Pee Da Haahk

If you're married/attached to a country bumpkin, ask her about the Pee Dah Haahk ceremony at the village temple that should take place tomorrow. The spirit/ghost is that of a relative who looks over the rice growing in the fields, including the fish and crabs. At tomorrow's temple ceremony, the villagers will brings an assortment of snacks wrapped in banana leaves to be blessed. Later the villagers will bring them to their fields to appease the spirit.
It's part of the dying culture here......city folks and those who have left the village to work don't care much about the ceremony. But villagers, especially rice farming areas, will spend most of today preparing the snacks, then tomorrow at the temple and in the fields.
It's all part of what makes Thailand an interesting place to live.

Well pointed out parrot , just tken my son to school 7.15 and the traffic twas horrendulus loads of old dears on their even older mopeds laden with baskets of twiggs and leaves all converging on the temples - all smiley faces to and enjoying themselves !! i like old ladies - my mum and gran were them .

parrot wrote:If you're married/attached to a country bumpkin, ask her about the Pee Dah Haahk ceremony at the village temple that should take place tomorrow. The spirit/ghost is that of a relative who looks over the rice growing in the fields, including the fish and crabs. At tomorrow's temple ceremony, the villagers will brings an assortment of snacks wrapped in banana leaves to be blessed. Later the villagers will bring them to their fields to appease the spirit.
It's part of the dying culture here......city folks and those who have left the village to work don't care much about the ceremony. But villagers, especially rice farming areas, will spend most of today preparing the snacks, then tomorrow at the temple and in the fields.
It's all part of what makes Thailand an interesting place to live.

Mrs P. was making those parcels last night round her friends house, also cigarettes are included in the parcels for the ghost who is gagging for a nicotine fix.
Lots of the girls who went to the Wat outside our moobaan made an effort and dressed in their best pa-sin.

She said it's like Halloween in the UK, but without the feral chav offspring, knocking on the door from the local sink estate, threatening to kick your door in, and break your windows if you don't pay a tribute.
It's all part of what makes England an awful place to live.

i was asked / expected to go to a ceremony ,
where they bring papa,s ashes out ,
did i go , did i -----

Some thoughts and personal observations on this .It isn't just confined to those from the jungle. Here where I live both amphur and the police have made offerings outside their premises, as has my wife. This morning around 6am trays full of food, pigs heads, chickens and unknown items wrapped in various leaves were placed at strategic spots around my garden .Now normally we have a family of feral cats, that will even fight the dog for the smallest scrap. They didn't touch it. The dog obviously wanted to, but just sat there looking at it and howling. Where the plates were put on the wall is normally like a super highway for red ants, despite there being sweet objects, they were walking round it .When I asked my wife about this, I was told they know its for the spirits and are scared of them . Now nothing will convince me that the dead can still eat but in case I am wrong and they are right I have asked for a bottle of Glenmorangie to be put out every year after I have gone . The sequel to all this is , apparently, whats left at 6pm is not required as the spirits are full. So we have a team of builders constructing a block of flats across the road, who, tonight, are having a good old feast. The local police division are having a ding dong on their offerings, which included Laos Cow , naturally, and the staff from amphoe haven't gone home yet . Even my son wants to go to bed early before the Pee come out .Sometimes I really love these Thai traditions .