Life in Phana

More than one way to make merit

There is more than one way to make merit, but in Thailand the most common way is to donate to a temple. Putting some money into a donation box is easy. Putting some money into an envelope and handing it to a monk is easy, too. Many people do one and/or the other frequently. But there are other ways to make merit by donating. In my last post, I wrote about people in the village of Ban Noen That donating land and money for the good of the community. And on our visit to Kalasin earlier this year, we came across a common form of donation: donating one's skill and labour.

We had called at Ban Sema village on our way to the provincial capital of Kalasin Province. Ban Sema is part of an ancient settlement known as Muang Fadaet Songyang, and the village gets its name from the large number of sandstone boundary markers (sema) found in Wat Pho Chai Semaram. The women in the picture above were weaving mats. The women on the right were doing the 'finishing' and were also in charge of sales.

 

 

 The materials seen here were almost certainly provided by people who purchased them for donation, but perhaps did not have the time or skill to make the mats. The materials are sourced locally and the skill is one which local people will have practised for a very long time. It's not a skill that is found uniquely here, of course, but often a village would supply mats or whatever within a limited area, perhaps exchanging their product for something produced in another nearby village. It is this tradition that OTOP (One Tambon One Product) is based on, although the success of OTOP relies on making products available to a wider market.

 

The mats are made for sale and the proceeds are ear-marked to pay for this structure where meditation practice will take place. Around the perimeter you can see sema in place. These are of plain sandstone. There are other larger ones with bas relief but those are kept in a covered space. Apparently people walk around where these plain ones are, practicing walking meditation I think, and the path gets very muddy in the rainy season. And so the concrete will make it easier to walk here at any time of year. 

 

This man is one of several who have also donated their labour and skill to building the structure. A monk invited me to donate a can of krating daeng to keep this man going. In the meantime, Pensri was demonstrating her bargaining skills. The mats were offered to her at 300 Baht each, so she took six for 2,000 Baht.

As I said, there is more than one way to make merit.

 

I think that sweeping leaves must be a major way to make merit for monks. If you visit almost any monastery in Isan there will be at least one monk sweeping the leaves. Morning or afternoon. I sometimes wonder whether the task is allocated as a penance. It is certainly an excellent reminder of the impermanence of any state.

 
 You can read more about Wat Po Chai Semaram HERE  on my other site, Isan Traveller.

 

 

Buddhist Monk, Fashion Victim?

Thai Buddhist monks are not immune to the dictates of fashion, it seems. Not fashion as it refers to dress, of course, but fashion nonetheless. There was an example of this recently when the abbot of Wat Burapha in Phana celebrated his promotion to Phra Kru. Several of the local monasteries now have pictorial maps of their temple compound and the abbot let us know that he thought it would be a good idea if there was such a map for Wat Burapha.

The conversation he had was with Pensri and her friend Yupin. Both of them were students at Matayom Phana, a school which was held in the grounds of Wat Burapha for many years before the Ministry of Education set up Phana Suksa School. Former students of this school hold a meeting at least once a year and a newsletter has been circulated amongst them for several years now. The youngest of these former students are well into their sixties now.

The upshot of the abbot's conversation with Pensri and Yupin was that two maps were produced, one showing Wat Burapha as it is now, and one as it was in the days of Matayom Phana. Here are Pensri, Yupin and another former student, Charatchom, whose husband Samart supervised the production of the maps, offering the 'old' map:

 
And here is me, offering the new version:

 
And here is a clearer view of the two maps. You can click on the pictures to get a larger image.

 

A fad that has largely fallen into disuse in Phana is to inter cremated ashes in small that (the Lao form of chedi).

The problem with this fashion quickly became apparent: there was not enough space in temple compounds. Wat Phra Lao was an example of this, and nowadays the old custom has been reverted to: that is, ashes are interred inside the wall surrounding the compound.

Another fashion that is rapidly filing up space in some temple compounds is for statuary. Again, most of these contain the ashes of members of the family who have donated them. Here is the usbosot at Wat Burapha. If you enlarge the pic below by clicking on it, you will see the small commemorative plaques on the statues.

 
The whole area of donations to a temple is quite complicated. Monks are expected to accept whatever is offered to them, not expressing (or feeling) any liking or disliking. It is possible that a conversation regarding the appropriateness or otherwise of a planned donation can sometimes be skillfully manipulated to the benefit of the temple. This sort of skill is also used to 'suggest' what would be useful or acceptable to a monk, since he is not supposed to ask directly for anything. Lay people can make things easier for a monk by asking him whether there is anything he or the temple needs.

Parading the abbot

 Parades are an essential ingredient of many celebrations in Thailand and parading a monk when celebrating his promotion is no exception. When the lay people of Phana were celebrating the abbot of Wat Burapha's promotion to the rank of Phra Kru recently, a parade through the streets was the order of one of the days.

 

Dancing girls are an important ingredient. Here they are all wearing skirts woven in Phana to a traditional pattern.

The dancers are accompanied by this group of musicians:

 

Lay people follow the band, all smartly dressed and in exhuberant spirits. The umbrellas are to keep off the sun rather than the rain.

 

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The organisers were keen to involve the tetsaban officers and were insistent that they wore their white uniforms. Many social occasions in Phana are organised either by the wat committees or by the tetsaban; and as in this case, often both are involved together.

Here we have the mayor and his deputy seemingly glad to see me; or glad to see me taking their photograph, perhaps.

The small children amongst the onlookers got very excited when the mayor threw small coins wrapped in silver and gold paper into the crowd and there were wild scrambles to pick up the coins. 

Taking part in the parade or standing by and watching it go past -- both are seen as auspicious events, and the people of Phana make sure that they take advantage of as many occasions like this one as possible.

 

Promotion for our abbot

When a monk is promoted it is always a cause (or an excuse, possibly) for celebration in small rural communities in Thailand. This is especially so if the monk is an abbot. The date for the celebration is fixed well in advance to give everyone the chance to make all the necessary arrangements and preparations.

Promotion comes in several different forms. Most frequent, but not always especially celebrated, is when a monk passes a new level of Pali studies. Passing level three, for example, entitles a monk to be addressed with Phra Maha before his name. This is often as far as a monk will go in his Pali studies, and many do not get this far.

Being appointed an abbot is more of a cause for celebration. It is not necessary to be a Phra Maha to be an abbot, but a monk must have been ordained for at least five phansa (five rainy season retreats) before becoming an abbot. Abbots are often promoted to the rank of Phra Kru on the basis of their contribution to the development of their wat.

In the last few years Phana has celebrated several such promotions that I have been lucky enough to attend. The biggest occasion was when Phra Maha Samlee of the Wat in Sao Reek village was made Chao Kana Amphur, the senior monk of the amphur in admin terms. The abbot of Wat Don Kwan was promoted to Phra Kru and Phra Dit became abbot of Wat Phra Lao. And just a few weeks ago, Phra Maha Jantee of Wat Burapha was promoted to the rank of Phra Kru. At the same time, he was given a new name, but I think for a long time to come I will only remember the one I have known him by for the last few years.

The two days of celebration at Wat Burapha were advertised widely. This banner was at the end of the road leading to the wat.

 

In the wat compound marquees were set up, vehicles decorated, and the donations book prrepared:

A traditional Isan suk kwan had been arranged...

 

... and the car that the abbot would be paraded in was got ready:

 

A special shrine table was set up to commemorate the three abbots who preceded Phra Maha Jantee:

 Phra Maha Jantee was supervising the preparations although the abbots of Wat Phra Lao and Wat Don Kwan, both very senior in terms of the phansa they have spent in the robes, were in overall charge and did a fine job on behalf of their fellow abbot.

 

These pictures were taken the day before the celebratory procession which I will post pictures of in my next post.

 

Community-Based Tourism

I am not sure I fully understand what the Thai Tourism Authority understands by Community-Based Tourism. But Amnat Charoen is one of two provinces (the other is in the south of Thailand) that is going to run a CBT pilot project. I need to understand what is meant because I have been co-opted onto the Provincial committee that is to draw up plans for the different amphur in the province. My job is to 'collect data'. I wasn't at the original committee meeting (though Pensri is one of the Phana representatives and she was there) so I can interpret data collection pretty much as I please, I think.

Tourists already come to Phana, almost all of them Thais coming from other parts of the country. They  visit Wat Phra Lao and sometimes Don Chao Poo Forest Park. On average, they spend no more than 30 minutes in Phana before getting back into their big tour bus or private car and heading off to the next stop on their itinerary.

These tourists are in no way based in our community. They donate to the wat, no doubt, and those going to Don Chao Poo purchase some food (not necessarily appropriate food) for the monkeys there. But Phana gains little or nothing from their visit

What I have done so far is produced  a document outlining what Amphur Phana has to offer to tourists so that they might spend more time here and provide some income-generating opportunities for Phana people.

SITES TOURISTS COULD VISIT IN AMPHUR PHANA

• Wat Phra Lao -- 300-year-old temple and famous Buddha image
• Wat Ban I-Keng -- attractive wat in a nearby village 
• Wat Ban Sao-Ree --village wat with school for novices 12 - 18 years old
• Wat Don Kwan --new(ish) wat in Tambon Phana; largest black Buddha image in Isan; 2nd tallest Phra That under construction
• Don Chao Poo Forest Park -- Buddha images, Chao Poo shrine, monkeys
• Weaving groups: Ban Phana, Ban Pathum Kaew; Ban Soi (silk production from mulberry leaves to cloth)
• Traditional Medicine Centre: Traditional Massage (treatment and training); herbal medicine production and sales
•  Model Agricultural Centre, at Fai Rong Hin, Phra Lao Municipality
•  School visit(s)
•  Noodle-shops and restaurants

ACCOMMODATION: at Phana Garden Resort

INCOME-GENERATING OPPORTUNITIES: Phana Garden Resort, Noodle-shops and Restaurants, Taxi and bus services, Hire of bicycles, Purchase of woven products, Purchase of herbal medicines, Purchase of traditional massage services, Invitations to donate for site visits:

REQUIREMENTS BEFORE IMPLEMENTATION:

• “Come to Phana” brochure produced, in Thai and in English

• “Come to Phana” brochure to be made available at TAT offices in Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani, Yassothon, Si Sa Ket, Bangkok, etc. And on TAT web-site.

• Production of bi-lingual informational guide leaflets to individual sites; to be made available at the sites, and at Phana Garden Resort, Amphur Offices, Tetsaban offices and OPT offices

• Production of map of Phana district showing facilities, routes and distances; to be made available as guide leaflets above

• English-language menus compiled and made available in noodle-shops and restaurants

• Purchase of bicycles for hire; to be made available at a central location where they are easily available and can be checked for repair, etc. (eg Tetsaban Phana IT Centre at the Old Market)

I suspect that 'Home-Stay' might be part of the TAT definition of CBT, but to me there seems little point in  making all the arrangements that would entail until it becomes clear that there is demand for it from tourists. It would be different if there were not already somewhere to stay. But a visit I recently made to a 'Cultural Village' in Kalasin Province suggests that what might be envisaged is putting on some sort of  cultural performance for large groups of tourists who would be put up in village homes. But this means inspecting and certifying the homes, and preparing to entertain groups which might never materialise. That seems to me a recipe for disillusionment and cynicism. To be fair, at the village in Kalasin it did seem to be working to a certain extent, but that is down to the village being entirely populated by an ethnic group that is sufficiently 'different' to create interest, and whose culture is sufficiently well-maintained that there is likely to be little about it that is specially put on for tourists. I am not sure that Amphur Phana is sufficiently different in that respect, but it does have enough to interest someone for a stay of, say, two days. We shall see what, if anything, comes of this initiative.

 

(No photos with this post, but I expect to be posting about the various sites as I go about 'collecting data'.)

Rong Kham, Kalasin Province

Rong Kham Municipality has recently been awarded first prize amongst Thailand's small tetsban. Apparently it is a good place to live, the environment is good and well-conserved, and there is good co-operation amongst the members of the community. That's all very fine, and I am very happy for them. What bothers me is that Phana Municipality came third in this competition. The mayor will be going up to Bangkok to collect the award on Monday.

I had never been to Kalsin Province, although like many other people I had passed through it several times. So earlier this week I made a special trip there and the first stop in the Province was Rong Kham.

The little town is certainly very neat and tidy and is contained in a small box-like grid of roads like this one, set to one side of the main road through the amphur.

 

 

The roads are certainly kept clean and free of rubbish. The shops are almost all in  quite old wooden houses like these first two on the left:

The wat gate and the main building of the wat were somewhat different from usual:

At one end of this little township is a quite extensive park area around a lake. This being Kalasin there are dinosaurs prominently displayed at the entrance:

As well as the dinosaurs, there are several monkey statues in the nearby Don Phu Ta forest, but I didn't see any real live monkeys. So that is something that Phana has over Rong Kham. In fact, from my point of view, Phana is very much the better place to live. But then I would say that. In fairness, the community of Rong Kham and its tetsaban had clearly made a great effort to provide a pleasant environment and they are no doubt rightfully proud of the national recognition they have just achieved.

 

PS my lens seems to have been very dusty (or fingerprinted) when I took these photos. The sky was overcast, but the dirty marks, I'm afraid, are down to me.)

Making History in Phana

Phana has just celebrated the third-month festival which is the annual festival for Wat Phra Lao. This year was a bit special because it is three hundred years since villagers began building the wat. The exhibition of words and pictures to mark the 300-year history of Phana (see my previous post) was visited by hundreds of people during the three days of the festival and many of them recorded complimentary comments on the boards we  provided.

Several people had also suggested that Phana could hold a bicycle rally (the first ever in Phana, although the Tour de Thailand came through a couple of years ago) and the idea was taken up enthusiastically by the director of Phana Hospital, Dr Pathompong Prupong and by the District Officer (Nai Amphur -- นายอำเภอ). A committee was formed that included them both together with people from Tetsaban Phana and Tetsaban Phra Lao plus Pensri, who was to combine the rally with the celebration of the 300th anniversary. The result was a rally that informed people of the story behind several sites in Phana and involved the collection of little snippets of information, some fun activities, some cultural activities -- and some traditional hospitality.

The rally was well advertised, by word of mouth to begin with, but posters appeared shortly before the big day.

Hundreds of people turned up and everyone had to register and be issued with a T-shirt, a 'passport' / question-sheet, an official entrance number to pin on the T-shirt and a leaflet outlining the aims of the rally and so on.

Who said Thais can't form an orderly queue?

I was a little startled to find this professional-looking competitor, but beneath it all was Acharn Kanok, retired teacher. Did he think fancy dress was required?

There was no fancy dress category, in fact, but there was a lot to compete for, including some impressive-looking trophies and cash prizes of Baht 2,500, 2,000 and 1,500.

These students from Phanasuksa School gave us some historical information (in Thai and English) relating to Don Chao Poo, where the rally was gathering and preparing to start.

 

People were getting a little impatient to get going, but naturally there were also some official opening speeches to hear first.

But finally the rally began, with small groups setting off at about 10-minute intervals.

Some people had an easier ride than others:

The monkeys of Don Chao Poo had been given a fruit and nuts banquet before the rally began, probably as compensation for so many people invading their territory so early in the morning. There were  lots of security men to make sure none of us got run over by  bigger vehicles. The organisers had also  provided helpful signs like this one to make sure nobody got lost or missed a checkpoint. I love the rally logo.

At several points along the route people had set up refreshment stops such as this one, offering much-needed liquid and some food, too. I saw several people trying to pay, but this was offered freely.

 

When riders reached a check-point they had to present their passport for stamping ...

 

and here at Wat Don Khual they had to take part in this activity and have their score recorded. Who would cheat under such watchful eyes? I was told that I would have to 'play hula hoop' here so I was pretty relieved to find I only had to throw a rubber ring. At two wats we got a stamp for going to 'wai phra' and at Wat Phra Lao everyone visited the exhibition.

 

 At Wat Burapha these young guides from Samaraki School told us about the history of this wat, the second oldest in Phana.

 

On leaving this wat, we were issued with a plastic bag containing a bottle of water and a straw, and three banana-leaf packages containing sticky rice, a chicken leg and some beef, and some chilli sauce. This was provided free by the organisers, Changwat, Amphur or Tetsaban funds, I'm not sure which.

 

Then it was out onto the open road again. The route took us behind the village along this track used to get to some of the rice fields. The gentleman you see here was the oldest rider, 76 years old, I am told.

 

The Phana Thai Traditional Medicine Centre was the last stop before we doubled back to the Amphur Office (ที่ว่าการอำเภอ) for the finish. The Mediicine Centre doesn't usually provide live music but a specially-composed mor lam about the rally was sung and played, and riders with any energy left were invited to dance ...
 

... or to watch these men at work on traditional crafts ...

 

... or invited to drink some of the herbal tea produced here.

 

Finally, after what was a fairly short ride but a very long day (what with the passport checking, finding clues, taking part in activities, taking refreshments and so on) I made it through the finishing arch with my team.

 

But it was this young man who claimed first prize in the individual event for youngsters, and his obvious pride in his achievement will make sure he remembers the day that he and Phana made history together in the first ever Phana Bicycle Rally.

 

My thanks go to Tetsaban Phana and their photographer on the day, Mr Tong, for allowing me to use their pictures.

Preparing for the third month festival

Here in Isan we celebrate each of the twelve-month festivals. The third-month festival runs from 16 to 18 February and it is the festival reserved in Phana for Wat Phra Lao. This year Phana is also celebrating 300 years of the founding of the wat. Pensri has arranged an exhibition illustrating the history and we have spent several weeks putting together the words and pictures with the help of two young friends. Today we set it up in the old sala, which is generally only used now as a store-room. There is a bit more to do tomorrow, such as installing two TV sets to show the video of the Phana 300 Years which was celebrated three years ago.

There are twelve of these panels. Panel 10 seen here is concerned with education, started in Phana by the famous monk Chao Khun Ubali, who founded the first primary schools in Ubon (1897) and Phana (1898). His photo is at the top of the panel. Panel 11 relates the story of the development of Don Chao Poo Forest Park.

 
The wat committee lent us the banner recounting the story of Pravet, which we have draped around the inside of the old sala, partly because it looks so good but also to disguise some of the dustier corners of the building. Here are a couple of scenes from the story:

Wat Phra Lao itself, especially the area around the ubosot, is also being prepared for the festival, which will begin on Wednesday evening with a somphot ceremony during which lay men and women who have taken the eight precepts and are dressed in white will alternate in chanting throughout the night. They chant 108 repetitions of the 'Reflection on the Triple Gem' which itself contains 108 words, 38 referring to the Buddha, 14 to the Dhamma and 56 to the sangha. The chanting is arranged so that each group chants 12 repetitions with 9 intervals. Throughout this, a series of four specially-trained monks who have been ordained for more than 5 years, will chant something else inside the ubosot while a very senior monk will meditate throughout the entire proceedings.

Here are some of the images waiting to be 'sacrilized' by the ceremony:

and some of the decoration:

but the window decoration is my favourite:

This year, for the first time, there will be a bicycle rally on the morning of 16th. It will be a 'tour' of nine significant places in Phana, starting at Don Chao Poo (where the monkeys will also be given a ceremonial breakfast) and ending at the Amphur Office.  Participants will be expected to answer some questions on the history of Phana as well as performing some 'activities' (singing and dancing?) at some of the check-points. Personally, I am not convinced as to the sanuk-ness of this last bit. But I am looking forward to the three days of festivities, possibly even including one or more of these, currently being advertised in the wat compound:

 I hope to bring you more pictures of the festival when it is all over.

The Foundation of a New Ubosot

A few days ago we were invited to attend the foundation of an ubosot at Wat Panarat, located just outside the boundary of Phana Municipality. The wat is quite a new one. It is almost opposite the secondary school, Phana Suksa, so it is supported by teachers and students at the school. Last year we were invited to a  ceremony  at which a very large number of monks were being feasted, and the money raised on that occasion went towards the building of a main gateway to the wat. Here are two workmen a few days after that ceremony:

... and here is the finished gateway, by most standards a modest but effective one, featuring the 'Wheel of the Law' representing the teaching of the Buddha:

The ceremony we attended recently was to insert the 'poles' of the new Ubosot building. Pensri was asked to insert one of them as representative, perhaps, of her deceased parents. As it turned out, the 'poles' were themselves symbolized by slivers of sacrilized wood which were placed in a large container of sand. But first the local spirits were invoked to bless and protect the site and the people taking part in the cereomony. Pensri joins the group in the picture below:

 Here the mor kwan (the spirt expert) is invoking the protecion of the spirits and deities:

Occasions such as this are also opportunities to renew old acquaintenceships, as Pensri is doing here:

The monks on the left are putting some finishing touches to the sand which was symbolizing the buidling site. Later, the symbolic poles were placed in here, and so were various bricks, amulets, and a mass of marigold petals.

There are several large marigold farms in Amnat Charoen Province, and the petals of marigold have become a standard feature of many religious ceremonial occasions. Money trees have been around a lot longer.

The senior monk, the Chao Kana Amphur, and other local dignitaries about to place items in the 'building site' watched by just a few of the shool students who attended:

And here are some more of us watching the proceedings:

Taking some beating in a Thai Wat

While I was visiting a village temple between Phana and Muang Samsip, monks and lay people began to gather for the early evening chanting. An elderly monk came to strike the big wooden bell which hung under a building which seemed to be mostly used as a store. The bell looked as if it had been struck a good many times.

This was not the only curiosity at this temple. The luk nimit, the round stones which are usually buried around the perimiter of the Phra Ubosot  to mark the sacred area within which monks can be ordained, were here only partially buried, although still marked as usual by the sima stones.

 
And there was also this vehicle parked beneath one of the kuti, the living quarters of a monk in a rural monastery such as this. The vehicle obviously has been made to feel at home because a special shelter has been added to the kuti to protect it. There are temples which have had Mercedes Benz donated to them to transport the abbot from place to place. This much more modest donation is more in keeping with the renunciation of worldly things that should be the lot of a Buddhist monk, I can't help feeling.