A Temple Festival and A Ladyboy Contest

Wat Chalokum

A little while ago, we heard there was a Ngan Wat or 'temple festival' going on in the fishing village of Chalokum in the North of the island.  I understand these are week-long events that a temple will run, essentially as a fundraiser.  A van had been driving around the island with loudspeakers blaring out advertising (in Thai) for the few days and offering free rides to get there.

So one afternoon after school, just as it was starting to cool off a little, we headed off to find out what it was all about.  We arrived at Wat Chalokum about 5pm and were obviously very early, as almost none else was there yet.  

Nonetheless we had a good look around before it got too busy.   Nearest the entrance were some offering tables.   There was, I think, one bowl for each monk in the temple and people walked around putting money in each of the 50 or so bowls - quite labour intensive.  You could 'buy' a cup full of half baht coins to help do this.

We occasionally do see an orange-robed monk walking along the street with a bowl, seeking alms.  Local houses or shopkeepers gain merit by giving some food to them, and I understand the monk must not thank them else the merit is lost.  I have also learned that one can become a monk for a few weeks/months/years or a lifetime - it isn't necessarily a permanent commitment.  It is almost like a rite of passage for any devout Buddhlist male - it can be a young boy from about the age of 7 or 8 years, and The King of Thailand was a monk for 2 weeks earlier in his life.

We were invited to have a small white string tied around our wrists by one of the monks, some version of a blessing I assume.  We made a donation in return.

There were clothes stalls and lots of fair-ground type games to be played.  Mike won the kids a toy each with a shooting game, we lost a few baht trying to throw a darts to pop balloons.  Typical fair ground activities in fact.

There was lots of food available  - big pots of curries around a central eating area, and various small stalls selling different items such as candy floss, doughnuts and including one which had fried crickets/cicadas of various sizes and a few very large cockroaches - we took a photo but didn't eat !  In fact we popped into the village to a nearby restaurant to find some less spicy & exotic fare for the kids while the festival was getting started.

Candyfloss or ...cockroaches ?

As we came back the festivities were in full swing, with a ceremony taking place in and around the central temple building - a stunning white structure decorated with silver.  The monks were inside, and their chanting was relayed out to the many worshippers outside.  Their voices reverberated in the night air all around us as we observed.  The ceremony finished with everyone walking around the building behind the monks and making offerings at a small shrine outside.  

Lanterns were then freely available to all - hundreds of people lit, then launched them to drift off up into the sky - a truly breathtaking sight.  This was my first attempt at actually lighting one of these lanterns.  Not as easy as it looks, as the first one went up in flames !  A friendly man helped us with the second - there is a real trick to it and it floated away amongst the many others.

Lantern lighting...to join the many others

Watching our lantern float up
...adding to the stars in the sky

To follow this spiritual and awe-inspiring occasion....loud music started BLARING out through enormous speakers on a nearby stage.... we had come on the night where the post-ceremony entertainment was...a ladyboy competition !   

A word from our sponsor...

It was run basically like a beauty pageant.  All the contestants sat in the front rows with their supporters to begin with.   Firstly there was a very long speech by a man (a sponsor perhaps?) of which we understood almost nothing.  Then there was a female cultural dance performance, of which some participants appeared to be more masculine than others.

The cultural dance performance

Performers accepting flowers

Then the MC introduced the judges who sat in front of the stage at a long table and each gave the crowd a wave.  Finally the contestants were introduced one by one.   They came up on stage (often needing help up the stairs as their platform shoes were so high) to parade along the stage, before moving to the rear while the next contestant entered.  

There was some astonishing pageant-style and traditional Thai costumery and clearly a lot of effort had gone into hair and make-up too.  Some were more feminine than others.

We actually didn't watch for very much longer, leaving about 9.30pm as Matthew was very tired.  We heard the next day from another school family that was there it was still going at 11pm, although down to the final 5 contestants by that stage.

What an extraordinary after school activity, which the kids took completely in their stride.  Kind of the equivalent of going to a weeknight church fair, with holy communion, followed by a transvestite show?  (I know that this isn't strictly comparable...but I am not sure anything is.)

However the ladyboy culture is very open here, clearly.  Many do appear to work in the hospitality & tourism industry to which we have had lots of exposure restaurants, travel agents, bars etc.   I understand there are lots of issues though, as transgender people often aren't accepted into corporations, government or educational jobs i.e. may have to choose between staying in a higher paying role or having their operation & resigning to accept a lower paid job.  As a result, many do end up in the sex industry.  They also can't legally change their gender and hence can't travel overseas because a passport for a person who appears female but whose passport says male would likely be considered fraudulent.  

It is however interesting to see that Thailand's Buddhist culture does result in tolerance and acceptance.  As for the contest, I think one was enough for us.



There are 3 books I should possibly reference here for some of my understanding (albeit very basic thus far & possibly including some misunderstandings) of the Buddhist monks, temple festivals and ladyboy culture: Thai Ways by Denis Segalier, King Bhumibol Adulyadej - A Life's Work and Lonely Planet's Thailand.