Thailand. Thai people and a Temple Ceremony.

The other day we went to Noot’s village temple for a ceremony and I thought it was going to be just like normal and we would offer alms to the 5 monks who live at the temple and the local village ladies would be in attendance, I was wrong.

Sitting at Noot’s mum’s house there was a constant stream of pick-up trucks going past and many were crowded full of people who were obviously not from the village and also many of the pick-ups had monks in the cars. I had counted at least 20 monks that had gone past in trucks in 20 minutes, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got to the temple.

As we walked to the temple about a 300 metre walk, I could see that there were many cars in the temple grounds and there was even a man directing traffic, I had never seen this before in over 2 years of going to the temple. Even as we walked into the temple grounds there were pick-up trucks full of people turning up.


The night before, many of the villagers went to the temple and peeled potatoes or yams and then today they had made them into Thai desserts, the potatoes are cooked in milk and water and plenty of sugar is added. The ladies were selling these now and the money raised goes to the village temple at Barn Tae Kow.


There was a hive of activity happening and a lot of the ladies were getting food that was given from the visiting people as offerings ready to offer to the monks after the ceremony was completed. There is a wide range of food from meat dishes to fish and noodles and soups. It was a very good smorgasbord on offer.


And even monks enjoy sweets and there were also plenty of them to go around. Some of the sweets are a little strange like pumpkin and bread that contains shredded pork and other sort of weird ingredients. Thankfully some people had brought some fruit and even chocolate bars to offer the monks.



Even Noot’s mum Ma was in the middle of helping out and is probably the most work she has done in the last few weeks. Hey if there are any guys out there looking for a nearly 40 year old Isaan lady drop me a line and I will ship her out postage paid in an overnight bag.

Of course Noot was lending a hand; she is such a lovely sweet and wonderful Isaan girl. (This is just in case she reads this post!)


There was a truckload of what is called Kanom Gin and is a very thin noodle that can be eaten with many different things and is very popular here in Thailand. I was taking this picture of Noot’s friend who was preparing it for the monks and as I pushed the button to take the picture someone told her to look and this was the outcome. Looks like rabbit frozen in headlights of a truck.

When the food was ready some ladies would place it onto trays for the monks to accept in the temple after the ceremony. This is a picture of some of the finished trays of food and there were many more still being made.

There were plenty of elderly Thai people at the temple and as usual most were dressed in their best Thai silks. This Thai lady has flowers, incense and flowers to use during the ceremony. It’s good to see traditional Thai ceremonies like this and how Isaan people really are and this is probably the best way to catch this happening, at a temple ceremony.

Now where there are adults there are plenty of kids getting about. One young girl near me was oblivious from what was happening around her as she had an ice-cream, no, sorry two ice-creams and was too busy licking away to care about much else. When she finished her first ice-cream she gave the stick a funny look as if to say ‘what happened to my ice-cream’.

She then threw the empty stick onto the ground and started licking away at her second ice-cream with vigour and again forgot about what was going on around her.








At Barn Tae Kow there has been a new addition to the village and a young baby was on offer for all to cuddle and hold. The young fellow was being passed from person to person and wasn’t the littlest bit fazed about it and seemed to relish the attention. Joom got her hands on him and photos were taken.

Next it was Noot’s turn to hold the little guy, I asked her who the mother was and she explained to me who it was, but if I understood the girl was just a kid and I was correct. The girl is just 15 years old and her boyfriend is just 16 years old. This is common in the village and now the 15 year old has gone to Bangkok to work and send money home to mum and dad who are raising the baby for her. It’s sad but too common. What hope does this girl have in the future? No education or no childhood. I have reported before about a missing generation of people in the village mainly being girls from the 16-30 year age group with most off in the concrete jungle supporting mum and dad who are sitting around doing nothing but watching the crops grow and looking after the odd kid or two.

So that is what was happening before the ceremony and I have many pictures of monks and people inside the temple to still post. I also have pictures of just everyday village life to post and upload and will try and get done in the coming days. Need more hours in a day. Life is tuff in Isaan country Thailand :)

Brunty
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