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`Hae bangfai' (the rocket procession)

The rocket procession constitutes the second phase of the Bunbangfai
festivities. In 1964 it was held in the afternoon of the day following the
ordination (i.e. on the afternoon of the 12th day of the 8th lunar month).

The procession was formed with the tiam (medium), dressed in his
clothes of office (red shirt and blouse and handkerchief tied on the head),
the cham (intermediary) with kanha (offering of flowers and candles), and
his assistant at the head. These ritual officiants of the guardian spirit cult
danced as they led the procession. They were followed by the village
elders, carrying the rockets which had been placed in a crudely constructed
palanquin. It was said that all those villagers who had previously been
cured by one of the guardian spirits also danced, because Tapubaan or
Chau Phau was acting upon them. According to the theory, during the
procession possession is experienced both by Tapubaan's officiants and
those he has cured (the latter of whom may be described as the `community
of sufferers', to borrow a phrase from Victor Turner). In fact, all
participants drank great quantities of liquor and their behaviour was
dionysiac and uninhibited, this contrasting sharply with the processions
in Buddhist festivals.

An important feature to note is that monks did not take part in this
procession, even though it formed in the wat compound. After leaving the
compound, it wove in and out of the village settlement, and then made
its way to the Tapubaan shrine. It circumambulated the shrine three
times, and then the intermediary with offering in hand addressed a prayer to

the guardian spirit, saying: `Please give rain, good health and prosperity,
and prevent our oxen, buffaloes, pigs, ducks and chickens from falling
sick.' The rockets were dedicated, and the rocket named bang tawai
(rocket of offering) was fired. The procession then returned to the wat
and circumambulated the sala (preaching hall) three times; the remaining
rockets were taken into the sala and stored for the night.

That night the fair was staged in the wat compound. Before the entertainment
started, the monks chanted suad mongkhon bangfai (blessing
chant on behalf of the rockets) in the sala. Thus we note that here the
monks participated for the first time in the proceedings connected with
rockets: they did not participate in the propitiation of the village guardian,
but they now chanted Buddhist sacred words of blessing, thereby supplementing
and reinforcing the proceedings in the Buddhist mode. Once
again the Buddhist sequence is separated from the guardian cult propitiation;
yet they are complementary and supplementary.

The entertainment at the fair consisted, as in most village fairs, of
ramwong (dancing), maulum (folk opera), and, as in recent years, a film
show. A fair of this proportion is held only when the Bunbangfai is
accompanied by ordination of monks and novices, and it is marked by
the dedication of a large number of rockets to Tapubaan.