Phi Ta Khon - Dan Sai "Ghost Festival" - July 2019

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Some video footage of the incredible ผีตาโขน festival in Dan Sai, Loei.

The video really doesn't do the festival enough justice. There are so many sights that will make your jaw drop!

The festival originates from a Buddhist legend related to Prince Vessantara (believed to be the penultimate reincarnation of the Buddha). The prince is said to have led a white elephant with rain-making powers to another country suffering from drought. However, this act angered the people who then feared drought themselves, so they banned the prince to the forest.
In the end the decision to ban the Prince was regretted, so they invited him to return and welcomed him back with a big party. The sounds of the festivities were so big and loud though, that they awoke the forest ghosts who decided to follow the prince to the party.

The original term phi ta khon means ‘to follow someone’.

There seems to be a mix of Buddhism and Animist, which is often the case in Thai traditions.

An amazing festival that happens each year roughly around this period (although this year the festival was later than usual. The festival is worked out around lunar cycles. Typically starting on a Friday during the first weekend after the sixth full moon of the year.) In previous years the elders of Dan Sai would work out the date for the festival and dates would be announced on a few days in advance. In recent years TAT (Tourism of Thailand) have boosted the profile of the festival, and as a consequence the dates for the festival are announced much earlier to encourage tourism.

Most of this video focuses on the festival itself, but towards the end of the video there is some indulgent video footage of myself and friends. So you can always skip past that if a little tedious to watch, haha.

I will be putting together a full trip report of the ride to Dan Sai and details on the festival itself. So, more to come later on.

Hope you enjoy this video of one of Thailand's very interesting and unusual annual festivals.

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