Boats of Fire on the Mekong: October in Nakorn Phanom

Thailand, to a very great extent, owes its existence to its fertile, rice growing lowlands that are in turn dependent on a plentiful water supply – the rivers and rains. Water is equated to life and there are age-old traditions that formalize this awareness in the form of festivals of gratitude for the water we receive and use.

Every year, culminating on the full moon in October, the northeastern (Isan) provinces of Thailand celebrate the Lai Rua Fai (fireboat) Festival, by launching magnificently crafted, illuminated boats and rafts on rivers. Nowhere is the event more spectacular than in Nakorn Phanom.

Fireboat on the Mekong, Nakorn Phanom

Marking the end of Buddhist Lent, the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the harvest, this festival's origins are Animist, Hindu and Buddhist. In Pre-Buddha India, a similar festival was held to revere and propitiate the Lord of Nagas, a mystical serpent-being whose realm was that of the rivers. It was believed that Nagas had the power to create or withhold the life-giving rains.

Buddhism in Thailand is mixed with many ancient animist beliefs and the worship of spirits. In the Lai Reua Fai Festival four major spirits are invoked to bless the life giving water and to ask for a bountiful harvest. These spirits are: Mae – the mother who gives us life; Mae Toranee – Mother Earth; Mae Po Sope – Mother of the rice; and the most important one, Phra Mae Nam Khong Kha - the God-mother of the waters, who lives in and protects every river.

The festival is also a way to ask forgiveness from the Mother of the Waters for our actions which pollute or dirty her gift of the essence of life. Thais strongly believe that abundant water is an integral part of completeness. This concept of relation with the waters is called “Samnak nai boun khun” in Thai, and can be roughly translated as the Conscience of Obligation. It in part explains the origins of the Fireboat Festival.

Dragon-Boats Compete during the 3-Day Fireboat Festival

Buddhist mythology relates how after the Buddha's enlightenment, he went to heaven to teach his own mother the Buddhist precepts. After 3 months, the Buddha returned to this earth. Lord Buddha's visitation in now celebrated as the 3 month long Buddhist Lent period, called Pansa.

The beginning of Lent, or “Khao Pansa” is the time when Thais traditionally enter the temple to be temporarily ordained as monks. It is part of the process of being a complete person. Unordained Thais are sometimes referred to as khon dip, meaning an unripe person. Khao Pansa is also the start of the rains and the season for planting rice.

Betterment and Rejuvenation are both primary themes to be considered – in nature and humanity – during the rains. Awk Pansa marks the end of Lent and the monsoons. Most temporarily ordained monks will leave the wats (temples) – presumably more spiritually attuned – and return home to help with the rice harvest. The festivities during Awk Pansa, including the fireboat festival can thereby be also considered a harvest festival, common to all cultures.

Awk Pansa Marks the Time for Harvest

Originally, for those who did not live by the water, the Buddha's arrival back on earth was celebrated by preparing symbolic lodgings for the Buddha. Today this is represented by intricately carved and decorated castles made of wax. They range in size from small to several metres long. Garlanded with flowers, they are carried on palanquins and other conveyances in parades beginning and ending at local temples. The miniature castles are symbolic of making place for the Buddha in the one's community, home and heart.

For those who lived closer to the water, these important beliefs and past religious events were celebrated with Fireboats. Reua Fai were once made only of banana trunks or bamboo, bound together to make boat-shaped rafts. Offerings of flowers, incense, fruits and small cash denominations were and are placed on every fireboat to propitiate the Spirits and set afloat. This moreover serves the more immediate practical purpose of providing a yearly boon to poor villagers downriver - and thereby earning merit on both counts.

Fireboats Under Construction on the Banks of the Mekong River

The fire in each of the boats served two functions: (1) To burn the previous year's suffering, and (2) As in many cultures world wide, fire and smoke act as the medium to petition God or Gods for good weather, long life, prosperity and happiness.

Once made of modest-sized bamboo and banana trunk rafts lit by candles, today the fireboats in Nakorn Phanom are leviathan; conveyances reaching lengths approximating that of a football and 6 or 7 stories high, ablaze with tens of thousands of small lamps. The team of men required to keep all the lanterns lit can reach as many as two dozen, depending on the size of the boat and the “fire picture” it carries. Each boat has a distinctive theme shown in the picture made by thousands of lights.

Months before the festival, villagers, merchants and officials in different temple-centered communities form khlum or groups. Members of each locale donate according to their resources to prepare for the important event. Dragon-boat teams – from 35 to 70 paddlers each – are assembled and practice for the races. Skilled artisans create the exquisitely detailed castles and the huge Reua Fai are cleverly assembled on the riverbank. As the end of Lent approaches, excitement mounts, preparations for feasts are gathered and everyone gets ready for a Big Party.

Festivals are a Time to Pay Respect to (and Imbibe) the Spirits and to Dance

This year, the festival begins on October 26th and ends on the 28th, the full moon. While officially a 3-day affair, local fairs sell handicrafts and local produce before and after the main events. The boat races will be held on all days and on the last night the fireboats will be set afloat. Other events worth seeing are the wax castle procession (kabuan hae tien) in nearby Sakorn Nakorn, and in That Phanom, just south of Nakorn Phanom, thousands of the most beautiful girls in Isan come to this revered stupa – said to contain 3 relics of the Buddha – to dance traditional Lao-Isan dances as a way of paying respect to the Lord Buddha. It is as enchanting a sight as you will likely ever see.

The festival is a way for the people to give thanks to the Mother of Waters for Life. On the more mundane level, the Lai Reua Fai Festival, like every other festival in Thailand, is a welcome opportunity for one and all - rich and poor - to join together, to eat, drink (especially drink) and be merry. This is very much a part of the essence and attraction of Thailand. And the people of the Isan region, where this event is held, are among the warmest and friendliest people in the world; always ready to welcome any visitor with a generosity of spirit unimaginable to many foreigners from colder-spirited climes.

Dancers in That Phanom, Nakorn Phanom Province

Should you be fortunate enough to be able to cross the Great Waters and visit Thailand in October, it is more than well-worth-your-while to visit Isan, to watch and participate in – by making merit – this wonderful festival. You are welcome to contact us for further information and to make your travel arrangements for this event and for any other destinations you have in Thailand and Asia. Hope to see you in October!