Issan Rocket Festival

[Thaiboxer]

Hi Folks....Has anybody ever been to the May Rocket Festival (Bun Bang Fai) held in some Issan provinces? A Thai buddy of ours wants us to go with him next may to Yasothon where they will have this festival. I know it has something to do with the locals sending up homemade rockets in order to bring much needed rain. Our friend says the accomodations are simple (not a problem) and there are other things to see like Muay Thai bouts and stuff. If anybody could share some experiences that would be helpful. Thanks!

[siam]

Hi Folks....Has anybody ever been to the May Rocket Festival (Bun Bang Fai) held in some Issan provinces? A Thai buddy of ours wants us to go with him next may to Yasothon where they will have this festival. I know it has something to do with the locals sending up homemade rockets in order to bring much needed rain. Our friend says the accomodations are simple (not a problem) and there are other things to see like Muay Thai bouts and stuff. If anybody could share some experiences that would be helpful. Thanks!

Hehe!My Thai partner jst said"On your own back"Would you trust a thai with a ton of homemade fireworks sober?Let alone drunk

I am sure it would be fun,But the lack of health and safety in Thailand scares the ###### out of me,

Ps Ask them where the nearest Hossy is

[astral]

I hear it goes with a BANG.

Quite spectacular.

[chanchao]

Yes, have been there. It's during the hottest time of the year though, which down Yasothon way is pretty (*$#(*&$ hot. :-) But a lot of fun, and yes it's dangerous. What goes up, must come down.

Maybe I can upload some videos of the event. Rockets are really quite impressive, and the sound is deafening, like fighter jets taking off really.

But, as with all festivals in Thailand (and esp. in the North East): a GREAT and fun experience.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[SweatySock]

Been to a few around Ubolrattana, about 50km north of Khon Kaen. Consists of large sections of PVC filled with gunpowder, normally filled by a Thai smoking a cigarette at the same time. Strapped to a wooden frame, ignited via a car battery and timed as to how long it takes to fall back to the earth. Official spotters are employed to record the timings and longest one up wins the money.

Good experience but stay well clear of the launch pad, they tend to launch even when o new one is being attached to the frame.

Landings can also be painful so either park well clear or even better go in someone elses car.

[brianbrain]

Hi Folks....Has anybody ever been to the May Rocket Festival (Bun Bang Fai) held in some Issan provinces? A Thai buddy of ours wants us to go with him next may to Yasothon where they will have this festival. I know it has something to do with the locals sending up homemade rockets in order to bring much needed rain. Our friend says the accomodations are simple (not a problem) and there are other things to see like Muay Thai bouts and stuff. If anybody could share some experiences that would be helpful. Thanks!

Hi,

Yes I have been to an Isaan rocket festival, in a tiny village about four or five hours beyond Korat. I enjoyed the rockets (I'll email some photos if you give me your email) but what I didn't much care for was the three-day long drinking binge engaged in by every male in the village. On the plus side, as the only sober and relatively decent looking male in the village, I was EXTRA appealing to the local girls

On the morning of the rocket festival, I watched the locals preparing their rockets (cigarettes in hand) which used a common design of a blue plastic tube about 1m x 40mm to hold the propellant and a bamboo cane of about 3m long. There were two special "rockets" that were more like flying saucers made out of what looked like heavy gauge steel. Of those rockets that followed a vertical direction (some went up, turned round, then crashed into the ground not far from the spectators) most stayed aloft for some considerable time, perhaps minutes.

Quite spectacular I'd say. Well worth going, but don't get too close!

Regarding the Muay Thai spectacle, I didn't realise it was going to be young kids (probably no more than seven or eight years old) in the ring.

Brian

[chanchao]

> normally filled by a Thai smoking a cigarette at the same time.

LOL.. yes, I forgot about that little aspect.. :-))) Like poking in the gunpowder while smoking a ciggie, with plenty of rice whiskey nearby..

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Johnny Moron]

In Yasothon it's fantastic.

Most hotel accommodation will probably have been already booked by the time you get there, but you shouldn't have too many problems finding somewhere else to sleep for the night.

Be VERY careful of all the drunks: apparently a foreigner was killed a few years back in a drunken brawl. I don't know for sure if this is true or not, but it's best to play it safe and not get too pissed.

If you're going by car, the surrounding countryside is really beautiful in places and well worth a tour. You may be interested to learn that about 40km from the town of Yasothon is a small catholic village (very near Kut Chom) in which the largest wooden church in Thailand is located. The pope went there a little over 20 years ago and even today there are still photos detailing his visit next to the main doorway.

Good luck!

[NedKelly]

I went to a temple fair outside Chiang Mai a few years ago and there was a rocket festival happening there atthe time too. Thge launch frame was a tower some 15 metres high and almost vertical. The rockets were definitely not the blue plactic ones described above.....theses were made of aluminium tubing and were around 8 metres long. We watched one take off and it went so high and so far we lost sight of it. Then when were were driving back into Chiang Mai we heard and almighty explosion........looking back we witnessed a huge white cloud rising into the sky. Then a bit further along two ambulances screaming past en route no doubt to the launch site...........geesus !

Everyone there was plastered on lao khao.......I mean everyone. The food on offer was bbq'ed bits of meat and sticky rice.......oh and there was somtam too and loads of different types of bugs, beetles, grubs etc............it was I-saan all over again.

[francois]

hi'

I have been living in a small village 30kms south-east of Yasothon and I saw this a few times, the first time, I was a little surpised by the way it was done ...

manipulating rockets with a cigarette, lao khao and a lot of laugh around ...

but it was a lot of fun

it's counted for how long up and down (seen by eyes) ... at the end of the day, the winner was as pissed as all the others

a great village party ... a must see !

very friendly people, don't be too surpised by the language ... but your Thai language will do .. before they get really drunk, it's alright ...

in Yasothon is a bit bigger, a load of people coming from all over the province as it is the main "bang fai", but as it has been said, you can always find a place to stay, if you don't expect for a 3 stars ...

people are really nice, just be aware that when they are pissed ... it's getting HOT.

you probably have better to stay with people you know well ... some fights ..

but it's never this hot .. if not talking about the weather ... ###### hot!

it's Esaan

just go for it, you won't be disapointed .. they are less suprised to see some farang around now ... less than before ( a few years ago).

definitly FUN.. a lot of FUN

may I say, like any Esaan festival.

Thai boxing is part of it ... and dancing too, some nice traditional dance contest are held

during the festival too, nice to watch and entertaining too ...

you'll have to dance too, they love to share this joy with you, and some like to share

the load of lao khrao with you too ...

just eat a lot(including khrao nio) this help a bit, just as they do, be cautious, there is a special brand coming out in this time ... some are really heavy ...

cheers

francois

[edd]

1m. what sort of piddling little rockets do they make in your village.

In and around Amphur Phen the rockets are 3 talang met. + (just in case you don’t know a TALANG MET. is a Thai meter)

These cruse missiles go so high they could bring down an Aircraft, How much Thai Airways pay the pilots to fly to Isan.

Last October man next door sat for 6 days in his house grounds packing Gun Powder into a UPVC tube, I was scared shitless, and if it had exploded it would have taken me and my home down.

He was not content with poking the powder down with a stick he had made a mechanical compression device to get more bang for his bucks, SAD-MAN- HUSAIN would have been proud of his ''weapon of mass destruction''

I have timed the flight of these’flights of insanity’ the good ones can fly for 40 to 50 seconds, going up thousands of feet.

A wonderful experience to watch ‘’BON FI’’ as they call it, but no one ever asks where the ###### do they land, don’t forget they fly almost in any direction providing they don’t explode on take off

Edd

[Ajarn]

In and around Amphur Phen the rockets are 3 talang met. + (just in case you don’t know a TALANG MET. is a Thai meter)

Just in case you don't know, a talang met is a square meter

[edd]

In and around Amphur Phen the rockets are 3 talang met. + (just in case you don’t know a TALANG MET. is a Thai meter)

Just in case you don't know, a talang met is a square meter

NOT according to the Thai villagers in my village.

I am told that Tlang is the word for anything to do with measurement.

TALANG FEET – TALANG MET etc.

‘’I not no wot sqer met is’’ was the answer that I received.

They also have GALLONS

SMALL GALLONS --- pint quart, cup full, etc.

BIG GALLONS ----- 5 gallons, 10 gallons, 500 liter water tank, etc.

SOON------------------any time in the next 2 hours.

NOT TOO SOON------any time in the next 2 weeks, know idea when, if ever.

[chanchao]

> NOT according to the Thai blink.gif villagers in my village.

Then either they're wrong, or too many Changs entered the communication link.

> I am told that Tlang is the word for anything to do with measurement.

Anything with measurement of areas, yes, not of lengths.

There's a lesson in here somewhere... "Thai villagers aren't necessarily authorities on everything, sometimes it's good to check a dictionary."

ตาราง [taaraang]

n. interspaces in lattice-work, square

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Ajarn]

In and around Amphur Phen the rockets are 3 talang met. + (just in case you don’t know a TALANG MET. is a Thai meter)

Just in case you don't know, a talang met is a square meter

NOT according to the Thai villagers in my village.

I am told that Tlang is the word for anything to do with measurement.

TALANG FEET – TALANG MET etc.

‘’I not no wot sqer met is’’ was the answer that I received.

They also have GALLONS

SMALL GALLONS --- pint quart, cup full, etc.

BIG GALLONS ----- 5 gallons, 10 gallons, 500 liter water tank, etc.

SOON------------------any time in the next 2 hours.

NOT TOO SOON------any time in the next 2 weeks, know idea when, if ever.

Pinch yourself and you might awaken from your dream world

[Thaiboxer]

Thanks for the replies guys!

[Thaiboxer]

Thanks for the replies guys! Sounds like a real blast (no pun intended) provided you take safety precautions. I'm a big fan of Muay Thai and those temple bouts should be fun as well.

[Thaiboxer]

Thanks for the replies guys! Sounds like a real blast (no pun intended) provided you take safety precautions. I'm a big fan of Muay Thai and those temple bouts should be fun as well.

[edd]

In and around Amphur Phen the rockets are 3 talang met. + (just in case you don’t know a TALANG MET. is a Thai meter)

Just in case you don't know, a talang met is a square meter

NOT according to the Thai villagers in my village.

I am told that Tlang is the word for anything to do with measurement.

TALANG FEET – TALANG MET etc.

‘’I not no wot sqer met is’’ was the answer that I received.

They also have GALLONS

SMALL GALLONS --- pint quart, cup full, etc.

BIG GALLONS ----- 5 gallons, 10 gallons, 500 liter water tank, etc.

SOON------------------any time in the next 2 hours.

NOT TOO SOON------any time in the next 2 weeks, know idea when, if ever.

Pinch yourself and you might awaken from your dream world

RELAX guys it’s supposed to be fun

And no one in the village has a Thai Dictionary.

I think less Tipo/coffee would be a good idea.