Writing the recent article about Thailand’s coffin ceremony for the living reminded of another unusual story I saw on Thai television a few years ago. The Thai reporter was investigating the folklore in parts of north and north-eastern Thailand which talks of mysterious ‘widow ghosts’ or lai thai spirits that claim the lives of healthy [...]
Surin Elephant Round-Up
October 11, 2009 by
The Surin elephant round-up is an annual event which usually takes place over the third weekend in November. The elephant round-up has grown in popularity since it first began in the 1950s and nowadays thousands attend the event in Surin in north-east Thailand. For centuries, the Surin region has had an affinity with elephants. In [...]
Isaan Rocket Festivals
May 15, 2009 by
The north-east of Thailand, a region known as Isaan, has traditionally been a pre-dominantly rural farming area and it is this region that holds one of Thailand’s more unusual festivals every May. In particular, the town of Yasothon has become renowned for the Bun Bang Fai Rocket Festival to herald the start of the rice-planting [...]
Preah Vihear Temple
October 14, 2008 by
The Khmer ruins of the Preah Vihear Temple (also known as Khao Phra Viharn) are located on top of a cliff on the Thai-Cambodian border approximately 220 kilometres to the south-east of Surin. Construction of the temple is believed to have taken place over a 300-year-period beginning in the ninth-century. The temple was dedicated to [...]