to a person's growth towards liberation. Merit can be gained in a number of ways...
is from PaliPáli- External links :* *...
Puñña merit, meritorious action, virtue, and SanskritSanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
पुण्य puṇya virtuous or meritorious act, good or virtuous works. - Bang (alternative spelling bong บ้อง,) is a cutting, specifically of bamboo.
- Fy , is Fire (classical element)Fire (classical element)Fire has been an important part of all cultures and religions from pre-history to modern day and was vital to the development of civilization. It has been regarded in many different contexts throughout history, but especially as a metaphysical constant of the world.-Greek and Roman tradition:Fire...
. - Prapheni ), tradition, is from Sanskrit परंपर parampara, an uninterrupted series, regular series, succession 'to be handed down in regular succession'; from Pali paraṁparā 7795 paraṁparā series, tradition.
In popular culture
The 20062006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
Thai
Cinema of Thailand
The cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited...
martial arts film
Martial arts film
Martial arts film is a film genre. A sub-genre of the action film, martial arts films contain numerous fights between characters, usually as the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often as a method of storytelling and character expression and development. Martial arts are frequently...
, Kon Fai Bin
Dynamite Warrior
Dynamite Warrior is a 2006 Thai martial arts film directed by Chalerm Wongpim and starring Dan Chupong .-Plot:The story is set in 1890s Siam. Siang is a young Muay Thai warrior and rocketry expert who steals back water buffalo taken from poor Isan farmers by unscrupulous cattle raiders...
, depicts the Rocket Festival. Set in 1890s Siam, the movie's hero, Jone Bang Fai ("Fireball Bandit"), is an expert at building the traditional bamboo rockets, which he uses in conjunction with Muay Thai
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...
martial arts to defeat his opponents.
Thai political protests in April 2010 similarly had Red Shirts
National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship
The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship , whose supporters are commonly called "Red Shirts", is a political pressure group opposed to the People's Alliance for Democracy , the 2006 Thai military coup, and supporters of the coup. Notable UDD leaders include Jatuporn Prompan, Nattawut...
firing in downtown Bangkok.
See also
- Chinese Fire ArrowFire ArrowFire arrows are an early form of gun powder rocket which were attached to a stick. The Chinese are credited with the first use of fire arrows in a military application, they may have developed fire arrows from their use of fireworks.- Design :...
for Flying Firelances, bamboo tubes stuffed with black powder; the tube was ignited and used as a flamethrower. - Black powder
- Bottle rocketBottle rocketA bottle rocket is a very small skyrocket. A typical bottle rocket consists of a rocket engine attached to a stabilizing stick. The user can place the stick in an empty bottle , and ignite the rocket engine; the mouth of the bottle guides the stick, stabilizing the rocket in its first moments of...
- SkyrocketSkyrocketA skyrocket is a type of firework that uses a solid rocket motor to rise quickly into the sky. At the apex of its ascent, it is usual for a variety of effects to be emitted...
Videos
A video and a brief description about the Rocket Festival in Northeast Thailand (Issan, Esarn) can be seen from http://www.spatz-darmstadt.de (section "Asian Cultures" / "Ethnographic Videos" / "Thai,Lao Cultural Festivals")
External links
- Thailand Rocket Festival in Yasothon (English)
- Rocket Festival in Yasothon (English/Thai)
- Bang Fai at the Smithsonian, which shows a Bang Fai Ko, not a flyable rocket