With the time change on Sunday night, I actually drive home in the dark now, and I saw a full moon tonight.  This made me think of Loy Krathong, I knew it was that time of the year and sure enough many places in Thailand celebrated their Loy Krathong over the weekend.

The Loy Krathong Festival takes place in all parts of Thailand, and in Laos, it is called Lai Heur Fai Nam, this takes place on the full moon night of the Twelfth Lunar Month. The Krathong or Heur Fai is made of banana leaves that contains flowers, candles and incense sticks, as well as some food and coins placed in there.

When I was little living in Thailand, I was told that Loy Krathong is a traditional Thai way of life, it is widely believed that these are offerings made to Mae Khongkha (mother of waters) either to please her in an expression of gratitude for providing life-sustaining water throughout the year, and to ask her for forgiveness for man’s carelessness in polluting the water that nourishes all life. Many also believe that by setting adrift the krathong, one symbolically casts away one’s grief, misery, and ill fortunes. Coins are also placed in the krathong as offerings. For the romantic at heart and young couples, Loy Krathong is the time to make wishes for happiness together and success in love.

The Lanna (Northern Thai people) use sky lanterns all year round for celebrations and other special occasions. And on Loy Kratong festival, lovers and partners gather on the riverbanks to float flowers and candles, launch fireworks and release sky lanterns together, also known as Khom Loy or Khom Fai. It is considered good luck to release a sky lantern, and many Thais believe they are symbolic of problems and worries floating away.

This year’s event, Loy Krathong Sukhothai.

More information on the Lanna celebration.

• Paya Soke

When you’re in the presence of a sacred place, I think you could feel it, I know it happened to me. I’ve been in many holy places before, but the one place that has such a strong force to me was the road to Vang Vieng and heading towards Luang Prabang Laos, and might be that it was the guilt that I feel, we didn’t stop to pay our respect.

This place was nothing fancy, it was a place that lies behind the curvy road, and as we drove up the mountain road of Hwy 13, I saw several cars parked along side of the road, and a group of people paying their respect to a spirit house. The smokes from their incense sticks were forming clouds above them, I asked my cousin what they were doing. He said it was Sarn Jao Pou (The Shrine of a Sacred Spirit), they’re paying their respect and asking him for a safe journey .

Our vehicle climbed up the road slowly and we passed without stopping since we didn’t have any incense stick with us, I was mesmerized by the image in front of me that I forgot to take some pictures. I silently said my prayers as we passed Sarn Jao Pou. The name of the road made me feel uneasy and might be that I grew up in the Western society where number 13 is considered unlucky, but I didn’t have a chance to ask my cousin if Lao People living in Laos feel the same way.

I’m a Buddhist, and why do I worry so much about Animism you might ask because worshiping Sarn Jao Pou is an Animistic belief. If I were raised in Laos, this would have made perfect sense because Buddhism in Laos is often closely tied to animist beliefs and belief in ancestral spirits. And here I was raised in the US, but the feeling and belief is equally as strong as Laotians living in Laos, and I’m not sure why. I often thought that having six senses is a gift, but to some that actually have it might think differently, more like a curse I would say, and at that moment as we traveled on this mountain road, I was glad that I don’t have six senses, Hwy 13 looks so treacherous and I couldn’t imagine what I would see along the way.

A long introduction to my next post, I found an interesting article written in Thai language titled “Be careful If you asked for a child from a Sacred Place.”

• Nicole Theriault-Bootsabah

Friday was a beautiful day with Carolina blue sky, I stopped by the rice paddy after work, and the lady that owns the middle paddy was harvesting her rice crops.  I saw her 2 weeks ago and gave her last year’s photos that I had developed for her, and it was this time last year when I first met her.

The hot summer sun really speeds things up, her rice crops are beautiful.

She said that some of the rice pods started to die and couldn’t figure out why, I noticed that a while back also, and it’s kind of odd because the rice plants still look very healthy.

Perhaps this little guy has something to do with it.

I noticed that the grasshoppers love to hide, I must be a giant to them, here is a closeup photo of him.

At first I couldn’t figure out what this net is for, and if it were a trap for insects, I wonder if it works.

After seeing this little guy dangling here, I guess it does work.

See what he looks like closeup.

This is the first paddy near the road, it belongs to my co-worker, and she harvested hers last week and this week.

I like her boots, this is what people in Laos need to wear in their rice paddy.

• Dao by Loso

It was 2 weeks ago since I last updated my Hmong neighbor’s rice paddy.  I stopped by after work on Friday and the couple were getting ready to leave.  His wife told me that her dog is missing, someone must have took it last weekend, either Saturday or Sunday and she really missed her dog now.  I do have to say that she is too friendly, a picture of her that I took awhile back.

Her husband said that we need some good rain, we’ve not had a good one in over a month or so now.  The paddy is thriving but the one that they planted in their back garden is not doing too well, apparently Na Hai or dry paddy is not as good as wet paddy in our area especially when we have a dry spell like this one.

Brown Grasshopper

The rice plants closest to where the water come in are the greenest and most healthy.

These are along the water path, very green in comparison to the rest of the paddy.

Our family attended the annual July 4th celebration at Wat Lao Buddhavong in Catlett Virginia this past weekend, this year turnout on Saturday was not bad but Sunday was very few and far in between since it drizzled some.  I think it was a disappointment for many that went to see their favorite singers and they weren’t there, several Thai ladies that sat behind me asked if Mike Piromporn was performing, and I knew earlier from a Thai performer, Gorvidt that he was the only one from Thailand.  I think they were very disappointed and left shortly after that, it’s ashamed that the Wat (Temple) didn’t post any poster of the event like the previous years.  I didn’t get to stay and watch the whole concert, the music was too loud and I had a migraine headache so I left after I saw Gorvidt.

This is Voradeth Ditthavong, a famous Lao musician.

One of his songs Mayurie that he sang at the concert.

Jonny Olsen was playing his Khaen demonstration.

Jonny Olson was singing a Lao song while Lao Johnny played the Khaen, they looked like they’d make a great team.

Lao Johnny had a little helper, she is obviously not ready for a stage performance based on the noises that she was making.

Gorvidt was once a famous leading man for the Thai Drama (Lakorn) and movie in his younger years.  He is now a producer, and also actor but plays mostly the villain role, and he sang on Saturday and Sunday concert.

On Sunday, we stayed long enough to see Thai singers, the Snap band, playing string music.

A Lao singer that I didn’t catch his name.

People that were there on Saturday, not a bad turnout.

The event was covered by Lao Power TV, you can watch the first video here, and second video here which  has the concert and dancers.

Continued at Wat Lao Buddhavong July 4th, 2009 Concert Quebec Dancers

I heard from my GI Joe sister that Takkaten is coming to Wat Lao Buddhavong July 4th, 2009 concert. I’d love to see her in person, also that Mike Piromporn is also coming, (but not officially confirmed).  The person that is coming for sure is Jonny Olsen.

Video by Suryap, France, June 28th 2009. Interview by LAOFR-TV, Suryap.

Pong Lang Sa-On is one of my favorite bands, I saw their concert 2 years ago at Wat Lao Buddhavong in Catlett, Virginia and it was a great show. Rene Pedersen from Denmark saw them on stage in Thailand at German Beer Garden Bangkok.

Rene visited Thailand and went to a concert with Pong Lang Sa-On, and what a great fun they had. The concert was at German Beer Garden, he and some friends went to see.

He went to the stage to take some pictures, and Eed the lead singer asked him to go on stage, his replied “Yes sure” and they had loads of fun for approximately 30 to 45 minutes. The funny part was that he didn’t know that Rene can speak a little Thai, so when he asked Rene (in not so good English) “Whats your name.” Rene replied in Thai “My name is Rene and I’m from Denmark” everyone was cracking up.

They went on with the show and wanted Rene to join in.  Rene was trying to play the music with them (not so easy for a Farang), then suddenly Eed asked Rene if he wants Kevin (man with the long hair) to sing a song for him, and of course he said yes. Kevin started to sing Eagle’s famous song, “Hotel California”, and suddenly Rene stopped him and said “Kevin that’s not good,” then Rene took the microphone from him, and started to sing the song. Everybody clapped and you could hear that the audience had a great time out there.

“Well, tell that the mic didn’t work.”

“I want to change to another mic.”

Playing happy birthday song to someone out there

When it was time for him to part, people were asking if he was part of the show because it was so funny, but all he could say was “of course ‘NO WAY’” since that was the truth.  After the concert Rene and his friends saw Kevin, and he went to apologize, he said “Sorry I did this to you about singing” and Kevin replied “No that was a great idea because everyone liked that and we like to make people happy”

Christian, Eed and a lady friend met after the concert.

Rene and friends met Eed for a drink.

Eed, Anf, and Rene’s Wife Maew shopping at 7/11 after the concert, they had fun.

They all went back to his place. These pictures were taken in front of Eed’s house, below is a picture of Rene’s wife Maew, Rene’s friend Christian and Eed of Pong Lang Sa-On.

This is the home of Eed, and the Pong Lang Sa-On.  They ate good food, sang karaoke, and had a great time.

A story from Thailand and all this was back in April 22, 2009.  The concert was not prearranged nor fully rehearsed.  According to Rene, what is so cool about Pong Lang Sa-On is that even though they are famous star, but they are down to earth.  A special thanks to Rene of Denmark for sharing some of these photos.

I’m a bit surprised that it snow today, a bit gloomy and I feel like telling a ghost story, check out at the bottom of this post.   Even though it’s gloomy, but it’s very pretty to look at.

I’ve not heard back from my oldest sister, she is extremely busy at this time of the year, and was looking for a song for lady0fdarkness and came upon a collection of some Thai classical music, I would say that this is the types of music for your third ears because music isn’t meant for just our ears only, it’s also the food that nourishes our heart and soul.

• Lao Duang Duen

• Khaek Toy Mor

When I listen to this song below, it made me think of only one person, and Thoranee Kansaeung is a funeral song, loosely translated as Mother Earth shielded the light.  The last time I saw her alive was on Thanksgiving of 1999, we were visiting her family at the time, and her husband was dying of cancer.  She was looking for this song to be played at his upcoming funeral because the doctor said that he only had less than 2 months to live.  Right before Christmas, my sister called me at work and said that she passed away, I kept repeating on the phone, “must be some sort of mistake, it’s her husband that you’re talking about.”  Sure enough, there was no mistake, they all thought she had a cold or bronchitis, but by the time she got to the hospital it was too late.  They didn’t get to play this song at her funeral, but they did play it at her husband’s funeral, sadly he passed away in January 2000.

• Thoranee Kansaeung

Max hates the rain, but he loves snow.

They said that when you’re dying, you’re living in both world, the chaotic and the spiritual world, I don’t know how true this is.  Back to the story of the couple above, while she was sick, her brother had a house warming party at his house not far away, and she attended the event, but her husband was too ill so he stayed home with their daughter.  That night, he heard a commotion of people marching into the house, dressed in a very primitive way, holding knives, bows and arrows and they were looking for someone.  They looked at him, marched right passed him, and couldn’t find that person so they left.

When I spoke to their daughter, she said that she didn’t see anything nor anyone, but her dad was bewildered, looked around, and kept asking her of whom these people were and what they’re doing here.  She had goosebumps, and kept telling her dad that there were no one here, except for him and her.  At the time we kind of thought that they might be the angel of death, or Lao people called it Yom Praban coming to get him, but come to think of it now, we believed they came to get her, but couldn’t find her at the time because she wasn’t home, so she lived on borrowed time for a couple of days.

Whilst I was visiting her, she mentioned about a Lao guy that recently passed away.  He was living with his friends at the time, and died unexpectedly in his sleep.  According to the owners of the house, a young Lao couple said that the house was haunted.  There were noises of doors opening and closing, and the water faucet got turned on by itself, and then the lights were flicking on and off in the middle of the night.  There were foot step noises that were very disturbing.  The young couple got scared and moved out.

It sounded to me like he didn’t know that he was dead and still carrying on his normal daily routines.  She said shortly after his funeral, she saw him standing outside her window, and waived to her.  Her 3 years old grandson was with her at the time, and he started to cry and said ‘Phee! Phee!’, which means ghost in Lao language.  He claimed that he saw a ghost, a very scary looking one, but she saw him as a person, and he looked very normal to her.  Very strange indeed,  I often wondered why certain people can see ghost or spirit and others can’t.

We went back to her funeral, it was a 7 hours drive from where we live.  Laotians have several nights of funeral service, and part of the ceremony was at the house, and I had to help cared for one of the grandsons, the 3 years old boy.  One of the nights, they carried in a decorated bed for the ceremony through the front door, and the boy sat on my lap and we were sitting adjacent to the front door.  He was trying to get up, but I got a hold of him first, and asked where he was going.  He said to his grandma, she was standing at the font door smiling at him.  This boy was sick at the time, so his eyes were sunken and his head seemed bigger than normal, and he has that ‘happy smile look’ on his face, very eerie to look at.  I stared at the opened front door, but there were no one there, but I could picture her standing there smiling at him and at me.  They said that young children can see spirit, there might be some truth to this.

The night before he passed away, his wife’s brother was there with him.  It was late in the night, and he heard his brother in-law carrying on a conversation with someone that appeared to be his deceased wife.  He told her that he can’t go with her right now, that he had to wait for their son to come home, he worked third shift.  By the time the son got home, they had to call the ambulance, and he passed away before he got to the hospital.  This was such tragic, but this is what I called soulmates.

An English translation of the song Mai Nae Jai (I’m not certain), by Ginger.  This song is from a Lakorn (Thai soap) soundtrack, it’s at least over 15 years ago.  This is a special request for a translation of this song by one of my readers.

I can’t answer myself as to why you’re giving me the silent treatment
As if we don’t understand each other and that’s why we’re not talking
I want some answer from you,
Instead of being indifferent
Instead of avoiding looking in my eyes
We need to talk
It’s not that I don’t have feelings
Honestly, I’m not sure of our situation anymore
Are we still in love, or you’re not sure
If you’ve an answer
Who your heart belongs to
If you still the same person, or you’re someone new
I still want to hear

At least I should have the right to know, if everything is going to change
So I can be prepared emotionally
I want to know of this change
If you want me to leave, I’ll be more than happy to walk away

When we do meet, I want you to be happy
When you’re with someone,  I want you to be happy
If by staying with me meant that you’re unhappy
Then I’ll be the one to walk away, no need to worry

At least I should have the right to know, if everything is going to change
So I can be prepared emotionally
I want to know of this change
If you want me to leave, I’ll be more than happy to walk away

Mai Nai Jai : ไม่แน่ใจ Thai lyrics,

ตอบตัวเองไม่ได้เลย เธอทำไมเงียบงัน
ดูคล้ายไม่เข้าใจกัน จึงไม่ยอมพูดจา
อยากให้เธอมีคำตอบ
แทนอาการเฉยชา
แทนอาการไม่มองตา
มีอะไรพูดกัน
ไม่ไช่ฉันไม่รู้สึก
บอกตรงๆ ไม่แน่ใจ ความเป็นไปของเรา
ยังรักกันบ้างหรือเปล่า ยังลังเลหัวใจ
หากว่าเธอมีคำตอบ
ใจเธอเป็นของใคร
เป็นคนเดิมหรือคนใหม่
ยังยินดีรับฟัง

อย่างน้อยฉันเองก็ควรได้รู้ ถ้าทุกอย่างจะต้องเปลี่ยนไป
จะได้ทำใจจากนี้
อยากรู้ถึงการเปลี่ยนแปลงครั้งนี้
ถ้าเธออยากให้ฉันจากไป ฉันยินดีตัดใจจากเธอ

เมื่อไหร่ที่เจอกัน อยากให้เธอนั้นพอใจ
เมื่อไหร่ที่มีใคร อยากให้เธอนั้นมีความสุข
ถ้าหากอยู่กับฉัน นั้นคือการต้องทุกข์ใจ
ก็จะขอเป็นคนไป ไม่ให้เธอต้องกังวล

อย่างน้อยฉันเองก็ควรได้รู้ ถ้าทุกอย่างจะต้องเปลี่ยนไป
จะได้ทำใจจากนี้
อยากรู้ถึงการเปลี่ยนแปลงครั้งนี้
ถ้าเธออยากให้ฉันจากไป ฉันยินดีตัดใจจากเธอ

Nicole Theriault is one of my favorite Thai female artists, these are some of the songs from her album Ka Po Lo Club.

• Mai nae jai by Nicole Theriault

• Tor pa nee na by Nicole Theriault

• Mai chai tua chun by Nicole Theriault

This is one of her famous songs Boot Sa Bah

I went through my old CDs and found a CD of Poang Patompong, one of my favorite Thai rock singers.

These are my three favorite songs, more of a soft rock, not as heavy as some of his other songs.

• Peur Tur (For You) by Poang Patompong

• Sut Tar (Faith) by Poang Patompong

• Yorm (Give Up) by Poang Patompong

This song, Nang Maew is well known amongst his fans, a bit more to the hard rock.

• Nang Maew (Kitty Cat) by Poang Patompong

He also sings in this song, Rao Ruk Mae (I (We) love mom).

One of my favorite Thai singers is Jae Danupol Kaewkarn, I first heard of his song from a friend of a family that visited Thailand in the 80s and she brought back his cassette. I first heard of it in her car, and immediately fell in love with his voice, so she gave me his cassette (I also fell in love with her car, she had a Toyota back then, but that didn’t work), then I started collecting all his cassettes. What is a cassette? It seems that it’s ancient and useless now, I still have two shelves full, I used to collect Thai music in the late 80s and 90s, I invested lots of money, and now it’s practically obsolete. Here are some of my favorite songs from his album Dee TiSud.

• Dok Mai Hai Koun (Flowers for you[translation at comment])

• Tavada Dern Din (Angel on earth)

• Horp Fuhn (Carry dream)

• Chow Ban (The villagers)

• Yum Lok (World salad)

• Mong Lok Hai Pen (Correct way of viewing the world)

• Lae Lail (Things will happend)

• ไม่รักกันยังดีกว่า

What I like best about Mp3 song is that you can share, either by posting it here on my blog, or via email, this song is called “If you didn’t love me might be better,” by Inca.  Inca is one of my favorite Thai bands. I was told this is brand new, hot off the press. Enjoy.

Lyrics ไม่รักกันยังดีกว่า

กี่ความทรงจำที่มันดี ๆ
ที่มีแค่เธอและฉัน
ที่เธอบอกกัน ว่ารักฉันมากแค่ไหน
ก็เลยยังเตรียมหัวใจไม่ทัน
เมื่อเห็นเธอมีคนใหม่
ฉันก็ไม่รู้ว่าควรจะคิดยังไง

*หากว่าการที่รักคือทนซ้ำ ๆ
มันต้องช้ำไปนานเท่าไหร่
มากเกินไปไหมที่ต้องเสียใจทุกวัน

**หากเธอไม่เคยรักฉัน
มันยังดีซะกว่า
ถ้าฉันจะเป็นฝ่ายเดียวที่หลงรักเธองมงาย
แต่เธอเคยเป็นของฉัน
วันหนึ่งไปเป็นของใคร
ไม่รุ้ต้องทนเจ็บปวดอีกแค่ไหน
กับการได้รับรู้ความจริง

เจ็บดีที่ได้รู้ตัวว่าเป็นแค่คนที่เคยสำคัญ
ทุกการกระทำของฉันไม่มีความหมาย
ก็คงต้องทรมานเรื่อยไป
เมื่อรักไม่มีทางออก
ฉันก็ไม่รู้ ว่าควรทำเช่นไร

(*),(**)

(**)

เจ็บปวดอีกแค่ไหน กับการได้รับรู้ความจริง

• Kampee Sangthong “Mai Na Lork Gun” (Don’t Deceive Me)

• Kabuan Garn Yor Yod Yung Yong “Gang Geng Nai Krai Lab” (Look Whose Underwear is Showing)

• Man City Lion “Na Doo” (Very Striking Girl)

Mp3 Source: Funeral Pudding

Thai Pop Spectacular (1960’s-1980’s) from Sublimefrequencies.com: Thai pop history has been largely ignored and neglected by the international musical community for far too long. By the late 20th century, Thai pop music had developed as many faces as localized roots music such as Molam or styles like Luk Thung or Luk Krung, (each with their own respective pop-sectors). Bangkok – always the hub of the Thai recording industry – attracted musicians and singers from across the country that were both informed by tradition and inspired by the wealth of international sounds entering the region via radio and phonograph. Jazz, for instance, had a profound influence on early Thai pop music, the King of Thailand himself being a noted Jazz composer.

This superb collection features modern Thai music styles combining with elements of surf, rock, funk, disco and comedy, revealing the use of clever instrumentation, brilliant vocals, great arrangements, twisted breaks, and resourceful production techniques. Discover the Queen of Luk Thung, the 1960s “Shadow Music” sound, classic tracks from Thai films, blazing examples of Bangkok disco from the 1970s, legendary Thai comedy Pop, and the most outrageous version of “The Night Chicago Died” you’ll ever encounter. Thick horn sections, wah-wah guitars, tight drums, and funky organs help round out this astounding set which proves beyond a doubt that the Thai were a completely unique and powerful force during the 1960’s, 70’s & 80’s global popular music explosion.