The Thai phrase ทำบุญกระดูกบรรพบุรุษ (tham bun kraduk banphaburut) literally translates as “Make Ancestral Bones,” hence the title of this article. A more natural English translation, however, would be “a merit-making ceremony for ancestors’ remains.” It is a Buddhist-influenced tradition in…
It’s not street dancing as we know it, it’s not dancing in the street as we know it. This is more of a procession, a dancing procession, dancing all the way to the neighborhood temple in Buriram, Northeast Thailand. Among…
So far as I know the “Yohk Chofah” (Raising the Chofah) ceremony must be performed during the construction of every Buddhist temple in Thailand. Yohk Chofah ceremony is performed when the Chofah is raised to the temple roof and secured…
I might be stating the obvious, but there are no beaches in Buriram, there are no “Go Go Bars,” and the nightlife is nothing compared to the party towns of Pattaya, Phuket, and Bangkok. The heartland of Thailand’s sleepy Issan…
So there I am, sitting outside my mother-in-law’s house, contemplating another day of being bored in Buriram. Smoking like a chimney and drinking copious amounts of coffee. The Brother-in-law walks into the house, grabs a hammer, mutters something, and wanders…