Thailand's Partying Provinces

In a nation that loves to have a good time, Isan bangs the drum the loudest and puts so much into its festivals that you soon forget this is Thailand's poorest region. Isan treats national celebrations and ceremonies with such gusto and enthusiasm that people flock from around the country to experience them. From the rice paddies to the bustling cities, the region rocks during its festivals, which are often begun as reverent affairs of Buddhist worship, but are more often than not fueled by a simple passion for living—and copious amounts of sato (rice whiskey).

Singing and dancing are always major components of any Isan festival. Brass bands often boom in processions and troops of young students in traditional costumes dance in elegant lines. Then come the good ol' boys and their traditional Isan instruments—the kahn and wuud bamboo organs, the pin guitars and pong larng xylophones—followed by the dit hai performers, traditionally garbed young women who dance as their fingers effortlessly rise and fall to pluck notes from stringed fish pots.

There's a festival in Thailand every month of the year, often called Heet Sib Song (The Twelve Customs), and associated with various forms of Buddhist merit-making or ceremony. Of particular note are the third month's Boon Khao Jee in Roi Et (usually in February), which features unique roasted rice-and-egg offerings; the Boon Bung Fai(usually in May), a rocket festival best known in Yasathon; and Boon Khao Pansa, the start of Buddhist Lent (mid-July), marked with the incomparable Candle Procession in Ubon Ratchathani. But what also makes the region stand out are some of the more unique parties found here. These include the Elephant Roundup of Surin during the third weekend in November for its shows and spectacle, and the Phi Ta Khonn ghost festival of Dan Sai District in Loei, which is held at the end of June or early July. This festival includes a procession of dancers wearing ghoulish masks made from bamboo rice baskets holding elongated wooden phalluses that they lightheartedly poke at the giggling onlookers. Their antics follow the awakening of the spirit of a monk, Pra Ub Pa Kud, which resides in a stream in the form of white marble. Once his spirit is led back to the local temple it's believed he'll protect the village from harm for another year.

But the pièce de résistance has to be the Bon Fai Naak festival in Nong Khai in late October. Thousands of onlookers crowd the banks of the mighty Mekong in anticipation of the supernatural conflagrations of the mythical (or not so mythical) nagas, water serpents that appear in so much Buddhist folklore. All eyes are focused on the waters of this famous river. Anticipation rises and then the whoops and cheers erupt as into the night sky from the very depths of the waters ascend multicolor balls of fire and light. The nagas have not disappointed and have breathed their mysterious life into another moon-drenched night. The authenticity of these annual, unearthly fireballs has been the matter of much speculation, but that fails to stop the throngs who come for the wonder and pure fun of it. This is Isan—suspend your disbelief and have a thumping good time.

-Ivan Benedict New