Thailand Community Celebrates Rocket Festival
An annual rocket festival has drawn excited crowds in a community just north of Bangkok. Teams compete for accuracy in hitting targets 300 meters away, with cash prizes at stake. But with these homemade rockets, anything can happen.
Exciting Rocket Contest in Thailand’s Pathum Thani Province
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A rocket roars across a field as cheering spectators look on. It crashes to the ground beneath the pagoda-shaped target. But despite the miss, the crowd’s adrenaline is surging.
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Here in Thailand’s Pathum Thani Province, the ethnic Mon community gathers each year to watch rockets like these tear across a 300 meter course—and to see which of the two teams will win the best prizes for hitting their targets.
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At the end of the wire is the top of the pagoda, that’s the biggest prize. There are also small prize boards, each carrying different prize money. But the biggest prize is at the top of the pagoda [which you win] if it falls to the ground after the rocket hits it.
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Locals have given this contest the name Look Noo—or “Little Rat”. Unlike Thailand’s other famous rocket festival, the goal isn’t height but accuracy. There are guide wires to keep the rockets on track—but no guarantees the rockets won’t explode or careen in unexpected directions.
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The teams are made up of representatives from local temples—who've developed a friendly rivalry over the years.
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It was in temples that these rockets originated. In the past, when a senior monk died, temples used rockets to light their funeral pyres.
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The evolution into a competition with targets is the work of a local official—who says it’s become a great show of community.
Local Official:
We believe tradition must go hand in hand with the cultural heritage of the Mon people. So I came up with the idea of making it a competition between temples. It is probably the only sport that brings together all the temples in Pathum Thani province, and it has been very well received.
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For the crowds that come to watch, though, the excitement comes from the suspense—the rockets might go anywhere, and with prizes ranging from US$15 to more than US$900 based on hits, there’s good money at stake.
Audience Member:
I came to carry on the Thai tradition. Even though it rained today, I was determined to come and watch it.
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And the rockets—a symbol of Mon culture and local identity—never disappoint.
Klein Wang and John Van Trieste for TaiwanPlus.
