Photos

This is a picture from the Pi Ta Khon or Ghost festival in Dan Sai, in the northern mountains of Loei. Each village in Esarn has its local weave. The weaving of this pattern is passed down from mother to daughter. On a festival day, such as this, the local weave of each village acts as a banner and the young men of the village lead their procession carrying the village flag. This young man is waiting in the insufferable heat of midday for the procession to start. In this festival the villages call up to spirits of the fields and the woods to come and dance and revel in the village streets for a day and a night, before the spirit medium sends them back for another year