Loy Krathong
This is a three-day festival that takes place on the evening of the full moon in the 12th month of the traditional Thai lunar calendar. A celebration to the goddess of water.
We arrive at Tha Pae gate after taking a songthaew (an adapted from a small pickup for a shared type of taxi) from our ‘hood‘. It had a couple of people when we jumped in the back then filling eventually to 10 of all headed to the same spot. Its $.85 per person for the ride.
The Tha Pae plaza was super crowded and festive. The guy photo-bombing me was funnier than this pic depicts. I turned around and we both started laughing. I don’t think he spoke a great deal of English, but I know he understands the words “my blog.” His expression changed after that. “He who blogs last, blogs best“
I chatt’d it up with an Australian guy, Justin. He is here taking his TEFL course in order to teach in Thailand. He, like every other westerner on the planet, who visits and now wants to stay here.
If felt it necessary to show the famous photograph below, which is one of my all-time favorites. The woman in black is my spirit animal. Enjoying the moment, not filming it. Thats why there are not a lot of photos of this parade .(the credit of this famous photo goes to John Blanding of the Boston Globe.
This place is a spectacle. Wow! And now a parade!! Normally not my thing, but today, I don’t want to be anywhere else. As we were jockeying for a better spot there was a lot of confusion on the route, and where to stand. The crowd and traffic control were impressive. As I watch the groups of parade participants go by I think to myself “there is nothing like a high school drum corps to light it up.. and sure enough .. that’s what I get. Wow, they were super loud.
Now I’m’ here I think to myself “Wow, I’m in f-ing Chiang Mai watching a parade.” Again, I observe that there is a lot of people here. BTW my man-purse is… my ‘murse’, is working out. Everything goes to the bottom, and I never can find anything, but it feels good to know I have everything with me.
Group after group go by as Diane and I have found a perfect perch. Most of the groups going by seem high school age, but soon after there was a mature troupe of women rocking on by bobbing their heads collectively to the heavy beat.
People are smiling, with beautiful outfits, while women danced in traditional clothing. It’s kind of hypnotizing. Just like you would imagine. Then a pickup stacked 6 feet high with old school speakers and a DJ in the back. It was really, really, really distorted. It was comically distorted, but it was just what was needed. You just have to be here. The tempo of several groups, if not most, was slow, almost somber. I wonder if Buddhism plays a part in this.
Lots of lanterns, which was definitely the theme. At the very end of the parade was a group whose last guy was hitting a cowbell. Tank, tank, tank…. Wow, perfect and appropriate.
When I’m out and about on the town I always like to leave just a little early. I don’t want the ugly lights to turn on. I want to leave during a highlight. I can only take so many musical notes. No different here. The thousands of people started following the parade to some unknown destination… we took a few steps back, walked a block or so to where I know there would be songthaews waiting. I changed my mind and wanted something more fun. The first tuk-tuk driver thought our ride was too far. All the way to One-Nimman. I get it, as I walked away, he said 300 baht. I smiled and shook my head. The next tuk-tuk driver thought it was a long way, but I said 200 baht, he smiled and said 250. Boom! We had a deal. We got in the three-wheeled motorcycle and sped off. I don’t take Tuk2s too often, but they are always fun, weaving through traffic at night with the wind in your hair.
We got out of the vehicle a few blocks from our home. This way we can catch a bite to eat. We were kinda hungry. We cut though the familiar One-Nimman shopping mall and walked by a restaurant, which last week Diane wanted to stop by, but ‘I’ was in a hurry on that day. (Geez Bill, hurry! Hurry to where?). Now was a chance for redemption. They had a guy playing acoustic guitar and singing and it was just what I needed. Fifteen minutes before we were in mayhem, now we walk into a mostly empty, high-end restaurant called Jarid. It turned out to break our record and we ended up spending $36. Sure, a couple beers and a vodka martini were had, sure the music was hitting the spot and sure…. all the good stuff. I hit the musician with 100 baht. Oohh big spender…
I get home, write up some of my notes. Chatt’d with a good friend back at home for a bit and in bed by 10:05pm. All is well. And, not to make this even better, but we picked up some fresh fruit from the fruit-lady across the street today which means breakfast tomorrow has fruit with our coffee and peanut butter toast. Life is good.
