LANNA

“Land of a million rice fields”

“Fieldwork is human experience. It involves entering the inter-subjective world of one’s informants and making that world, in part, one’s own. The radical consequence of this is that one’s own world is both enlarged and changed. Reflecting on these changes, in turn, alters one’s images of oneself and one’s society.And there is no going back.”

This is a ten year and ongoing anthropological study ofLanna culture, tradition, and religious beliefs as interrupted by Gary John Ditschler. My wife Emon is ofLanna Thai Yong extraction, and my main informant. S E Asian Culture and tradition is an extremely complicatedsubject and my study may never be completed unless I amreincarnated.

The early history of Lana was gathered from many sources it is not my original work, but rather information of interest compiled by me.

Nearly 1450 years ago, in the year 562 AD., the Thai chieftain King Singhanuwat, moved his armies south from

Yunnan and settled at the site of present day Chiang Saen. His newly established capital was called by one of two names, either Nakhapun Singhanuwat Nakorn or Yonok Nakorn Chaiburi Sri Chiang Saen. Over the next 100 years or so, this outpost was fortified and expanded dramatically and the city became the hub of a self-contained kingdom called Haevan Nakorn Ngern Yang Chiarburi Sri Chiang Saen. Over the next 600 years there were many earthquakes and a number of internal wars, this is the reason indicated for the large gap inthe city’s history.

The Lanna Thai Kingdom originated in the ancient city of Chiang Saen on the south bank of the Mai Nom Kong. (Mai Kong River) In what is now known as Northern Thailand. The Lanna kingdom was at one time a wealthy self-ruling kingdom, and also the power base of all of northern Thailand, including parts of Laos and Burma.

It is my hypothesis that during the six hundred years of missing history, the small kingdoms fought wars against one another, slowly uniting until the large andpowerful kingdoms formed the Kingdom of Lanna. If a group could not or would not merge into the Lanna kingdom they fled the area or were incorporated by force, when the land was vacated by the vanquished, oneof the groups affiliated with the kingdom of Lanna suchas the Thai Lu or the Thai Yong would repopulate the abandoned land, either willingly or by force, reinforcing the strength of the Lanna kingdom.

King Mengrai was born in Chiang Saen, and could trace his family history back to the home area of the Thai peoples, and particularly the Thai of Sipsongpanna in Yunnan Provence of present day China. At the time of his birth in 1239 A.D., the Mai Nom Kong area was a center of a great many small Thai kingdoms.

With the ascension to the throne by of King Mengrai, nearly 700 years ago, the mighty Thai Lanna kingdom wasfounded. King Mingrai brought unity to the north by annexing or conquering weaker Thai Kingdoms. When this was accomplished, his next step was to then annex the Mon held territory south of Chiang Mai, including the Mon capital city of Lampoon (Hari Punchai).

The history of Chiang Saen changed dramatically once more. King Mengrai and his dynasty had begun to concentrate their efforts in establishing the capital city of Thai Lanna at Chiang Rai. King Mingrai preferred to reside in Chiang Rai, and Chiang Rai was abetter area to defend against invasion from foreign armies. The Mai Nom Kok flows from the mountainous Burma border in the north, through Chiang Rai into the Mai Nom Kong at Chiang Saen, thus allowing quick troop movement in case of foreign invasion. Another positive point was the existing groups of Thai Lu, which stretched along the Mai Nom Kong from Sipsongpanna in China to Nakhon Luang Prabang in Laos. By the year 1345, the far northern areas seemed to be relatively protected so the location of the capital city was again

moved, this time to Chiang Mai. This location is realistically defendable, there are very high and rugged mountainous areas to the north and east, and Chiang Mai is located on the Mai Nom Ping which flows all the way to the sea through modern day Bangkok. But, whenever trouble threatened the Thai Lanna kingdom, King Mingrai and his successors chose to regroup in Chiang Saen, the birth place of King Mingraiand the Thai Lanna kingdom.

The successors of King Mingrai further improved upon the city of Chiang Saen, developing it into one of the best fortified cities of the time. (Oppida) The city ofChiang Saen had walls approaching thirty feet high witha moat at the bottom, on three sides of the city. The forth side has no wall, but overlooks the Mai Nom Kong with an almost vertical slope of nearly fifty feet. TheMai Nom Kong originates in the Himalaya Mountains in Tibet, traverses through Yunnan China, Laos, Cambodia; and empties into the South China Sea at Saigon (Hochimin City) Vietnam. The primary objective of the fortifications of the city was intended to ward off invaders from the north. The present shape of the city dates from those times when King Saen Pu and his fatherKam Fu, (both were of the direct line of King Mingrai,)developed the city of Chiang Saen into one of the finest fortified cities of the time.

It seems as though Lanna is not a specific people or ethnic group, rather Lanna was a kingdom populated by

many Thai tribal groups. At one time the kingdom encompassed an area from Northern Burma, Northern Viet Nam, Laos and Thailand as far south as Lampang and Lampoon areas of present Thailand. The kingdom originated with King Mingrai, and his first Lanna capital city was at Chiang Saen, on the bank of the MaiNom Kong across the river from present day Laos. The people of many Thai speaking groups that would eventually become Lanna migrated from Sipsongpanna in Yunnan China, and the ten Thai Lu city states situated along the Mai Nom Kong from Lu in Sipsongpanna China toLuang Prabang Laos. This exudes was most likely due to the Mongol invasion of China. A large percentage of these Sipsongpanna Yunnan Chinese people such as the Thai Yi, Thai Lu, and Thai Yong decided to leave their home area and migrated to the area that today we call Northern Thailand and some of the people were forced toassimilate into the Thai Lanna Kingdom, but the traditions of these people are relatively similar. Eventoday the descendants of these first immigrants to northern Thailand hold Pa Kun Mingrai (father king Mingrai) in high regard, equivalent to a demi god, similar to the respect shown to the present-day BangkokKing.

Buddhism is the state religion of Thailand. About eighty-five percent of the Thai population is TheravadaBuddhist, and the Thai monarch must be a Buddhist. Nearly all Thai speaking people are Theravada

Buddhists, as are many members of the Thai ethnic minority groups.

The origin of Theravada Buddhism was in Sri Lanka. An obvious form of animism merged with Thai Buddhism is the spirit houses associated with almost all houses andbuildings. The most common types of spirit houses are small, elegant, tastefully decorated, classic miniaturehouses; some are constructed of concrete others built with wood. The spirit house is placed on a pedestal on the highest corner of the property. Spirit houses serveas a home for the spirits associated with the land. These houses are decorated and the spirits are offered food and drink on occasions such as Buddhist holidays, birthdays etc. Many large old trees are also thought tobe the home of spirits and are decorated with orange cloth and given offerings.

Nearly Ten percent of the Thai population is Muslim, most of the Muslim people reside in the three southern Thai provinces near Malaysia, but I have also observed many villages with a substantial Muslim population in Chiang Rai province; most are remints of the kumantong Army of Nationalist China, but some of the northern Muslim people arrived in ancient times. There have been many Christian Missionaries active in Thailand since the nineteenth century, but only one percent of the population of Thailand is of the Christian persuasion, and most of these are non-Thai ethnic minorities in the northern areas of the country.

I have many Akah people as neighbors, and I observed their form of Christianity when a well was being dug. Offerings of food and drink were given to the water spirit, and then the sign of the cross was given, sort of an Animistic and Christian combination. In my mind this religion mixing is similar to every traditional religion that was forced to merge with Christianity, beit Native American, Asian or Scandinavian.

The majority of religious practitioners are Buddhist monks. Most young men become Buddhist novices and go tolive in a monastery. While most young men remain at themonastery for a short time before returning to the nonspiritual life, some become ordained monks. A person who wants to become a monk is expected to be debt free and free of diseases, have permission from his parents or wife, to agree to follow the disciplinary rules of the monkhood, and not become involved in the material life. Monks are expected to lead an isolated life, but at the same time are expected to preform important tasks in the community, particularly as counselors. A variety of religious practitioners are associated with the animistic side ofthe religious beliefs of most Buddhists, including exorcists, spirit doctors, astrologers, and diviners.

The Thai Lanna people are almost always of the Theravada Buddhist religious belief, but most of the Thai Lanna people have the old anamnestic religious beliefs attached. This combining of religious thought

reminds me of the many different combinations of Christianity that are entwined with the Native Americanreligions of today. What percentage of the Thai Lanna thought, traditions and religious practice originated in Sipsongpanna in Yunnan China and what percentage wasinherited from the original people who resided here in Northern Thailand would only be my hypothesis, but I will mention some of the things that I observed, in no particular order. The Thai Lanna words that I will use are spelled phonetically, the way that I hear them.

The agriculture methods that I first observed that wereused by the Thai Lanna farmers when I first came to Chiangrai have changed dramatically in the last ten years that I have lived here in northern Thailand.

The oldest farming method that I observed was plowing with a Buffalo (Qui) This plowing operation required two people. One person to lead the buffalo by the nose ring and the second person to plow the soil with a one bottom iron plow.

Another method of plowing that I observed was the use of a two wheel machine, that pulled a plow like harrow or spring tooth attachment, the paddy was worked with this machine until the soil became wet mud. This machine could also be used in many ways, like pumping water, pulling a farm wagon; also the engine of this machine was on occasion placed into the farm truck. This one machine had many uses and only required one person to maneuver it.

The third plowing method was the use of a modern tractor with a rototiller attachment on it; this machine did the job quite quickly. All of these methods first required that the rice field (tuna) be flooded and the soil worked into mass of what appeared to be supper saturated clay mud.

The method of planting the rice (kow) has also changed.For the first method that I observed of planting the rice was, the farmer sows the rice seed by hand broadcasting it in the prepared tuna, (rice field) after the rice germinates and grows for two or three weeks the plants are removed and replanted by hand in bunches of a dozen or so in another prepared tuna.

Another method is to broadcast the rice seeds into the prepared tuna (rice field) and let the rice seed grow without further manipulation. This method is generally used in planting of the second rice crop of the year, and is less labor intensive.

The latest method that I observed has just started to be used two years ago in the Chiang Rai area. In this method a machine is use that to my mind looks like a tobacco planter. The rice is grown in plastic trays, and then many trays are loaded onto the planter machine. This planting machine then automatically removes the rice seedlings from the trays and inserts them into the tuna soil this method of planting is moreexpensive, but the planting done very quickly, saving time.

The first harvest method that I observed was the cutting of the rice with a hand sickle. The rice is cutand an arm load is gathered into a shock and laid on top of the rice stubble to dry. After the rice is dry, it is gathered and brought to a central place in the field where a plastic tarp is placed on the ground and the rice shocks are thrashed by hand. This method of thrashing is accomplished by picking the shocks up withtwo sticks fastened at the top with a leather or rubberbelt, than the shocks are hurled numerous times onto the plastic tarp until the rice kernels are dislodged.

Another method is to do the same cutting method previously mentioned, but instead of hand thrashing, the rice shocks are loaded onto a farm wagon and taken to the threshing machine. Damp rice can be threshed, but the dryer that the grain is the better the threshing machine performs the threshing task, and the farmer will get a higher price when selling dry grain.

The last method that I saw in operation was the use of a combine. The combine has tracks similar to a dozer, this machine cuts the rice, threshes the grain and loads the rice into a grain truck which takes the grainto the grain elevator for further drying and shipping, either local or internationally. The combine can cut more kow (rice) in an hour than a field gang can cut ina week. The combine is quick, and can reap wet grain and transport it to the drying company. This method is expensive, but it seems to me as though more and more

farmers are opting for fast. But most of the local farmers are using a combination of the methods available according to the number of rai (land size 40X40 sq. Meters=1rai) that the particular farmer has control of and the amount of money available to them. But with labor prices on the rise, the mechanized method is looking more and more attractive to the average farmer. To me the new method isn’t at all charming, but I guess that is known as progress. It is my hypotheses that the previously mentioned old methodsof rice production have been used by the Thai Lanna people and the other native people of the wet rice culture in South East Asia probably since the Neolithicperiod. One big difference is that many farmers in the Chiangrai area borrow money from the bank for seed and fertilizer. When the rice crops are harvested the farmer repays the bank. The problem is at the time of the new harvest, rice prices are as low as they will befor the year. If the farmers could hold their rice cropfor a few months they would surely be better off financially.

When I first saw a spirit house, I thought that it was a small Watt. To my eyes the spirit house, looked quite similar to a small Buddhist temple. My friend Monk Thab thought my describing a spirit house as a small watt was very funny. It is Thai Lanna tradition to place the spirit house on the highest corner of the property. In the spirit house resides the spirit of theland. We have two spirit houses on our property. We

bought one, and I thought that one spirit house would be all. But no! That night Emon had a spirit dream, in this dream the land spirit said that he was getting oldand needed a shorter spirit house with less stairs, so now we have two, one for the old spirit and one for theyoung spirit. Maybe we now have twice the luck.

The spirit receives offerings of food and whiskey on special occasions such as Buddha’s birthday, your birthday, family member’s birthdays, and other religious holidays, etc. It seems as though when a newfruit has ripened in your orchard, the land owner will take some of the first ripened fruit to the land spiritwho resides in the spirit house. The same thing happensto any food that is given for the use of spirits, when the spirit has its fill of the food, the household and guests partake in the food.

When it is time to replace the spirit house, usually when the home owner needs an influx of good luck or thehome owner may have acquired some type of new wealth ora prestigious government position. The home owner will dispose of the old spirit house by throwing it into theriver or placing the old spirit house in a lucky area. Lucky areas are near lucky or Spirit trees, these are usually large old trees with orange cloth wrapped around them. It seems as though these lucky areas are usually in a place restricted by the government, for disposing of spirit houses, but, (mi ben li) the government will send out a crew to dispose of the

unwanted spirit houses eventually. Spirit houses are also located along side of dangerous road areas in the mountains, these spirits of the mountain and spirits ofthe road will give you good luck and will keep you safefrom harm.

Thai Buddhists believe that those who die are reborn. Emon’s daughter in law Ja had just recently given birthto a baby girl. The baby had been crying for a day or so, upon seeing this situation Ja’s mother took the baby to the village mock monk (spirit doctor) and had the problem clarified. It appeared that the baby was a reincarnation of Emon’s mother, Komsai, who had died about fifty years in the past. The baby was crying because she desired a silver chain. So we promptly purchased the required silver. When Emmy gave the silver necklace to the baby, she stopped crying immediately. This situation appears quite strange to the western mind. The upside is that Emon is really happy that her mother has returned. The cycle of death and rebirth is believed to continue as long as ignorance and craving remain. The cycle can only be broken through improved personal wisdom and the elimination of desire. The funerals are usually cremation; inhumation is rare in Thai Lanna tradition. The funeral ceremony includes a procession of monks andmourners who accompany the coffin to the crematorium, with monks chanting and performing rites along the way.

Funerals for monks and Royalty are very elaborate, and the Thai Lanna people show great respect, while those who have died violent deaths are cremated quickly, withvery little ceremony, since their spirits are believed to hang around after death as annoyed ghosts.

Like the many Thai Lanna people that dispose of their old spirit house by throwing the spirit house into the river, the Thai Lanna have a tradition that is very similar idea when disposing the cremated remains of their departed loved one. They use the same method as the spirit house, river disposal.

My wife Emon disposed of her father’s cremated remains by using the river method. There are three or four different methods of disposition of a loved one’s cremated remains that I am aware of. Some people place the cremated remains in an urn like container and the urn is placed in the area of the crematorium reserved for this purpose. Others have the bones of their decided loved one resting on a shelf in their home, andsome people with a Chinese heritage place the cremated remains in a family crypt, some people say the crypt must look toward China to appease the deceit person’s spirit. And of course, most of the people of the Christian and Moslem persuasion practice inhumation burial and place their dead love ones in the dirt.

When a Thai Lanna person dies, the deceased person is placed in a beautifully carved wood coffin; the coffin is placed in the deceased person’s home, people visit

the deceased one’s family for about three days, (longerif you are wealthy) then the coffin is taken to the crematorium usually by placing the coffin on an ornately carved wagon with ropes attached to it. The wagon moves along the road to the crematorium at a walking pace, with many people holding the ropes to simulate people pulling the deceased to the crematorium. It seems like the deceased persons personal property, computer, TV, etc. is placed in somearea of his home to be given away. But when the one hundred day after the death anniversary occurs there isa party, food, whiskey etc. and the deceased persons personal items are returned to the household, to be disposed of or to be reincorporated into the deceased person’s family.

When a person dies, it is very important that the deceased person is seen by a Monk. The Monk prays for the individual so that person can be reincarnated again. If for some reason, the deceased person is not seen by a Monk, the spirit remains as a ghost. On November 15 2012 a light plane was found in the jungle,under the wreck was discovered a few bones, the only remains of the two people who were onboard. A recovery team and a monk were sent to the wreck site. The monk had to bless the dead and to let the two deceased men’sspirits know that they had perished five years earlier.Now their spirits were free and could be reincarnated once more.

A number of Buddhist religious festivals are held throughout the Thailand, and there local events relatedto particular places and individuals. The Buddhist religious calendar begins with Songkron, in middle of April when images of Buddha are washed and monks are offered special gifts. This celebration is marked by soaking people with water and other party behavior including a lot of dancing, singing, and alcohol consumption.

Visakha Puja in May is to celebrate Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and entrance into nirvana. The day includes the ceremonial watering of the banyan trees that represent the tree under which Buddha sat when he attained enlightenment.

Asanha Puja celebrates a sermon given by Buddha. Khao Phansaa in July marks the start of the three month Lenten period. It is at this time that young males become novices. Lent is considered a period of spiritual retreat for monks, who are expected to remainin the monasteries.

Thawt Kathin from mid-October to mid-November marks theend of lent. During this period, monastic robes and other Buddhist religious items are given to monks. In some communities, there is a celebration to produce newgarments for monks and images of Buddha in which members of the community work together to produce the cloth in a single day.

Magha Puja in February commemorates Buddha’s preaching to enlightened monks. It culminates in a candlelit procession at temples.

During Thai Lanna New Year (Songkron) one of the ceremonies that people do, is to go to their Temple (Wat) and bring food etc. and have their Monk pray for their deceased loved ones. This ceremony is to let the dead know that their living relatives are giving them food and remembering them. If you do not do this givingfor the dead loved ones, you will not receive food or cloths after you die and must wander in the jungle as aghost. I am not sure if this tradition is Buddhist or Thai Lanna or a combination.

Every Thai Lanna Buddhist family has a place in their home for their Buddha shrine. This Shrine consists of astatue of Buddha, flowers, lucky flowers, incense, water, candles, lucky amulets ‘or charms, and photographs of Monks, Temples, and Family members.

Loi Krathong also known as Yi Peng to the Thai Lanna isa festival celebrated every year throughout Thailand, northern Laos, and the Shan State in Burma. Loi Krathong coincides with the Lanna (northern Thai) festival known as Yi Peng. Due to a difference between the old Lanna calendar and the Thai calendar, Yi Peng is held on a full moon of the second month of the Lannacalendar. Many different styles of sky lanterns (khom loi) are launched into the air. Usually the khom loi ismade from very thin rice paper. On the bottom of the

khom loi is attached a fuel supply resembling a mixtureof paper and wax, this is to supply the hot air for lift. Some of the khom loi experts also add fireworks to give uniqueness to their particular art form. Many Thai Lanna people enjoy decorating their homes, gardens, and temples with fire lanterns (khom fai), which are intricately shaped paper lanterns of various shapes and designs. Some people say (people of Chiang Mai) that the most sensational Yi Peng and Loi Krathongcombination celebration takes place at the ancient ThaiLanna capital city of Chiang Mai, resulting in lights floating on the water of the mai nom ping, lights hanging from trees/buildings or on the sidewalk, and lights floating in the sky.

The Yi Peng festival is a holiday to give thanks to thespirit of the water. Water is the most important spirit, if it were not for water the people could not survive, and the rice (kou) would not grow. Thai Lanna people are remembering the circle of water, from evaporation to rain to river to sea etc. For the Loi Krathong ceremony, a person makes or buys a krathong. A Krathong is usually made of a slice of banana trunk about three inches thick and ten inches across. Some people like to recycle Styrofoam for Krathong construction, but this practice is becoming unpopular because of the concerns for the environment. On this

platform is placed incense sticks, candles and flowers.Also according to Emon’s tradition you place finger nail and toe nail clippings, and hair on the Krathong, by doing this, you are asking the water spirit for goodhealth and good luck for the coming year.

You than place a small coin on the katung (the coin is taken by the boy who pushes the krathong out into the river current) you light the incense and candle and place the krathong into the river. The floating away of the candle is symbolic of letting go of your problems; grudges, and anger so that a person can startlife fresh. The river is the Mai Nam Kok or the Mai NamLao in Muong Chiangrai area.

The Yi Ping, Loi Krathong, Songkron festivals have beengoing on for thousands of years. These one or two day festivals are stretched into one or two week events. Itis obvious that Lanna Thai people really enjoy partying, but there is also a fair amount of money to be made by the local business people and by the variousreligious institutions. Money making on superstition and fear of the unknown has been going on in every society worldwide sense the first person through their valuables into a well or swamp for good luck or hedged his bet on immortality by slipping the shaman, Pu yi bon, or religious official a little gift. This same sort of corruption of the mind is going on in the modern world today. People worldwide are afraid of the

unknown, but are willing to pay a lot of money for goodluck.

Another very interesting holiday is father’s day. A person’s father may get a small gift or a card. But thetradition that I find most interesting is the reverenceand respect that is bestowed upon his majesty the King.The people from every province of Thailand go to the area of their bann that has a huge photograph of the King and give the King wishes long life, and of good luck. Than his subjects place flowers at the foot of the photograph. In Bangkok the masses of people gather at the residence of the king to receive his blessings personally. It is my hypothesis, that the King is more than respected; he is worshiped as a deity.

The Thai Lanna people are very superstitious, and believe in good luck and bad luck a lot. (The Chinese call it Feng Shui). When building a new home I observed a huge number of Thai Lanna traditions and superstitions. The good days to start the building of ahouse are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The bad daysare the rest of the week. There are also personal bad luck days to worry about or to be aware of. There is another traditional belief that when you are building ahome you should not align the front and back doors of

your home, if you do so, it will allow the money that goes into your household to flow out quickly.

Another belief is that the steps on a building must come out to an odd number so you will see many stair risers between two and twenty inches high; just to incorporate the odd step. If you have three or four windows on the side of your home, they must swing in the same direction. You can’t have more than three dwellings surrounded by your property wall. When digging a well for water, you must first give an offering of food and whiskey to the water spirit, this offering is for good luck for finding an adequate watersupply and also for good luck at keeping away harm fromthe well diggers. It also against Lanna custom to fill in a water well; this would anger the water spirit and bring bad luck. According to tradition you are to have only one well on your property.

Many Thai Lana people have a genuine belief and fear ofghosts. The following are a few of the beliefs concerning ghosts:

1.If you make jokes when eating a ghost will steal your rice.

2.A ghost will enter the house if you stand in the doorway.

3.A ghost will curse you if sing while eating.4.You will see a ghost if you bend down and look

between your legs. 5.Bite your shoes before you were them for the first

time to prevent them from biting your feet.6.Its supper bad luck to buy second hand shoes, they

could have been owned by a dead guy, who is now a ghost and he might show up at midnight to reclaim them.

7.Never say that a baby is cute because a ghost will come and take it away.

8.According to Emon, it is Thai Lanna tradition that,killing a cat would bring supper bad luck. One day a cat urinated on my sofa, I told Emon that I wanted to kill that cat; she told me that killing acat is as bad as killing a Monk. My response was that if the Monk pissed on my sofa, I would whack him to.

9.When Building a new home you must attach offerings on the first post erected, offerings such as bananas, cocoanuts, and palm branches. This will bring food and prosperity to the home.

10. Also you are required to through money into thepost hole, all for good luck.

You also have a religious man place offerings of food and whiskey for the land spirits. I refer to this religious person as the (mock monk). The mock monk

studied Buddhism but instead of becoming a monk, he chose to have a wife and family, but he also leads a very religious life. It seems as though the mock monk handles things like new land blessings, and beginning house construction blessings, he also officiates at thetraditional Lanna wedding ceremonies. The real Monk handles funerals and all of the personal problems that the people of his Temple have and new house blessings.

Another auspicious occasion is the choosing of a Thai Lanna name. Most people consult an astrologer or monk to select a name that will bring the child good fortune, health and happiness. When choosing the name, the Monk or Astrologer will ask the child’s day and time of birth, he will than consult a book and/or star chart to find out which letters will bring good luck ifused in the name and which will bring bad fortune. Manypeople strongly believe that their name is connected totheir fortune, and it is not unusual for someone who has experienced particularly bad luck to change their name. Some do the name changes many times. My wife for instance is referred to as Jen by some of her old friends. Others call her Jon Bing and some say Emon. Mygrandsons call her On, and I call her Emmy. Confusing No?

I saw a traditional curing of an ill child by a traditional Thai Lanna village shaman or healer using an ancient method. The child, Emmy’s first grandchild,(Mooyong aka Mr. Mooster) (nick names) was about a week

or two old and he could not defecate. The shaman laid abanana leaf on the floor, placed the baby on the bananaleaf, said a few words to the spirits, and took a largemouth full of cold water and blew the cold water on thebaby’s stomach. The baby shit on the spot. This cure was repeated every day for a week. The baby was cured and the shaman made a few baht. The same shaman performed this same cure on the baby’s father when he was first born. This shaman has just recently passed on; his son did not want to be the Bonn shaman, so the job was given to his nephew, Mr. Pone. This method is ancient folk medicine and seems to work well.

A great assortment of plants and herbs are used to curea variety of aliments such as high blood pressure, burns, hives, and impotency. I asked my friend Monk Thab, of Watkeereechai in Doysaken, if these practices were Buddhist; He said that most were local Thai Lanna tradition mixed with Buddhist tradition.

The Thai and other Buddhists follow the widespread Buddhist custom of not touching a person on the head. Patting a child on the head is thought to be dangerous to the well-being of the child. A person should not point there feet at anyone or anything especially at the image of Buddha. Footwear is taken off upon entering a temple or someone’s home.

Buddhist monks are not supposed to come into contact with women. It is traditional to greet a person with a prayer like gesture called a wai. It is considered

improper to lose one’s temper or show too much emotion in public.

Sometimes, one year or so before an official wedding takes place a man and women will have a traditional ceremony (I call it the pig head ceremony). In the woman’s bann there resides a family whose power to conduct the pig head ceremony is inherited and is passed on from mother to daughter; in this ceremony yougive the (pig head woman) a pig head, some whiskey and a few baht. She chants to the bann spirits, after the ceremony is concluded it becomes OK to co-habit with your Thai women without the people of her bann gossiping about the couple and thinking that the coupleare of low moral character.

In general, individuals find their own marriage partners, although the choice of a spouse may be influenced by one’s family among the wealthy. The valueof goods provided to the couple and the elaborateness of the wedding ceremony differ with the wealth of the families of the couple. Polygyny was common among the elite in the past but is now rare, although wealthy andpowerful men often have a de facto second wife known asa (Meir noi) small wife. Divorce is not difficult and is usually a matter of a couple ceasing to live together and dividing their property.

Traditional weddings are interesting. First you have to get the permission of the woman’s family and pay thebride price. If the man is poor or doesn’t look like a

good move for the family, the bride price is set very high, placing the woman out of the guy’s price range, squelching the deal. If a bride price is agreed upon by both families, it’s a done deal.

In Thai Lanna tradition the groom’s father pays the bride price, gold for the bride’s Mother, gold for the bride and also pays for the wedding party and celebration. The traditional Lanna wedding seems to be of great importance, to the Thai Lanna people the Government wedding usually is not a big deal, and in fact many people don’t ever bother to get the official government certified wedding paper.

The traditional Lanna wedding usually takes place at the women’s home. The grooms family and friends gather on the opposite side of the street from the brides Baan. The grooms group claps their hands very loudly and marches on the brides group and the place of the wedding. The Mock Monk conducts the ceremony, and then there are many congratulation speeches made by “the bigpeople” such as your employer, or a politician, the Pu Yi Baan (aka the town mayor) and perhaps a wealthy relative or two. Then, one by one the guests approach the newlyweds to tie the knot and wrap a string around there hands wishing them good luck, many children etc. and giving the couple money. The newlyweds retire to the bedroom, lay on the bed and the partygoers whoop and laugh. Soon everyone is eating and consuming large amounts of beer, whisky and jungle juice dancing and

partying and getting to know there new friends and relatives.

The ideal situation is for the married couple to start their own household as soon as they possibly can. However, usually among less prosperous couples, living with one or the others in-laws is the only option open to them. The nuclear family is the core of the domesticunit, but it often includes members of the extended family. The husband is almost always the head of the household, but the wife has a lot of authority. To Lanna Thai people the family is of primary importance. Your children are your retirement fund. It is not uncommon for a Thai Lanna woman to have a baby as soon as possible, husband or not, to insure herself with a beginning retirement fund.

If the new bride or groom discovers that they have madea big mistake and are not compatible, for any or whatever reason, all that they have to do for the traditional Thai Lanna divorce is to take the women andher luggage back to her Baan. It’s over, finished, downmemory road etc. The neighbors will see this and the gossip will spread about the returned merchandise.

This idea for a divorce, although a good one, would never work in the USA. The attorneys wouldn’t allow this large amount of divorce fees to slip through theirfingers.