Festivals of Issan

Thailand’s landlocked area known as Issan is very different from the rest of the country. Issan means “Northeast” in Thai, and describes the landlocked part of Thailand which borders on Laos and Cambodia.

Culture and Festivals of Issan are more Laotian and Cambodian than Thai, despite efforts by the Thai government throughout the 20th century to assimilate the people of Issan. In this poverty-stricken area, festivals are a chance to meet, party, and blow off steam in the same way folks do everywhere.

Probably the most famous festivals in this area are the concerts of Mor’ram, the local folk singing. These shows are usually big events, held regularly in a Buddhist temple in the center of the village or, if the town is large enough, at a sports venue.

These shows are reminiscent of Vaudeville – music, raunchy skits, comedy, and traditional dance. If you are in a village in Issan and someone says there is a show, “pai doo morram”, you will be treated to surprising choreography by groups of up to fifty girls, amazing costumes and multiple costume changes, and a variety of the local music, surrounded by sometimes thousands of people. A very rock-concert feel!

Festivals abound in both the cities, and “off the beaten path”. One very popular and important festival is the Rocket Festival Ban Bung Fai, which is celebrated all around Issan, and in Laos too.

This originated as a fertility festival in pre-Buddhist times, and is generally a friendly competition in which groups compete to earn the honor of best rocket – and the rockets are mostly home made.

The most famous of these is in the province of Yasothon, where sometimes teams whose rockets won’t fly properly are punished; usually by things such as being thrown in a mud hole, or something equally as embarrassing.

The Candle Festival celebrates the beginning of Vassa (also known as the rain festival), a 3-month period of retreat for meditation by Buddhist monks, during which time many of the Buddhist lay people give up vices, or things they feel they are excessive about such as drinking or smoking.

Meanwhile, the Silk Festival is a more commercial enterprise, featuring the beautiful hand-crafted silks of the area in Khon Kaen.

A short weekend festival held in Surin is The Elephant Roundup, in which as many as 300 elephants take part in a parade, various shows of strength and skill, and culminate with re-enactments of historical Thai-Cambodian battles. Held the third weekend of November every year, this could be very entertaining. This festival is of relatively recent origin, because of the waning use of elephants for industrial purposes, and allows the mahouts (elephant handlers) to showcase their animals.