The dragon worships the buddha liminality, community, centre and periphery in a borderland

THE DRAGON WORSHIPS THE BUDDHA: COMMUNITY, LIMINALITY, CENTRE AND PERIPHERY IN A BORDERLAND JAY CHEONG HAN WEN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2011 THE DRAGON WORSHIPS THE BUDDHA: COMMUNITY, LIMINALITY, CENTRE AND PERIPHERY IN A BORDERLAND JAY CHEONG HAN WEN (B.A. [Hons], NUS) A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2011 i DECLARATION I hereby declare that the thesis is my original work and it has been written by me in its entirety. I have duly acknowledged all the sources of information which have been used in the thesis. This thesis has also not been submitted for any degree in any university previously. _ ________________ Jay Cheong Han Wen 29 June 2012 ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my friends and my graduate classmates – both local and foreign – for their support and for allowing me to observe their lived experiences, and for agreeing to answer my many questions; in particular, to local folks such as Phi Daeng, Paa X and many others who live in the wonderful land of the naga. I am also grateful for the relentless guidance and care of my supervisor, Dr. Irving Johnson, as well as the support of other academics such as A/P Goh Beng Lan, Dr. Pattana Kitiarsa, Dr. Benjamin Wong, Dr. Michael Montesano and Dr Stan Tan Boon Hwee; I am forever indebted to them in ways more than academia would have been able to define. I am greatly indebted to my parents and siblings for their support and concern, and lastly, to the new friendships forged and the unwavering ‘support’ of Beer Singha, thank you. iii Table of Contents Declaration Page ............................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... iii Summary ....................................................................................................................................... iv Chapter 1 .........................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 3 ...................................................................................................................................... 40 Chapter 4 ...................................................................................................................................... 50 Chapter 5 ...................................................................................................................................... 64 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 71 Appendix 1A ................................................................................................................................ 83 Appendix 1B ................................................................................................................................ 87 iv Summary My thesis is a modest attempt not to uncover the causes of strange naga fireballs that occur at Phon Phisai every year almost with clockwork precision; it is a brief ethnographic write-up of the lives behind these fireballs. I attempt to illuminate the every-day happenings, the perspectives of the locals of Phon Phisai, the various competing discourses and communal politics, the ideas that flow from place to place, and the flexibility of identities vis-à-vis charting a middle ground between three categories of theoretical considerations. Can we use a single event, the naga fireballs, as an anthropological lens to discuss liminality both at a spatial and ideological level? My stories about this event, about the people of Phon Phisai will answer this central theoretical consideration. 1 Chapter One – Introduction My Naga adventure started with a brief encounter with the critically acclaimed movie “sip haa kham duen sip et” (Mekong Full Moon Party) back in 2004. I was not only moved by the emotive performances of the actors, I was also in awe of these mysterious fireballs. After some brief research and clarification, I realized that these fireballs were empirically real. In other words, there was no lack of eyewitness accounts of these peculiar pinkish balls that would rise from the dark Mekong waters along the Nong Khai province at various positions. To add fuel to fire, these fireballs will rise only at the awk pan saa, which is the end of the Buddhist Lent every year. This amazement had indeed set in my heart an incepting fire – the urge to find out more about these enigmatic fireballs. This thesis is about using the naga fireballs as a social event with religious and cultural connotations to trace the multiple meanings and significances of everyday life in a small town of Phon Phisai in Northeast Thailand. Theoretically, I will be using Victor Turner’s theoretical concept of liminality as a framework to understand liminal events within liminal spaces – in particular a borderland such as Phon Phisai that is situated at the crossroad of Thailand and Laos. In addition, the significance of this event hinges on the element of mystique within the borderland, whereby older renditions of the event (by older generations), which might be nonconsequential and trivial, are being treated in modern terms of local politics and tourism. For many, the mystique also lies in the fact that the actual cause of the fireballs are not known for certain; till today the reasons behind the emergence of these naga fireballs are still on the debate table. 2 There are three central questions to this thesis. Can we use the naga fireballs as an anthropological lens to understand larger issues of liminality and the purported “marginalization” of the Isaan region? Can the concept of liminality be used in tandem with community and centre/periphery to explain the underlying processes of the naga fireballs? More importantly, why do the naga fireballs matter? I argue that the naga fireballs matter because they can be used as unique anthropological lens to understand liminality at both spatial and ideological plane, as well as gain a deeper level of understanding of Phon Phisai because of its added “mystical” dimension. They are important because they provide the essential “moment” of liminality with an even deeper level of uncertainty because people are perennially second-guessing the authenticity of the fireballs. In other words, it creates liminality, within liminality. These sacred fireballs, locally known as bang fay phaya nak, occur annually along parts of the Mekong River that run along Northeastern Thailand (commonly known as the Isaan region) and the People’s Democratic Republic of Lao (or Laos). These mysterious fireballs rise from the Mekong River into the air above the water surface. They are smokeless and soundless; rising 20 to 30 metres in a straight line to the air then disappear without a trace. Their sizes vary from a thumb-size to an egg size. The number of fireballs also varies, starting from around 6pm to as late as 9 or 10pm. The hotspots of these fireballs include the areas of Phon Phisai, Pak Khad, Sang Khom, Sri Chiang Mai, and Bung Kan districts in Nong Khai province. The fireballs are also allegedly found in other locations such as ponds and streams near the Mekong River. Out of these locations, Phon Phisai seems to be the one with the most number of fireballs recorded in recent history. These reddish-pink fireballs, allegedly, would rise from the Mekong 3 River when night falls. Legend has it that a “mythical serpent or dragon” known as the Naga (or Naak in Thai) is the one that is responsible for producing these fireballs (Cohen 2007). For many years, these naga fireballs would appear almost like clockwork at the end of the Buddhist Lent period – known as the awk pan sa. The background of the word naga can be summed up in a word – new. The Naga, as pointed out by Ngaosrivathana, “is a relatively new word adopted as a symbol of Buddhist high culture” (Ngaosrivathana 2010: 5). The word seems to be preceded by an older word ngeuak, which indicates a mythical water creature. This creature takes on a fundamental meaning of “crocodile” in the Lan Na kingdom in Northern Thailand, and has changed over the years – from water snake to dragon and mermaid in other neighbouring Thai, Burmese and Southern China areas (Ngaosrivathana 2010). Even though some scholars believe that the word naga does have some connections with the Chinese character ngao ( 鲛) – sea dragon – it is fair enough to observe that the relationship between naga and waters (regardless of river or sea) are intimately linked in various cultural groups that are all located along the Mekong River. My thesis examines the naga fireballs event as an anthropological lens to study liminality at both spatial and ideological levels. It attempts to move away from more prevalent scholarship of the event as tourism and/or commodification of religious events (See Cohen 2007) and I tell a more ethnographic background of the event, using the fireballs as a vantage point, to discuss liminality. From this vantage point, other theoretical considerations such as community, as well as centre and periphery at borderlands will also be surfaced as day-to-day perspectives of the locals, the communal politics involved, the competing discourses of the origins of the fireballs and the ways the local media portray the fireballs are ethnographically charted in this thesis. 4 As I walked along the crowded Mekong River in Phon Phisai Town – approximately 700 kilometres from Bangkok – sentiments ranging from ecstasy to indifference filled the air with an undeniable aura of frenzied shouting, wild gesticulations, pockets of silence, as well as loud cheering. It was very much a case of deja-vu, as it was merely a year ago that I witnessed the magical fireballs along the Mekong River at Phon Phisai. However, there was much difference in this trip; I was better prepared and had a place to stay in the town to conduct a more extensive fieldwork. In other words, I was hoping to achieve a considerable level of “lived experience” that I consider being pertinent for any research of an area studies nature. A quiet and sleepy town by normal standards throughout the year, the town’s radical transformation during these Naga festivities is no mean feat. Meanwhile, I tried my best to observe the surroundings and navigate my way through a narrow corridor filled with food and souvenir stalls amidst the fading sunset. Anxious parents were sitting on makeshift-styled mats (apparently they were innovatively recycled from obsolete advertising posters) sold by local entrepreneurs, while accompanying their curious children in anticipation of the annual Naga fireballs. I entered a small café taking a brief respite from the crowd with my professor. We both sat at a corner of the café enjoying some snacks as well as icy cold Beer Singha. At the same time, it was the “live” telecast of a football match from the English Premier League. “Not bad for a small town in Northeastern Thailand,” I thought to myself. There were many locals, as well as foreigners – Westerners – who were drinking, chatting and eating merrily. My academic journey had begun, as I sipped my cold beer and enjoyed the fried chicken nuggets. 5 A Short Introduction to the Naga While I was busily munching my hot dog and sipping a glass of cool coconut drink, I could hear various touts selling a wide range of (suspiciously pirated) VCDs containing origin stories and various myths of the naga and its fireballs. There are various myths concerning the naga in Southeast Asia. The naga (known to the Thai/Lao as the naak) is certainly no stranger to Southeast Asians, as there are Hindi and Buddhist roots about its existence. It was supposedly an ancient Hindu hooded snake with multiple heads. Some Hindu texts feature the naga as “coiling up to support the god Vishnu” (Jumsai 1997). In Thai and Lao images, the naga is known as the Muchalinda and he forms a protective covering over the Buddha, the Enlightened One (Jumsai 1997). In Buddhist folklores, the naga is a devout worshipper of the Buddha and pays his respects to Buddha. Hence, these naga fireballs are said to be paying respects to the Lord Buddha and displaying their delight while Buddha returns from Heaven to Earth after visiting His mother (Somsin and Ganjanakhundee 2002). In particular, the people living along the Mekong River would be very familiar with the notion of the Naga. As aptly argued by Ngaosrivathana: People of the Mekong region are conspicuously reminded of the naga’s versatility and pervasive presence in one of the quintessential Buddhist ceremonies: the white-clothed ordinand, thought to personify a naga who will become a monk. All ordinands are given the “naga” name because when Lord Buddha was alive, a naga wanted to be ordained as a monk. This naga transformed himself into a human being and the Buddha let him retain this form so that he could enter monkhood. One day the naga fell asleep and the spell wore off resulting in the Buddha asking the naga to leave the monkhood. In response, the naga asked 6 the Buddha if in future pre-ordination rites a man being ordained as a monk could be called “naga” in remembrance of the naga faith in Lord Buddha’s teachings. The Buddha accepted this request. (Ngaosrivathana 2010: 3) Hence, in Isaan and Lao tradition, a man who is about to be ordained as a monk would be given the title of naak, prior to his official monkhood. On the other hand, there are also various urban legends that are equally, if not more interesting than the traditional myths. The famous photograph of the American soldiers (presumably sailors) holding onto a large serpent-like fish that spans almost five metres long is an ubiquitous sight in Nong Khai province during this time of the year. Various souvenir shops are also selling naga related products – from VCDs to T-shirts. I heard from one of the vendors at the Indochina Market that there used to be a store that prides itself on selling only naga related products. In addition, others have told me that naga sightings were commonplace, especially of those who claim to have seen them when they were young children playing along the Mekong River. Certainly, one cannot help but notice the peculiar and eerie legend of Kham Chanot; allegedly a naga city filled with “naga people” and even has a “naga portal” that operates as a transport tunnel for naga people to travel to-and-fro. What can we learn from these strange and mystical fireballs? I had decided not to follow the conventional way of understanding it by investigating its real causes. To be honest, I was not very interested to find out if the fireballs were caused by natural methane combustion or an elaborate man-made hoax bent on stretching the tourist dollar to the maximum. There were two contending debates with regard to the causes of these mysterious fireballs. The first is natural – 7 that the naga fireballs are no more than a natural phenomenon. One fervent proponent of this school of thought is a Nong Khai doctor, Manas Kanoksin, who has spent many years trying to prove his theory that the fireballs are a natural phenomenon caused by pockets of methane gas that are being released from the rich deposits of the Mekong River. Once the methane reaches the surface of the river, it would react with oxygen to combust spontaneously to create these fireballs. As to why the naga fireballs happen only within the Buddhist Lent period, his hypothesis is that the Buddhist Lent full moon coincides with the period when the earth is passing closest to the sun. The gravity of the sun, with a higher degree of UV radiation, increases the volatility of the gases at ground level that could have contributed to the spontaneous combustion of methane and oxygen. However, the other contending school of thought presented much more scientific skepticism. Professor Montri Boonsaneur, who teaches geological technology at Khon Kaen University and was in charge of an underwater survey prior to construction of the nearby Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge, says that it is almost impossible that bubbles of methane could form in the river's rocky bed. Most importantly, the combustion of methane normally takes place at a much higher temperature – a feat that no room temperature would be able to perform. Hence, he insisted that it could not be a natural phenomenon. Though he did not directly suggest that the naga fireballs are man-made, it seems to be that his ideas are inclining towards this man-made belief. (Gagliardi 2002) 8 “Look! There goes a fireball!” exclaimed an excited parent. I looked towards the middle of the dark river and scrutinized the area intensely. Reddish pink dots were rising from the middle of the river; and once they reached a considerable height, they vanished without a trace of smoke and sound. These fireballs had attracted little attention in the past. However, they had become important from the state’s perspective in spurring tourism, and it is now being promoted as a major provincial religious festival. Some have argued that its popularity has risen to new heights since the screening of a Thai movie – Mekhong Full Moon Party (2002). Furthermore, the number of tourists – albeit most of them are domestic – is known to hit up to 400,000 during this period (Cohen 2007). The naga festival week is an annual event spanning one whole week on the tourism calendar of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. There would be various naga festival spots – where hawkers will be setting up stalls selling an assortment of foodstuffs. There will also be “live” performances by popular Thai bands. The centre of attraction is of course, the beer garden tents. These tents, with their attractive beer promoters, will be cajoling prospective locals and tourists to drink to their hearts’ fill. At certain spots, such as the one at Nong Khai city, where more hotels and foreign tourists are found, the festivities would even include an attractive laser show coupled with exotic dancers performing the naga legend. Some Theoretical Considerations Now, what are theoretical considerations? Let me explicate the first theoretical concept of “liminality”. It is in fact a broad scholastic term that “refer[s] to in-between situations and 9 conditions that are characterized by the dislocation of established structures, the reversal of hierarchies, and uncertainty regarding the continuity of tradition and future outcomes” (Turner 1982; Thomassen 2009: 51). In addition, it is useful as a scholastic as well as a heuristic device when studying “events or situations that involve the dissolution of order, but which are also formative of institutions and structures.” (Szakolczai 2009: 141) The attributes of liminality or of liminal personae ("threshold people") are necessarily ambiguous'. (Turner 1969: 81) To a certain extent, identities of people become ambivalent and may even be dissolved, bringing about disorientation. This is not necessarily bad as it might churn out new perspectives and we can use the naga fireballs to analyze the “liminal identities” of the folks in Phon Phisai. Turner speculates that, if liminality is regarded as a time and place of withdrawal from normal modes of social action, it potentially can be seen as a “period of scrutiny for central values and axioms of the culture where it occurs - one where normal limits to thought, self-understanding, and behavior are undone. In such situations, “the very structure of society [is] temporarily suspended” (Szakolczai 2009: 142). I use liminality as a central theoretical concept in my thesis as it has both spatial and temporal dimensions, and can be readily applied to a wide range of subjects including individuals, communities and large societies and/or nation-states. Liminal spaces inevitably create liminal events. In my thesis, I adopt the idea that the liminality of the naga fireballs is at a “moment”, in which “a whole [community] face[s] a sudden event - sudden invasion, natural disaster, a plague – where social distinctions and normal hierarchy disappear” (Thomassen 2009: 16). In my case, the fireballs create a liminal space where the community, even with some bitter differences, 10 comes together as one to celebrate the workings of the Great Naga in paying his respects to the Lord Buddha. However, according to Turner, all liminality must eventually dissolve, for it is a state of great intensity that cannot exist very long without some sort of structure to stabilize it. The individual may return to his or her existing social structures, or such liminal communities develop their own internal social structure, which Turner coins it as "normative communitas" (Turner 1969). Here, using the fireballs as an anthropological lens, I would suggest that even with their internal social structures, these communities might still be “in-between places” as they are still “liminal” in the spatial sense. It is in light of this that I expand the theoretical considerations to include the ideas of community in a broader-than-Turner (communitas) sense, as well as the idea of centre and periphery in borderlands. Many scholastic studies purport to understand religious events using certain anthropological concepts such as “communities”. Max Weber, acclaimed sociologist, discusses community in terms of social relations in which the relationships can be “based on a subjective feeling of the parties, whether affectual or traditional, that they belong together” (Weber 1978: 40). In some studies, questions involving “how sentiments of belonging are forged and maintained in constantly rearticulated political, economic and social arrangements” are useful in acquiring insights of particular communities (High 2009: 89). In fact, the most famous of communities would be the one that is “imagined” to be at the level of a nation-state (Anderson 1991). 11 Community involves a great deal of the drawing and delineation of boundaries. Anderson (1991) and Thongchai (1994) in particular have argued passionately about political boundaries as productions of state imaginations influenced by either media or national elites. It is mindful to note that within a bounded community (Barth 1968) social norms can necessarily create a certain sense of belonging that also hinges on social relations within the community (or even from one community to another) (Leach 1954). In particular, Thongchai’s “geo-body” is illuminating in pointing out those boundaries, especially those that have “mapped Siam”, are very much a product of Western colonialism. This concept is also useful, as we have to conceptualize the Northeastern part of Thailand as also a physical state product of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty. As we move towards the era of printed media and even “Internet” media, it would also be useful to refer to Anderson’s seminal work on “imagined communities” whereby he argues that the power of drawing territories is derived from the power of the state to disseminate “printed capitalism”. In addition, Leach’s analysis of identity formations in the highlands of Burma (1964) is also useful for us as a theoretical foundation in analyzing identities within communities. These identities, as shown by Leach, would “oscillate” and change in tandem with prevailing circumstances. One would also find it appropriate to consider works of Bhabha (2006) that discusses how nations are being “narrated”. These identities, regardless of their changing natures, also need to work within imagined national boundaries as discussed by Chatterjee (1986), Gellner (1983), Balakrishnan (1996) and Smith (1971) that are disseminators of state and territory information. Furthermore, scholars such as Appadurai (1996 & 2001), Cribb and Narangoa (2004), Gupta and Ferguson (1992), Tanube and Keyes (2002) have also raised 12 questions of identities, sovereignty and state-loyalty from the social and “bottom-up” perspectives. Why is the community of Phon Phisai so academically interesting? This is because of the liminal element involved. As much as the naga fireballs reveal the liminality of Phon Phisai both spatially and ideologically, it is difficult, in line with Turner’s argument, to argue that a “fixed community” does not exist. Humans do not like to live in uncertainty; insofar as they might be liminal, they do create boundaries and demarcate themselves as a community, consciously or subconsciously. It is here in Phon Phisai that we can see a community that exists within borderland spaces contains spaces of “liberation of human capacities of cognition, affect, volition, creativity, etc. from the normative constraints incumbent upon occupying a sequence of social statuses” (Turner 1982: 44). For many other scholars, such as Cole and Wolf (1974), Heyman (1991), Kearney (1991) and Sahlins (1989), identities and borderlands also represent a microcosmic view of historical and social formations of these locales and their people. Other scholars such as Zdzisaw (1993), Chou (2010), Delang (2002), Barme (1993) and Yaeger (1996) have also argued about identities created and its attachment to place and locality, using Thai as well as non-Thai case studies as examples. As argued by Ishikawa, border zones “are an excellent arena for examining the genesis of transnationalism and its relation to the state” (Ishikawa 2010: 5). This borderland is also an important academic telescope to examine a “liminal” (Turner 1982) and “uneven” (Wolf 1999) space and how people transform this space into a meaningful place (Relph 1976) through “everyday resistances” against the state (Scott 2009). 13 Lastly, I wish to use the concepts of “centre and periphery” to locate the last corner of the theoretical considerations in my thesis. It can also be seen as an extension of liminality and borderlands. As argued by Horstmann: “Increasingly important are ideas about boundaries and territoriality are particularly important in the contemporary world, where social groups aim continually to define and redefine the relations between social and physical space. People on the fringe of the nationstate – by their very existence – question its monopoly of identification and help to transform concepts of nationalism that are otherwise taken for granted.” (Horstmann and Wadley 2009: Introduction) These concepts can also bring about “more dynamic concepts of identity and community”. Contestation of identities become more intense within these communities situated at the borderlands as the liminality exists in both spatial and ideological planes; and perhaps, a more indepth understanding is necessary through more informal and qualitative studies of the people behind the naga festival, instead of more “social scientific number-crunching studies”. Is the Isaan region being marginalized? Even though scholars are arguing that the marginal spaces are heavily influenced by the centre, I would suggest that the “margin” is in fact, in its bid to “centre” itself; just as Phon Phisai might be centering itself to the bigger Thailand stage as a whole. And using the naga fireballs as a case study, we can see that the Isaan periphery is “centering itself too.” The common theoretical ground – between liminality, community and centre/periphery – that I am proposing, is pretty much encapsulated within the works of Johnson (forthcoming 2012), 14 Meyer and Geschiere (1999) and Low and Lawrence-Zúñiga (2003); that liminality, even when it exists both in spatial and ideological terms, are also grounded deeply in situatedness. In other words, social meanings have to be concrete at some point in time and space so that they will develop geographically into a place. Moreover, globalization has not radically transformed such fluid borderlands; they have merely accelerated the processes of interactions and flows. Identities are still being created and they are still unstable and changing. Studying Phon Phisai solely as a place without the fireballs would be to examine liminality at a much more superficial level, which is why the fireballs do matter. Literature Review and Its Challenges The rain began to stop. I slowly walked through the television cameras and started to head back to a café where I frequented a lot for its cheap beers. As I approached the middle of the sheltered market, I saw a familiar signage reminding Thai and Lao people that only they are only allowed to perform cross-border market shopping without the use of passports on Tuesdays and Saturdays. This reminded me of works done by scholars on more specific naga histories and stories, such as Ngaosrivathana (2010) on the Lao and Northeastern Thai side, as well as Cohen (2009) who have covered extensively on the postmodern nature of tourism in Nong Khai and Phon Phisai. Other more related works of Northeastern Thailand and especially the role of folklore and Buddhism were done extensively by Tambiah (1970, 1976 and 1984). Also the history of (Northeastern) Thailand has also been covered critically by acclaimed Thai historians such as 15 David Wyatt (1984). The trove of studies conducted on Thailand, and in particular Northeastern Thailand is rich and abundant. On the religious front, scholars such as Cohen (2007) and Kitiarsa (2008) have also commented on the religious commodifications in Thailand and their intended, as well as unintended repercussions on religion and tourism. However, a very big constraint for my research was the lack of academic research on the naga fireballs that are go beyond being touristic in nature. When I looked through some of the Thai literature on the naga fireballs, they were mostly concerned with the religious significance in accordance with Buddhism. Some of these works more specifically highlighted the importance of keeping the Mekong River clean so as to ensure that there would be fireballs every year. Other books, mostly non-academic in nature, discuss the naga story in a descriptive manner. There are some VCDs of mainly documentaries discussing the naga fireballs and its origins. (See Bibliography on Thai sources and Annex 1). As much as one can infer the purposes of the creation of such materials, they were not academic literature per se. Insofar, none has readily taken on a more academic and anthropological study of the fireballs in tandem with the community of Phon Phisai. This is perhaps one of the most critical obstacles of my research. Thai sources often provide a rich source of descriptive information about the naga: ตามตํานานโบราณของชาวหนองคายได้ กล่ าวขานถึง “พราตุกลางนํา” และ “พญานาค” ไว้ ว่า เมือ พ.ศ. ๑๙ มีพระอรหันต์ ๕ องค์ อัญเชิญพระบรม สารีริกธาตุฝ่าพระบาทขวาของค์ พระสัมมาสัมพุทธเจ้ า ๙ พระองค์ มา ประดิษฐานทีเมืองหล้ าหนองคาย (หนองคายปั จจุบัทคุี ้ มวัดธาตุ อ.เมือง 16 หนองคาย โดยมีพระมหาสังขวิชัยเจ้ าเมืองสมัยนันชาวเมืองและพญาสุทโธ นาคราช (พญานาค) ร่ วมสร้ างอุโมงค์ หนิ บรรจุพระบรมธาตุไว้ According to ancient beliefs of the people of Nong Khai, there were Buddhist relics and the existence of Naga along the Mekong River. When it was the Buddhist Era Year 19 (524 BCE) there were five holy monks who took the nine pieces of bone remains of the right leg of Lord Buddha (which are known as relics) and came to the temple Thaat (Wat Thaat) of Nong Khai. At that time, Nong Khai was governed by Pra Mahasangkhavichai. The monks, together with the people of Nong Khai and the Naga, Payasotthonakharaat came together to build a riverine tunnel along Mekong River to keep the relics inside. (The Faith of the Great Naga, my translation) I am not suggesting that tourism studies on the naga fireballs are not important. In fact, Cohen’s argument of the postmodernization of the naga festival has shed much light on tourism studies in Phon Phisai; the commercial forces of tourism simply are too important to be ignored. The contributions of Thai Beverage Company (150,000 Baht), DTAC (40,000 Baht) and Siam City Cement Company (30,000 Baht), amongst other sponsors, have brought in huge amounts of revenue to Phon Phisai and other areas in Isaan that have similar festivities, albeit at a much smaller scale. The tourist numbers of up to 400 000 also brought in tourist dollars. It was estimated that the “direct contribution to the local economy is between 50 – 100 million Baht” (Cohen 2007: 176). Cohen’s work is to propose a postmodern approach of understanding the naga fireball festival as an economic tool. There would be no necessity to investigate and decide what exactly the origin of the naga fireballs is because this would preserve the mysticism of the naga fireballs. At the 17 same time, it is also unnecessary to determine the authenticity of the naga fireballs as that would also disrupt the elusiveness and enigma of the naga fireballs. This apparent liminal state of the fireballs, according to Cohen, should be preserved, as long as it brings in the tourist dollars and aid the economic development of relatively poor Isaan region (Cohen 2007). As much as I respect and agree with Cohen in the socio-economic practical aspect, I do not necessarily agree with his postmodern approach. This “embrace-all” approach of understanding an-already liminal event – the naga fireballs – will not deepen our understanding on the dynamic underlying processes of naga fireballs happening in Phon Phisai. From my opinion, he did not fully engage the locals; neither did he provide a rich ethnographic account of the lives and perspectives behind the fireballs. As such, in order to understand the local perspectives and beliefs, it is necessary to seek more information from more locals to fully bring out the liminality of the fireballs and Phon Phisai. Some Methodological Concerns Whether you are a local or a domestic tourist who have travelled far from Bangkok or Hatyai, you might be disappointed by the fact that there might not be a single naga fireball at all. Fireball sightings are random and entirely dependent on good fortune. In the midst of looking for these mysterious fireballs, I have also endeavoured to adopt a less-structured research methodology in a bid to understand this unique phenomenon. Furthermore, using it as a case study to analyze bigger theoretical grounds would demand large-scale predictions of social trends; this is out of the scope of this thesis. 18 As such, the theoretical underpinning of social anthropological research known as participant observation is adopted in this thesis. Jorgensen (1989) and Friedrichs (1975) have both discussed at length about the methodologies and some of its limitations of such research endeavours. My research involves a great deal of immersion into the community within the town of Phon Phisai and naturally, with that entails a high level of bias and influence. I conceive my study as a contextualized piece of work; as Geertz has argued in The Interpretations of Culture (1970), the difficulties in obtaining accurate information from informants is a problem in the inherent complexity of the social order. In terms of the specifics of the research, less structured interviews with a rudimentary questionnaire is used. Due to the limitations of time constraints, I was only living in Phon Phisai for approximately 35 days. The initial 10 days were used to getting to know people, a key figure would be Phi Daeng, who would turn out to be my most useful informants. Fortunately, my proficiency of the Thai language is sufficient to conduct these interviews in the Thai language with the aid of a MP3 recorder. I am also thankful to Dr Pattana Kitiarsa for helping me to find a suitable place of accommodation, and with the help of my neighbours, I was able to move around the town with a bicycle. On some longer trips to places such as Kham Chanot, I had the good fortune of transport in the form of a pick-up. More often than not, my questions might steer into seemingly controversial areas, and due to the initial 10 days of ice breaking, I was able to ask questions with regard to Buddhism and faith without offending many people. Thick descriptions were acquired and most of my informants and respondents were very accommodating. My local friends have also kindly granted me their permission to observe and write about them in this thesis. In order to protect their privacy and adhere to the ethics of social science research, I have 19 drawn reference to them with the use of pseudonyms. I do not proclaim to represent a dominant social trend in Thai society; I am merely telling the stories of a small group of people living in a small town in Northeastern Thailand. Chapter Organization Chapter Two will purport to illustrate liminality through two aspects – the geographical landscape of the area being a borderland and the shifting ideological identities of being a member of Phon Phisai, and to a larger extent, the Isaan region. It uses the naga fireballs as lens to understand liminal people who are also living in such “in-between” spaces. Chapter Three will pay attention to the community aspect of the naga fireballs and how it brings about an internal structure after the liminality dissolves. Also, the social history of the myth of the naga, the fireballs, as well as the festival itself will be discussed at length. Naga evidences, such as naga fossils, will also be discussed as empirical “constructions” to “create and imagine” a communal historical naga tradition (Hobsbawn 1983). Such fixations of production of naga myths and histories, I argue, have been cleverly adapted by the community to provide some internal structure and certainty to a liminal life. Chapter Four will focus on the tension between centre and periphery. What do the naga fireballs illuminate us? They tell us a rich story of competing discourses, of local politics, of media influence and how these forces and tales present to us the other less told story – that the margin and the peripheral is also trying to align and put itself visible to the national audience as well. 20 The naga fireball event might be liminal – that it shifts from a non-event to an event and viceversa continuously – but external forces from the centre and the periphery are also trying to stabilize and ‘tame’ this liminality. I conclude my thesis in Chapter Five by reinforcing the arguments that the naga fireballs are a crucial scholastic tool to understand liminality at both spatial and ideological levels, located at a borderland. The fireballs are pertinent as they provide the crucial moment that liminality sets in with a great deal of mystical elements because they added mystical dimensions of whether or not the fireballs are indeed authentic. It also creates liminality within a liminal event – the event is oscillating from a non-event, to an event, and vice-versa in a perpetual manner. As I sipped my ice-cold glass of Beer Singha along the cool Mekong River, and at the same time discussing with my friend Phii Daeng the forthcoming Arsenal versus Blackburn soccer match of the English Premier League, I could not help but marvel at how some strange phenomenon could have such wider social and political implications. 21 Chapter Two - Liminality Liminality at a Spatial Level – Borderlands as In-between Spaces With much good fortune, I got to know Phi Daeng at a rare cafe scene, something uncommon in a small town in Northeastern Thailand. Phi Daeng is a local and typical Isaan person, who works as a freelance graphic designer, and also helps out at the regular café that I hang out with. He is 42 years old, and a swinging bachelor who believes in freedom. He lives with his parents and is comfortable with his present lifestyle – not too stressful but at the same time is also able to support his family and himself. There would be days where I would follow him around as he takes orders from various clients in a bid to employ him to design stickers for signage. From the local sundry stores to the faraway factory, we would travel around using Phi Daeng’s quaint old scooter – the popular choice of transport in small Thai towns. Even though the money is little, he would say that life in Isaan is about contentment, friends and leisure. Phon Phisai is a small town, with a small community. Friends of Phi Daeng such as Khun Phii, Tae and others all know each other and each other’s parents. Quite commonly, they own small shops and the town is almost a self-contained local economy. Patrons of these stalls are amongst the members of this community. Some people, such as Phi Daeng, have never even reached the capital of Bangkok; many people that I have talked to also did not see a need to make passports – they rarely, if at all, needed to travel overseas. If they need to travel to Laos (and Vientiane, the capital of Laos, is only half an hour of bus ride from Nong Khai city), they would only need to purchase a “Laos Entry Permit” from the Thai Permit and Customs Office. 22 However, one also needs to bear in mind that Phon Phisai is a town that borders Mekong River; on the opposite side is a small Laotian town. In fact, much of Nong Khai province and other Northeastern provinces are home to the Mekong River. Phon Phisai’s neighboring districts include Rattanawapi and Fao Rai of Nong Khai Province, Ban Dung, Sang Khom and Phen of Udon Thani Province, and Mueang Nong Khai (Nong Khai city) of Nong Khai province. To the north across the Mekong River are the Laotian Vientiane prefecture and the Bolikhamxai province. In fact, it takes only a half an hour bus ride from Nong Khai city to the Thai-Lao border custom, where the travelling is mostly done via the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge that spans across the Mekong River. This unique situation of a tightly knit community that sits on a borderland makes Phon Phisai a very interesting area to conduct research on. Furthermore, liminal spaces inevitably bring out liminal events. The locality of Phon Phisai, as well as the naga fireballs being sighted in the middle of a river has accentuated the liminality of it because a river is in-between two physical spaces of certainty; in which a river is in some sense, uncertain as its position is vague and it is also constantly moving in a state of flux (river flows). Most Isaan locals speak a local Thai dialect; known as Isaan language, it is in fact the language of Laos. Hence, linguistically speaking, this strange convergence of national language and dialect has formed an interesting linguistic common space between the Isaan people and the Laotians. It is interesting to note that such borderlands and communities are also commonplace in Eastern Europe and Central Europe. In particular, many former USSR satellite states, former European Communist countries have complicated shared heritage and culture that have been forcefully segregated by explicit political boundaries. The study of borderlands and spaces in these places has been well defined by various scholars such as Debardeleben (1985), Whittlesey 23 (1939), Ryszkwoski (1994) and May (1995), even though their focus is more on environmental nationalism rather than the study of the cultures of such borderlands itself. The study of such borderlands is not new; in the earlier half of the century, borderlands studies have been preoccupied with the “state of lawlessness” within such places. The subversive tendencies of those whose life-paths cross national demarcations have long been a preoccupation in studies of borderlands. In the 1950s Kristof (1959) wrote of the conflict between “inneroriented” states and “outer-oriented” borderlanders. In a less obvious intertwining of elite ideology and spatial analysis, peripheral borderlands were mapped as “frontier zones” characterised by what Kristof called “rebelliousness”, lawlnessness and/or an absence of laws (Kristof 1959: 281). In recent years, borderland studies have shifted the lens towards one that is reflexive and encompassing, be it political or cultural. A borderland provides a useful perspective from which to examine the genesis of state territoriality, the evolution of national space and the relation between the two (Johnson, forthcoming 2011). Residents of border zones deal on a daily basis with the most concrete manifestation of the nation-state – its territorial boundary, and for people in this situation the nation-state is an everyday reality rather than the subject of ideation and imagination. Questions of identity and “location-work” (Appadurai 1996) can have far-reaching consequences, and quotidian decisions about the affiliation of people and things that are deeply associated with the position of people as villagers, members of ethnic groups and nationals of geo-bodies, all of which put political, economic and socio-cultural grids upon them. 24 Borderlands function as liminal spatial zones where the nature of things is inevitably transformed by various neighbouring zones. Because the boundaries that create, direct and regulate flows of people, goods, capital, ideas and practices and technologies are artificial and structural, hence using these zones as academic lens to analyse the people’s identities and reflexivity would be highly realistic and interesting. Borderlands such as Phon Phisai become in-between spaces because people on both sides of the Mekong River can travel relatively freely to-and-fro. Although in recent years border controls have been tightened to control the smuggling of rice and other essential commodities, one of my informants, Jib, has told me that crossing the Mekong River is as easy as paying a token sum of “coffee money” (bribe) to the Thai customs police. If not, one can certainly do it legally on every Tuesday and Saturday – The Thai-Lao bazaar. Talaat Thai-Lao – Borderland Markets The Thai-Lao weekly market/bazaars are significant testaments to the dynamics exhibited by the people living within borderlands. It is in fact a microcosm of a borderland community. On every Tuesday and Saturday, eager Lao people will travel across the Mekong River to purchase highly sought after Thai products. Language is not a problem to these people as the Lao people speak Lao, which is very similar to the Isaan dialect. In fact, before the colonially-enforced demarcation imposed by the Franco-Siamese Treaty back in 1893, much of northeastern 25 Thailand was in fact also belonging to Lao territory1. When I was at the market, it was extremely difficult to distinguish who is in fact a Thai and who is a Lao. I was half expecting to see some exotic products to be put on sale during these markets. However, I was very wrong. Informal market economies thrive on the sale of very ordinary yet necessary products. I casually asked one of the local Thais as to why the Lao people would buy such commonplace products – shampoo, t-shirts etc. He replied that due to the backwardness of the Lao economy, in particular in these rural villages, some of the products are actually cheaper when a Lao purchases it at the Thai side. As an outsider to the Phon Phisai (as well as the Lao) community, I was not really interested in the products on sale. Most of the items at the market could be purchased in the supermarket in town centre. Also, perhaps the most exciting and exotic item on sale was some medicinal oil that was supposedly extracted from the gall bladders of snakes. The foodstuffs on sale were also Isaan in flavour and some Lao people even fancy grabbing a bite at the coffee shops closer to the town centre. Now, the vital question to ask is: what has the naga fireballs, as an event, got to do with the ThaiLao bazaar? The answer is: the naga festival, which includes a bazaar, looks almost the same as the Thai-Lao bazaar. The same shelter is used to sell foodstuffs; the same restaurants along the Mekong River are opened. In fact, the Thai-Lao bazaar is almost like a weekly naga fireball festival, minus the fireballs as aptly encapsulated by Phii Daeng. Similar activities of buying, 1 In fact, the concept of what is Thai and what is Lao is perhaps a very modern nationalistic construction. In early modern period, the delineation was ambiguous and fluid, almost akin to people moving and shifting allegiances due to the centres of power shifting. 26 selling and mingling amongst both Thais and Laos are being conducted at this in-between space of approximately two kilometers along the Mekong River at Phon Phisai. Liminality of the Naga Fireballs as an Event In fact, the Thai-Lao bazaar has exposed an important liminal aspect of the naga fireballs – of a liminal event. It constantly shifts from a non-event to an event. If you remove the fireballs from the festival, it almost looks like a non-event, such as the Thai-Lao bazaar happening at a liminal landscape such as a borderland. What exactly is a “non-event”? I remember chatting with Khun Phii, who is a good friend of Phii Daeng at his café. Khun Phii, in his 30s, had worked for over 10 years in Bangkok before returning to Phon Phisai to run his own café. When asked about the naga fireballs, he brushed it off as “something extraordinary” and “seen by his father and grandfather”. He has seen the fireballs from afar a couple of times and other than that, he merely treats the whole festival as “a good opportunity for more business, and to get drunk and wasted”. To people like Khun Phii, the naga fireballs are no more than a busy carnival; it certainly has little meaning or does not make much sense with him. However, there are forces generated by others living in Phon Phisai to make the naga festival an event. Even as an outsider, I must confess that the experience of watching the naga fireballs is a liminal one. Having experienced both the Thai-Lao bazaar and the naga festive carnival, I must admit that the naga carnival invoked emotions that do not involve class, structure or groupings. 27 When we were eagerly anticipating the fireballs to appear, I could still feel that I was a tourist. However, when the first fireball appeared out of nowhere, I suddenly feel that I am in a zone of “in-between”; I felt very “religious”, “sacred” and “blessed”. Words could not describe adequately my sentiments. I felt almost like the crowd who were watching the fireballs as well – the frenzy, the happiness and the bright smiles on the faces. Clearly, it was an event. Even though I was at the naga carnival at Nong Khai City earlier on, I did not experience any “liminal” sentiments. The same thing occurred when I was back in Phon Phisai the following year to conduct my fieldwork when in that year, no fireballs were witnessed; the magical and mystical sentiment just ceased to exist and the carnival looked like a night Thai-Lao bazaar with a larger crowd. Such is the importance of the naga fireballs in creating liminality within a liminal spatial plane. Turner’s concept of liminality is mainly focused on timeline of events, such as a man’s rite of passage. However, the level of liminality of the naga fireballs here have also a physical dimension to it – that is the mystique of such fireballs at a liminal area brought about by having no concrete rational explanation as to why and how the naga fireballs are formed. In other words, there was simply no certain answer to it. I am developing Turner’s idea of liminality to include in-between spaces and events as well in this thesis. In addition, the liminality of the naga fireballs is such that it is neither confirmed to be authentic nor false. In other words, people, including the locals, the scientists as well as the state, are perpetually second-guessing the origins of these mystical fireballs. This mystical element is amplified by various competing discourses. Various newspapers clippings, talk shows and 28 interviews with experts have alluded us to the scientific aspect of the Naga fireballs – which people were trying to investigate and hypothesise a scientific and rational explanation to the workings of the fireballs (See Chapter One for a more detailed explanation). In fact, many people that I have talked to, including a computer shop owner, Phi W, have commented that the fireballs should be a natural phenomenon. I was desperately seeking some computer accessories to process some of my field notes when I chanced upon Phi W, who is the owner of a computer shop. After buying a keyboard and two computer speakers, I proceeded to have a good chat with him with regard to the naga fireballs. Phi W, like many youngsters living in Phon Phisai, is much like a typical middle-class Thai and he is relatively young, at 32 years old. He is single and still lives with his parents. I then asked him some general questions about the Isaan region. He said that Isaan is his birthplace, and hence there is some attachment to this place. I then asked him about the Mekong River. He said that the Mekong River is a very important river as it provides means of livelihood for many people on both sides of the river – which proves it usefulness as well. He is contented and proud to be a member of the Isaan community as well as he thinks that it has a unique culture – it is different from the other parts of Thailand (such as North, South, and Central). Educated in a local university, he believes that the naga fireballs are nothing more than natural phenomena that are yet to be scientifically verified. He commented that perhaps, with more advanced scientific instruments, they might be able to discover its natural origins. I asked him if this contradicts with his Buddhist beliefs, and he said it does not. When pressed further, he answered that Buddhism to him is a belief and it stays that way. 29 The scientific and natural phenomenon discourse hinges on rational thinking. Many Thai scientists believe that the naga fireballs are a result of the combustion of methane gas at the surface of the Mekong River. The Mekong River is widely known to be a depository of decomposed bodies and many scientists have hypothesised that these decomposed materials will release methane from the riverbed into the open space above the river. When this happens, the methane will combust with the oxygen above the river and thus send some fireballs straight up the sky. However, such a scientific explanation finds no satisfaction amongst skeptics. Other opposing scholars have argued that the temperature required for methane combustion is too high – approximately more than 300 degree Celsius – to be achieved on a cold awk pansa night at the Mekong River; others have cautioned that the date of the release of methane is too much of a coincidence. As to the point why the Mekong River chooses to release its methane on the full moon night of awk pansa, it remains to be a mystery. Other scholars, including experts hired by the media to appear on their television talk-shows, have hypothesised that the Naga fireballs are a result of man-made pranks created by the Lao soldiers for entertainment purposes. This discourse has widespread violent ramifications; the television station that was involved in producing this “documentary” has been vehemently reprimanded by the public when they were exposed to be a hoax. Others who have supported this discourse have few reasons to be happy too – they were accused of being sacrilegious and disrespectful to Buddhism. The second guessing process continues as I found more varied views amongst the locals. I was as usual travelling on my trusty bicycle when I stumbled upon something interesting – a proper 30 bookstore at Phon Phisai. It was very interesting because there are no proper bookstores here; most bookstores double up as photocopying shop. And certainly, there was no reading culture, at least in this part of Thailand. Gingerly, I went into the store and the friendly male storeowner greeted me. I asked him if there were any books about the Naga fireballs and he amicably handed me a thin copy. Feeling slightly disappointed, I asked him if there were any more and he answered, “No, that is the only copy and it’s free actually.” I acknowledged his good intention and he then asked me about my origins (most Thais do because after a few sentences they realize that they are talking to a foreigner), in which I replied “Singapore”. Suddenly, he felt very excited and he invited me to sit at the al fresco corner outside the bookstore and served me coffee. He then asked me to chat with his wife, who could speak English relatively well. To my surprise, they know Singapore pretty well as they had been there several times. His wife is actually an English language tutor (and also she is not a local of Phon Phisai; she is a Bangkokian) who has a Master degree in English language at a university in Bangkok. We chatted for a very long time and I talked to her husband as well. They both run the bookstore because they are lovers of reading and books. At level two, they operate a cosy guesthouse that is very well designed and affordable. Before I knew it, it was past lunchtime already and his wife, Paa X, had students arriving for tuition. She then asked me very kindly if I needed interview subjects and they would be willing to help. Feeling grateful, I told her that it would be better for me to talk to them after their tuition and I thus arranged to come back to the store again at 3pm. Soon, I was back at the store talking 31 to three teenagers who are about 17 years old – Min, Grace and Am. I decided to chat with them in an informal way as they answered freely and I audio-recorded the whole conversation. I picked some questions from my questionnaire and asked them casually if they had seen the fireballs. They replied that they had seen these fireballs before and they all believe in both the existence of the fireballs and the Naga. However, with regard to whether the Naga is the cause of the fireball, there were mixed views. One of the girls is apparently more religious than the other two and thus replied quite confidently that the fireballs are largely caused by the Naga. The other two were more cautious and said that they half-believe that the cause of the fireballs is the Naga and perhaps, it is a natural phenomenon. Of course, all three were not sure about the real cause of the fireballs as that has always been a fiercely debated and contentious issue. From all these responses, we can see that the naga fireballs as an event is an important anthropological lens to explore the concept of liminality at both a spatial and a belief level because the ideas of these fireballs are filled with in-between answers of uncertainty and a peculiar reconciliation between science and irrationality – where some people quite plainly believe that the fireballs can both be a product of nature, as well as a product of the real naga. Liminality at an Ideological Level – Shifting Identities As I hang out at the Phon Phisai Cafe quite regularly, I asked Phi Daeng about his opinions of the Mekong River. He said that the Mekong River is very important to the people of Nong Khai (and Phon Phisai) province. This is because in the past, the main transport is the river itself; no 32 roads were constructed yet during that time. Fishermen also relied on the river for a living and hence it is an important part of Nong Khai, Phon Phisai and to a general extent the Isaan region. Across the Mekong we can actually see Laos. I asked him about his views of Laos and he said that they have a cousin-like relationship. Many villagers have relatives over at each side and hence people just cross the river. Sometimes Lao people would cross over to the Thai side to buy things as goods there are expensive. Surprisingly, even though the Lao side seems to be more rural with more forested areas, Daeng said that usually there would be a Thai village facing directly a Lao village across the river. In a way, they do take care of each other and form a fraternal relationship. From there, I can almost conclude that in fact the Thai-Lao rivalry, at least at the ordinary people level, seems to be almost non-existent. Even though there is no rivalry, certainly Daeng does not think that he is a Laotian. He feels that there is some kind of Isaan identity and is contented to be a member of the Isaan region. However, he does not feel anything unique about Phon Phi Sai or his association with it, coupled with the naga belief. He knows that both the Thais and Lao people share the same naga beliefs about the fireballs and he is fine when I said that maybe both the Thais and the Lao people living in this area can be coined as naga people. However, when I asked him if he thinks that he is a Thai citizen: Daeng: I think I am Thai. But I feel more Isaan than Thai. Can I say that I am an Isaan person instead? Me: But what if I compel you to choose – either you are Thai or Isaan. What would your answer be? 33 Daeng: I am not too sure. I don’t think I can make such a choice. Anyway I don’t think that such a question even makes sense in the first place. We don’t think of ourselves as strictly Thais or Isaan people. Me: Then are you Lao? Daeng: (Laughs) Of course not! These are common responses of borderland peoples – national identities and local sentiments are never in sync. Perhaps, it might be important to raise a fairly old point, as raised by Leach (1954) that ethnic identity tends to be in oscillation and in relation to one’s position and economic advantages. And it is also a fair point to remember that Leach’s research community of Shan and Kachin states are pretty much the borderland areas that I am studying now. And as such, one can never pinpoint one’s identity specifically and this only compounds the liminality of the borderland. I then had the good fortune to interview my neighbour, Khun S. He is 55 years old and married with two children who are working as teachers in other provinces of Thailand. He mentioned that the Mekong River is very important, not only to Thailand, but to other countries as well because the Mekong River runs through Mainland Southeast Asia, and into Southern China. When asked about Thailand’s relationship with Laos, he said that Laos is like a brother to them, in particular Isaan, since they are just separated but the Mekong River. He is very contented and proud to be an Isaan people because in Isaan, the weather is good and he is able to make a living. I then asked him about his views of the Naga fireballs. He said that the naga fireballs are good and important to Phon Phisai district because even though some other places have reports of 34 fireballs sightings, Phon Phisai remains the most important place with the most fireballs. I then commented that at the other side of the Mekong River, The Lao people can also claim that their village is the most important one because they also see the fireballs. Then Khun S remarked in a fairly cryptic manner – that the naga fireballs is a very Thai thing. Lao people certainly did not help or contribute in the event to make it a success. This is an important point, as the naga fireballs seemed to have added liminality to the-already fluid identities of being Thai or Lao. In the first place, identities are already difficult to be defined as they are shifting, and in particular if they are identities of people living in borderlands. People living across borders tend to see each other as brothers and sisters. However, the naga fireballs, coupled with the naga belief, have created identities that are in-between as well. How does one make sense of naga people? Contrasting views between Phii Daeng and Khun S have only served to complicate identity matters further, in a liminal way by introducing the idea of a fluid naga identity that is both elusive, and difficult to be articulated. Another place that I hang out frequently is Tu Car Racing Shop. On many hot afternoons, I will be sitting outside their car and motorcycle accessories shop as I listened to their idle banter. On one usual hot afternoon, as I sat there, with Phi Daeng, Tu, and Tu’s sister savouring a big watermelon with a big bottle of Pepsi, I chanced upon precious information. To my surprise, Tu and his family belong to third-generation Vietnamese; the first generation came during the tumultuous times of the Vietnam War. Tu’s mother could still speak Vietnamese and cook many delicious Vietnamese dishes; Tu on the other hand, could only manage simple Vietnamese words. I was also lucky to enjoy some Vietnamese dishes amidst the usual somtam (papaya salad) and 35 kai yang (barbecued chicken) for lunch as Tu’s mother recollected some encounters with her own parents. Even though the Vietnamese in general are mainly Buddhists and follow certain Buddhist principles, Tu’s mother fondly recollects the moments where they witnessed the naga “swimming” in the Mekong River. I asked her about the naga’s appearance and she said that it looked like a “big snake and fish”. I could sense that the naga has drawn these Vietnamese to be more Thai-like as they told me about some of their “drunken stupor” stories during the naga festival. However, once the enigma of the naga and its fireballs wear off, in their day-to-day lives, they still proudly proclaim that they are Vietnamese; in which I would not have found out that their ancestors were from Vietnamese in such easy fashion. Liminality at Two Levels at a Locality – The Curious Case of Kham Chanot The liminality discussed earlier on that hinges on the naga fireballs and its belief is best represented by this peculiar locality known as Kham Chanot. Kham Chanot is one of the most interesting discoveries of this field trip. Kham Chanot is actually a mysterious place, whereby tales of ghosts, spirits and Naga people surround its enigmatic existence. It is located at the periphery of Udon Thani Province. Paa X informed me of its presence during my interviews and informal chitchat at the bookstore. Kham Chanot is actually a mini-island; when the water level rises in tandem with the tide, there would be water surrounding it, which makes it look like an island. Besides the island-looking 36 appearance, Kham Chanot is also strange in a way that only on the island itself can you find extremely tall trees that resemble coconut and palm trees. However, on closer scrutiny its fruits do not look like any of the familiar fruits or plants that I know of. One of the reasons why Kham Chanot, besides being a Naga city, is such a famous or rather infamous place is that it has ghostly stories about it. About 20 years ago, a film company that runs movie screenings (it is still operating today) ran an outdoor movie screening (something like an outdoor car movie screening) to a crowd at Kham Chanot. To the utter shock of the movie operators, the crowd disappeared the next morning, leaving the movie operators to suspect that they were actually screening the show to ghosts. This incident, professed as a true story had consequences including widespread media attention, documentaries and even a movie, Phii Cang Nang (loosely translated as the “The Ghost that Rented the Movie”). To be honest, I was rather spooked by this mysterious Kham Chanot town. Paa X described the place as a small eerie island surrounded by water in the most frightening manner. On the island itself, there was a special species of tree. To make matters worse, she said that people have told her that it was rather eerie and creepy. The whole atmosphere was deadly and it was rumoured that there was a passageway – somewhat like a tunnel – in the middle of the island that links to the Mekong River. Nagas had allegedly used the passageway to traverse back and forth between the Naga City and the human world. After watching Phii Cang Nang, I was adamant on visiting it. My kind landlords, after hearing my rendition of the Kham Chanot story, thus decided to accompany me there. Located 37 approximately 100km from Phon Phisai, Kham Chanot seems to me to be the last ideal place for a family outing. Curiosity often kills the cat and in this case, it compelled me to go on a ghostbusting activity. Armed with a camera, and a few picnic baskets with ample food, I was determined to investigate and have a first-hand feel of the place. To my utter disbelief, Kham Chanot turned out to be a crowded place, even on a weekday afternoon; when I arrived at Kham Chanot, several “surprises” await me: 1) There was a crowd at Kham Chanot, contrary to my perception that it would be a quiet and enigmatic place. To make matters worse, my landlord lady said that during weekends where would be an even larger crowd. 2) Outside Kham Chanot, the once quiet and small temple had grown in size to a big one and there were even catfish and tortoise food selling at 10 Baht per packet to cater to the tourists who want to feed them. 3) Now there is a concrete pavement about 600-800 metres long with two nagas at both sides of the walls of the pavement leading from the outside into Kham Chanot. Inside Kham Chanot, there is a small concrete temple filled with metal gongs, flowers, candles and joss sticks used for worshipping purposes. You have to take off your shoes, like all sacred places in Thailand. Inside the temple, which is mostly outdoor, there are several statues and a square filled with water. Legend has it that the water here actually reaches deep underground and connects to the Naga city at Mekong River. Many people also come to Kham Chanot with the purpose of asking for lottery numbers. Powder is poured onto the surface of the tree trunks and sometimes they reveal certain lottery numbers, with reports of people winning the lottery subsequently. Families were gathering at Kham Chanot for a picnic and they seemed to be having a lot of fun. I walked around and I realised that there was indeed nothing eerie about Kham Chanot. The power of rumours can be very potent, indeed. Upon further exploration, there was a quaint little temple in the middle of Kham Chanot. Many Thais were there to offer their prayers and receive 38 blessings. The water from the well located in the temple was known to have “mystical powers of healing”, though this was of course never verified vis-à-vis any scientific experiments. As I walked around the temple barefooted, something caught my eye. There was a stone tablet with writings on it. Upon further examination, I realised that it was to acknowledge the major donors of the temple. The last surprise of the day was that many of these donors are Singaporeans! As to why they were there in the first place to donate to the cause of the temple, it is still a mystery to me till today. The case study of Kham Chanot clearly indicates the liminality of the locality at both levels; at one level, the place was rendered liminal because it was in-between spaces of worship, or haunted places, of spooky rumours and of the unknown. When I was at Kham Chanot, the naga belief made the people there liminal as well – curious visitors, spooked tourists, devout worshippers as well as lottery-numbers seekers all congregate at Kham Chanot. Furthermore, there was no fixed category of people either, the devout worshipper might have been previously spooked by the naga stories, and is now seeking some lottery numbers! Liminality at Two Levels – Spatial and Ideological The liminality of a place, such as a borderland, is first and foremost created due to the ambiguity of that particular area in terms of territorial boundaries and nation-states. As Herzfeld (2001) had argued, the borderland is a region where terms are blurred and “as people had to constantly negotiate their shifting identities on an everyday basis”. (Johnson forthcoming 2011: 117) A 39 borderland physical landscape without people investing meaning into it remains as a space, rather than a place (Relph 1976). Even though Phon Phisai is by and large, in existence, a borderland on its own terms, I have shown that using the naga fireballs and the beliefs of it, one can explore and uncover more liminality and the picture is further complicated through one’s negotiation of identities and social roles within these liminal spaces. The naga fireball, as a liminal event, only served to further fuel the other liminalities to a new level. However, liminality cannot exist forever; one has to situate and contextualize oneself in a given time, space and role. In this case, the naga fireballs, being a liminal event, has ironically and/or paradoxically, propagated the formation of internal structures to enable the formation of a community. In other words, the same neither-here-nor-there event is also the provider of the pivotal pillars of the community of Phon Phisai. 40 Chapter Three - Community Liminality Dissolving and the Creation of a Community As argued by Turner, once the liminality dissolves, communities will rise. I am a firm believer of this argument as based on my own personal experiences, one does not like to live in a structureless society. We, by and large, tend to work within familiar notions and places, and are social creatures, hence the need to form into communities. Many communities, as argued by Anderson (1991), Thongchai (1994) and other scholars, are imagined and “mapped” with constructed boundaries. These communities also form their own internal structures and pillars through “the invention of tradition” (Hobsbawn 1983). The formation of communities within borderlands is not a new phenomenon; many borderland and liminal places have been known to construct their own communal identities through different ways and perspectives. Many communities, such as the Kachin and Shan states, are formed through complex kinship and socio-economic arrangements (Leach 1954). However, in my thesis, I purport to show that using the naga fireballs as a liminal event; the same liminal event can also play a different role of constructing a community with a stable structure, identity and a naga tradition as well. In fact, for many locals, the naga festival and its fireballs is something that one looks forward to when staying in Phon Phisai in a calendar year. My constant travels on a bicycle within Phon Phisai often made me thirsty as the season was hot and wet. Once, while I was exploring the town, I chanced upon a small coffee shop selling 41 comfort food such as kway teow (Thai noodles) and nostalgic glass bottles of Pepsi and Fanta (a rarity in Singapore). I approached a middle-aged woman, Paa Y, to order some food and drinks. There was soon a heavy downpour and I was caught in the rain. Paa Y, sensing that I was not a local, enquired about my stay in Phon Phisai. Soon a conversation ensued. I asked her about the naga fireballs and Paa Y told me that they were in fact bang fay phi – ghost or spirit fireballs. She said that about a century ago, locals often see the fireballs rising from the Mekong River; it was commonplace and there were rumours and stories about these fireballs. One common understanding was that they were released from ghosts or spirits. As to what was the exact purpose of these ghosts and spirits, Paa Y was not sure. I could not verify the authenticity of this ghostly account because I have differing views from different individuals. Some sworn to have seen it as spirit fireballs while some have vehemently condemned such talk as hearsay and rubbish. Some have also contended that these ghostly origins were tall tales concocted by parents to prevent their children from playing in the Mekong River. I asked Phii Daeng about this ghostly account and he said that this idea of bang fay phi might have been really a case of tall tales told to young children to prevent them from playing in the Mekong River. The river was murky, deep and had fast currents. As parents were relatively busy tilling the land in the past, they might have resorted to such tales to frighten the children and serve as a parental warning. Regardless of the origin of this ghostly account, I was curious about its transformation from bang fay phi to bang fay phayaanaak. Was it a case of an invented tradition? 42 Building a Community from Phi to Phayaanaak I had the great fortune and honour to interview an ex-teacher cum local scholar, Ajarn A, who is very knowledgeable about the naga fireballs. He told us that the myth of the Naga has sources dating back to the days of early Vientiane in Laos, probably at the height of French influence and northeastern geopolitics back in the 1920s. He also briefly described to us the three types of theories in relation to the Naga fireballs – namely Methane Theory, Naga Theory, and the “Uncertain” Theory. He told us in a very serious tone that no one could really prove the existence of the Naga. However, at a personal level, he told us with extremely strong conviction that the naga indeed is true as these existences can be dated as far back as 2000 years ago. It was a reflection of the need for Buddha to show a miracle. Also, this can be verified by the Jakatta stories of Buddha whereby he had to spend one Buddhist Lent in heaven to help His mother and when he came back, human and animal (and Naga) alike all proclaim and celebrated his greatness. In a nonoffensive manner, I did briefly mentioned that these are stories and folklores, nevertheless, and not solid evidence of the naga other than the mysterious fireballs. He then mentioned, in an even more serious tone, that the Thai princess herself had witnessed the naga fireballs coming out from the Mekong River; and she herself, as a form of respect, prostrated before the 17 fireballs appeared within 15 minutes. At that moment, he was proud to be part of the community that hosted Her Highness. He further added that no other part of Thailand, and even the Isaan region has as many naga fireballs as Phon Phisai. This seemed to 43 reaffirm his belief and I found it rather strange that anecdotal evidence could be used as empirical evidence (no doubt his sources are royal in nature). I then asked Ajarn A about the spirit fireballs. He said in a definitive tone that those are mere rumours and had no basis at all. He did not know of any textual sources relating to these spirits and said that perhaps this is a result of the superstitions of the locals. While I was back at Phii W’s computer store to examine my camera’s SD card, I also asked him about the spirit fireballs. He said that his father had briefly mentioned about these spirits but he brushed it off as mere superstition. He added that perhaps people in the olden days were not enlightened sufficiently to understand that such fireballs are in fact naga in nature; it was Buddha and naga, certainly not some spirits or ghosts. When I pressed on about how is it that one can be so sure that the fireballs are naga in nature, he replied that it was mentioned in some Buddhist scriptures, but he does not know which ones exactly. From Paa Y, Ajarn A and Phi W’s accounts of the ghostly fireballs and the evidence provided concerning the origins of the fireballs, one can perhaps postulate that most of their ideas of the naga and its fireballs are constructed from vague memories and stories formed within the community. In order for them to come up with the origins of the naga fireballs, it was evident that they invented and retained certain traditions that were more in sync with conventional and mainstream religion such as Buddhism, and relegated traditions of spirits and ghosts to hearsay and rumours. It was not difficult to understand the rationale behind it; when Ajarn A mentioned that the Princess was being hosted, Phon Phisai would have more pride if they proclaim that the fireballs were of naga origin as these were sacred; rather than saying that the fireballs were of 44 ghostly origins. Unknowingly, these constructed and invented stories and memories of a liminal event have cemented the naga tradition for people of Phon Phisai to imagine themselves of being members of a naga community with a naga history. Visible Symbols and Evidences As much as one’s imaginations can run far and wild, the naga community building must exist with things that are more visible and solid than stories and anecdotes. Even though the naga fireballs are liminal in nature, that did not stop the people of Phon Phisai, and to a larger extent, Nong Khai Province, from constructing visible symbols and evidences of the naga. When I first arrived in Nong Khai City, the large number of naga symbols that were all over the city overwhelmed me – these included naga logos (one particularly large naga symbol was literally at the bottom of the swimming pool of the hotel that I was residing in!), temple structures, pillars, naga walls and paintings. Even though the naga symbols are less when one is at Phon Phisai, it would be difficult to miss it as well. At one corner of the city lies a shop that specializes in naga merchandise. According to some informants, the wide-range of merchandise includes naga fireballs documentaries, naga movies, naga oils, naga bags, naga books, naga…and the list goes on. However, the most surprising piece of evidence has to be the naga fossil. When I was visiting a famous temple Wat Po Chai in Nong Khai City, I happen to meet a highly acclaimed monk. I was even more shocked to realize that there was a piece of naga fossil that was kept within the confines of the temple. Immediately, I was reminded by how empirical the 45 whole Naga myth was – to the extent of being fossilized into physical remnants of its existence. I enquired the monk politely about the naga fossil and seek his permission to have a quick look, and to my utter surprise, the monk took out the fossil bone nonchalantly from a nearby cabinet and told me “This is the fossil.” I examined the piece of dried bone carefully with respect and found nothing unusual about it. Even though I had the urge to question the monk as to how he knows for sure if the fossil belongs to the naga, I decided against it as it will surely be a sign of disrespect. After taking some photographs, I thanked the monk for his generosity and bade him farewell. From these instances of visible naga symbols and evidences, we can see how important the naga fireballs are in the construction of a community after the liminality dissolves. The naga fireballs, with its background stories, serve as community boundary markers that define a naga city. There are certainly some other conceptions of other Isaan provinces being “mystical” due to supernormal sightings and ghostly folklores; yet none comes close to being as mystical and liminal, and at the same time so possessing such visible markers such as extensive symbols and evidences. The Naga Communal Experience Lastly, I would like to discuss the naga fireballs in generating a communal experience at a given situatedness – of time and space. When I first arrived in Nong Khai City, full of anticipation of the naga fireballs, I was pretty excited. The Naga festival took place along the leisure area along the Mekong River where joggers were seen running along this wide pathway. The whole festival 46 spanned almost a few kilometers as food stalls, a theatre stage, alcoholic stations and a concert stage occupied this otherwise quiet pathway. I walked over to one of the food stalls and ordered a plate of fried rice with some grilled chicken. I was immediately taken aback by the orderly rows of tables and chairs; it almost looked like a standard Singaporean food court filled with homogenous stalls, tables and chairs that were differentiated by different signage. I sat at one of the tables and I noticed that there were many Thai families eating, drinking and enjoying themselves. It looked like a family reunion to me as fathers and sons toasted each other in good stead. Suddenly, the loud music stopped. The lights at the concert stage were switched on and tremendous cheering and applause could be heard. I looked in front and there was a Thai rock band performing their latest tunes. Their electrifying performance had captivated most of us as we sang and clapped with our oily hands. To me, the whole idea of the festival seems to be a very modern and Thai one, with popular Thai tunes played by famous rock stars on a concert stage and eating popular Thai food. The rock band took a break after several songs and encore requests; in the meanwhile the Thai luktoong (Thai country folk music) performers went up the stage. The crowd grew even more frenzied; many Thais started to dance along the steps along the pathway; some drunkards even stood on their tables and treated it like their personal dancing platforms. In any case, the luktoong music – folk songs – drew an instant hit with the audience. After a sumptuous meal, I decided to walk towards the theatre stage. It was very crowded by this hour as the performance had begun. I stood among the interested and attentive crowd as the 47 performers retold the story of the naga. Their colourful and attractive costumes helped to narrate a vivid tale of the naga protecting the Buddha during His meditation; and how it paid its respects to Him when He returned from the heavens by releasing the fireballs. The most impressive bits of the show were the seamless integration of graphics and sound. The performers, who were wearing ethnic costumes of the Isaan region, danced to the melodious tunes produced by stateof-the-art Bose sound system speakers. I was immediately won over by such a modern interpretation of an ancient legend. The lighting and lasers were spectacular and the crowd were cheering elatedly when the laser beams projected the fireballs and making them rise to the skies. And I was suddenly hit by the realization – no fireballs. They were merely laser beams artificially constructed to portray the naga fireballs. Sure, the carnival was lively and crowded but there was no communal sense at all; in short, it was mere entertainment with some nagainspired activities here and there. However, things were starkly different when I arrived at Phon Phisai, anxiously awaiting for the real fireballs to rise from the Mekong River. That liminal moment of a carnival with naga fireballs rising had a paradoxical twist to it – peoples of all levels, strata, statuses and on both sides of the river were magical communally bonded at that moment of time and space. We awaited eagerly as the moment became more and more intense. There were a few lights and ignited fireworks here and there but generally the mood was found to be in anticipation. Even the children were unusually toned down and whispers could be heard amongst the crowd. Suddenly, a pinkish dot rises from the middle of the dark Mekong River and with lightning speed, rose to the sky and vanished without a trace. The crowd erupted! We were shouting in frenzied mood 48 and the crowd was electrifying. “Ladies and gentlemen! We have three naga fireballs now! And make that four! Five! And counting! This year will be truly blessed!” the emcee shouted enthusiastically through the public announcement speakers. The numbers soon came to a halt, and at about nine p.m., it stopped at close to 60. Suddenly I found myself within the community, for a very short moment nevertheless. The Creation of a Community Through a Liminal Event – The Naga Fireballs It is perhaps difficult to articulate in words how mystical and magical I felt when I witnessed the naga fireballs at Phon Phisai along the Mekong River. In this chapter, I have shown that even though communities can be created after liminality dissolves, the use of a liminal event to create a community is quite unique to the case of the naga fireballs at Phon Phisai. The naga fireballs and its beliefs were pivotal in the construction of stories and the perpetuation of communal myths to create a naga identity that was difficult to articulate. At the same time, the lived experience of seeing the naga fireballs in real life also created a brief communal respite amidst the liminality of the naga. However, when I enquired further about how this liminal event constructs a communal feeling, Phi Daeng and Luung K both replied that there was something about the event, the crowd and the naga fireballs that pull them together and yet they find it difficult to explicate in actual words. After some probing, I decided to leave it at that level as many instances I also felt that there is something about the naga fireballs; some communal feelings that I share with the people of Phon 49 Phisai, though I could not say that I am within their community as after all I do not share a common history and living space with these people. The contrast was stark – between fireballs and no fireballs. When I was again in Phon Phisai the following year to conduct fieldwork, there were no fireballs sighted. Although disappointment was rife, the fact that there were precedent cases of naga fireballs being seen was sufficient to ignite the hopes of the community insofar that they have something, in common, to look forward to next year. As Phii Daeng so aptly puts it, “Don’t worry, there might be fireballs next year. Are you coming to see the naga fireballs with us?” 50 Chapter Four- the Centre and the Periphery Many scholars such as Migdal (1988, 2001) and McCargo (2002) have discussed state-society relations, Thai politics and how political economy can be explicated using either top-down approaches (Fukuyama 2004) or bottom-up approaches (Rodan 2001). In line with such political science approaches, Horstmann (2006) and other scholars who are studying borderlands have also used bi-polarizeds approaches (state-society, agency-narrative, centre-periphery) to understand certain marginalization processes at borderlands. Today’s political landscape and scholarly discussions have also come to see state-society relations as an analytical tool that dominates political science and political theory (Ferguson & Gupta 2005). In Ferguson and Gupta’s analysis, it can be aptly encapsulated: An imagined topography of stacked, vertical levels also structures many taken-for-granted images of political struggle, which are readily imagined as coming “from below”, as “grounded” in rooted and authentic lives, experiences, and communities. The state itself, meanwhile, can be imagined as reaching down into communities, intervening, in a “topdown” manner, to manipulate or plan society. (Ferguson and Gupta 2005: 107) I have long pondered about the marginalization of Isaan as any kind of top-down or bottom-up marginalized borderland. In a way, it is not difficult to understand Isaan in a stereotypical manner. The Isaan region in Thailand has long been hit by poverty and remains one of the poorest regions in Thailand. Most Thais who I have spoken to, mainly those who reside in 51 Bangkok, see themselves as elites and looked at Isaan people as country bumpkins who are uncivilized, crude, uncouth, drunk for large parts of their lives and love Thai luktoong (folk songs). Although there is certainly work done to analyze the civilizing discourse in Thailand (or Bangkok, to be more specific) (Thongchai 2000), the scope of these works might be too macro to analyze the intricacies of the dynamic local politics at Phon Phisai. Is there value in understanding Thai politics using the naga fireballs as an analytical lens at such a micro level – a small town in the Isaan region where few foreigners know? Certainly, and I argue in this chapter that the same liminal event, the naga fireballs, that has illuminated the concepts of liminality and community in the previous two chapters will shed light on the dynamism of a supposedly marginalized borderland. With the naga fireballs, politics in Phon Phisai seem to be a lot higher in stakes. Bangkok and Naga Fireballs First, let us look at how the Thai state handles this liminal event, before looking into the finer details of local politics at Phon Phisai. The Thai government, being an embodiment of the rational state and governing what is “Thainess” (Thongchai 1994), chooses to adopt a “middle path”. It was fast to reproach those who proposed that the naga fireballs were merely a manmade hoax; however, it was also shrewd enough to distance itself from the natural phenomenon discourse. There are many pragmatic reasons for doing so. 52 One of the most critical dilemmas that the State faces is the apparent tension between science and religion. Although the State is a product of Western enlightenment, rationality and progress, it cannot survive without the mandate of the people. Part of the blame can be traced back to 1976, where the State chooses to disguise its authoritarian nature through rubber-stamp elections. This in turn has set a machinery of empowering the people through the rule of democracy to gain political legitimacy. Secondly, when the State has decided to adopt Buddhism has the national ideology, it has also decided that religion should be part of its legitimising mandate. This also has great repercussions in which it has to toe the line of not appearing to be sacrilegious. Hence, the State, while reducing its pragmatic nature to subtlety, has to resort to share some of its power with religion and the people to ensure the longevity of the State Machinery. This poses an apparent dilemma for the State – it needs to be rational and yet it must also accept the supernatural beliefs of its people. Local myths involving supernatural and/or paranormal elements must be respected and condoned to a certain extent, if it does not directly threaten the legitimacy of the State. Now, though it is not uncommon for many other States to condone such fringe beliefs – as long as their superstition is in line with most major religious systems, and do not harm the State (the Falungong ‘cult’ in China is the prime example of how the State has to intervene if it sees it as a threat) – the naga fireballs present a much larger challenge. The naga fireballs, unlike other traditional Thai festivals (such as the Thai Ghost Mask festival) is an anomaly because it has empirical aspects to it. In other words, it differs from other urban legends such as Bigfoot, the Yeti Man, and the Lochness Monster etc. because it has consistent empirical evidence to its 53 existence. The confirmed existence of the fireballs only serves to add fuel to the conundrum as the State would find it difficult to dismiss the fireballs as complete myths because of the vast number of eyewitnesses, video footings etc. It was almost a non-issue for the State as naga fireballs sightings were mainly confined to the Phon Phisai, and to a larger extent, the Isaan region as most Thais would be oblivious to its existence. Even if they were aware of it, it would be mostly dismissed as countryside superstition. In fact, one of my more affluent Thai friends who live in Bangkok commented that such naga fireballs were tourism gimmicks. According to Ajarn A, the State only confronted the problem as late as in 1988. The advancement of technology has probably made the problem unavoidable. This might pose a serious problem to the rational State – how to justify the existence of these fireballs? Accepting that the naga fireballs are authentically naga in nature would be unwise; modern Bangkokians would not be satisfied that the rational State – made up of educated Bangkok elites as government officials – would actually accept such a ludicrous and paranormal idea from the Isaan countryside. Hence, in 1988, government officials from the central Bangkok went into the Isaan region. Ajarn A told me that they came to Nong Khai City, and later to other smaller districts, including Phon Phisai, to discuss with the local government officials as to what they can do with the naga fireballs. The solution was obvious – tourism. Using the naga fireballs phenomenon, they were quick to point out to the local authorities that this could be used as part of a festival to attract 54 domestic tourism – Thai tourists from other regions could come to Isaan and celebrate these miracle fireballs. This could probably help to develop the poverty-stricken Isaan economy, which relied much of its revenue through agriculture. Moreover, they reasoned that the Bangkok city people, who possess an Orientalist and mystical perspective of the Isaan region, would be enticed by such exoticism; akin to the tourist’s image of an exotic Bali (Picard 1996). There would be little reason for the local Isaans to reject such a proposal. In the early days, interpretations of the origins of the fireballs were ambiguous and varied. Ideas of the origins of the fireballs ranged from the naga to fireballs of ghosts and spirits. This is no surprise as Isaan people were quite animistic in the early days, recounted Ajarn A, prior to the spread of Buddhism through missionary works from neighbouring Buddhist countries, such as Laos. Since the State’s notion of the Buddhist Naga was in line with the local belief system and the national religious system, it seemed like a good plan. In addition, with regard to the actual existence of the fireballs, the State cleverly remains silent about it. It endorses national scientific and research projects conducted by scientists and scholars in universities. It also allows media companies to produce documentaries about the myths and legends of the fireballs. The out-of-bounds markers would be religion, so long as the experiments, projects and programmes are done in ways that are deemed inoffensive to Buddhism. Other than that, the State prefers to remain silent on the origin issues of the fireballs. Using the naga fireballs as an event that happens in fireballs, coupled with the liminal factor that the fireballs do have an empirical existence even though its origins are mystical we can see how 55 the Thai central State actually engages the Isaan region, and more specifically, how it engages Nong Khai and Phon Phisai. Even though some might see their actions as top-down, I argue that the State is being forced to engage Phon Phisai in its own terms because of the unique nature of the fireballs. Its rational discourse was being heavily challenge by the presence of these fireballs and yet, they, borne out of necessity, must engage the fireballs in naga terms as this is in line with the national religion of Thailand – Buddhism. With that, the state-society and centreperiphery concept of politics seems to be problematized, and less bi-polar because of the naga fireballs. The Naga Festival and Local Politics At Play As I walked along the crowded Phon Phisai town along the Mekong River lined up with little food stalls and vendors awaiting the naga fireballs, I could see clearly that there were many tables and seats with the sign “reserved” lined along restaurants along the river. These seats were strategic in the sense that they were first-row seats to seeing the mysterious fireballs rising from the Mekong River. Upon looking at these signs more carefully, I realized that many of them were actually reserved for local government officials and other bureaucrats. There were also seats reserved for corporate sponsor representatives; Thai Beverage Company was in clear sight with their huge banners. In addition, numerous cellular network companies, such as DTAC and AIS had also set up huge stalls promoting their cellular phone cards. The next morning, things had starkly changed. The crowdedness of yesterday’s festival turned to a morning of peace and tranquility. All that was left were heaps of trash left over by the 56 merrymakers. On my way to breakfast, I met the leader of the spirit house of Phon Phisai town, Khun G. Coincidentally, she was with a friend and her husband. We then began to chat. She read out to me a long list of names of deities that they were praying to as they made their morning offerings. As she was the leader of the spirit house, I was keen to learn from her the details of local politics underlying the naga festival. One interesting thing that she has brought up is the fact that there is some sort of rivalry between different groups and communities that are in charge of the affairs of the Phon Phisai district. And it seems that the past and present local administration do not see eye-to-eye on certain issues. As she talked about the structure of the festival and how the budget was being allocated to the different groups due to their allegiances, we can see that there is certainly a thick layer of complex local politics at play. Even at such a micro-level, it was complicated; the present Head of the Festival Committee had called his support from various factions that were not allies of the previous Head; it was clearly a naga coup amidst great competition and rivalry. While complex local politics are present in most villages in Thailand, or in fact most parts of the world, there was essentially something different here. Khun G, while recounting the tales of the local factions, was visibly upset. In a way, I felt that she was betrayed by the present Head of the Festival Committee. A few days later, I went to see her again. Gently, I asked her about her sentiments of the local politics revolving around the naga festival and she replied that the festival is very important. She was a staunch Buddhist and she needed to show her devotion by contributing to the festival; in a way, she also feels that the Isaan identity is being defined by one’s contribution to the festival, though this was not well articulated by her. Now she was 57 hindered and was compelled to contribute less because of political play and budgetary reallocations. It was becoming obvious that the local political stakes were made much higher, and fighting became more bitter and amplified because of the existence of the naga fireballs. The empirical existence of the fireballs perhaps compelled them to take their religion, and in turn, their politics, much more seriously. The Phon Phisai Mayor Arrives At the heart of the naga festival would be the local officials. Without hesitation, I went straight to the mayor’s office, hoping to land myself an interview. Surprisingly, the local government officials were extremely helpful and kind. They informed us that the mayor was out and told us to wait for his return while we were being served water and coffee. During this time, there was a lady local official, Phii N, who was very resourceful and kind. She answered many of our questions about the allocation of the festival budget and provided us with some interesting points. She said that the budget changes every year as it depends on the sponsors as well. The festival reaped huge commercial returns as companies bid for licenses to rent out large spaces to the smaller vendors. The winner of the bidder allegedly paid 150,000 Baht for one of the licenses. However, the local vendors, who are people of Phon Phisai, do not need to pay. The other vendors, including many from all parts of Thailand, had to pay 200 Baht as rental to set up a small stall. I did ask her if there were any foreign vendors, such as vendors from Laos. She replied that there might be, but said that it was difficult to differentiate them from the locals. 58 Soon, the mayor returned and we were sitting in his office conducting an interview. We asked him about the naga and his personal views about it. He said that it is a local belief that there is truly the naga. He seemed to be convicted in his tone that indeed the naga exists. He said that the proof of the naga is the fireball. Each year, the fireballs appear almost at the same places and at the same time, which is the end of the Buddhist Lent, to worship the Buddha. The naga has a special place in the hearts of the people of Nong Khai province as this is the place with the most number of fireballs. There is a special attachment between the people of Nong Khai province and the naga, and the fireballs provided the visible existence of the link. The fireballs, according to him, are evidences of a special local identity, an identity that is uniquely Nong Khai. We then asked him about the history of an organized Naga Festival. He told us that it started about 10 years ago, as an organized activity with festival, games, competition, fireboats and food. However, he stressed that the fireballs had actually existed for almost 100 years. For many people of Nong Khai, naga fireballs were simply an everyday affair. It only became a more special and crowded affair when there were politics and money involved. In the past, only the villagers would watch it. Today, it is a festival boasting 100,000 to 500,000 people, locals and tourists alike. As such, the municipality office has an integral role of planning and administering matters such as the organization of stalls, corporate sponsors, operational matters such as cleaning and maintenance activities as well. He said that the religious ritual held in the morning of the day of naga fireballs, for example, is a traditional event supported by the municipality office. These events have many corporate sponsors, such as the Thai Beverage Company (approximately 150,000 Baht), DTAC 59 (approximately 40,000 Baht) and Siam City Cement Company (approximately 30,000 Baht). However, surprisingly, he said that there was little monetary support from the TAT for many years already. Most support in terms of funds is either from the budget of the municipality office, or the locals through fund-raising and corporate sponsors. Apparently, the TAT these days only helps in terms of publicity and promotion of the naga Festival to the rest of Thailand and the world in terms of advertisement and other forms of media such as maintaining an Internet website with information about the fireballs and festival etc. According to him, the local villagers are much more active; they form small communities and groups (around 10) and help in the planning, facilitation and conduct of the many rituals during the festival. He also told me that not only an identity is created; it is in fact a unique identity. In Nong Khai, the naga belief is a distinctive belief and faith that is unique to this area. Of course, no one here has ever witnessed a real Naga nor seen its true colours; however most importantly the people here want to let tourists know about their faith that transgressed boundaries of rationality. They want to let outsiders understand their faith, and largely the very existence of it lies in the visibility of the fireballs. In this case, since it could become a major ritual and it could be showcased to the rest of Thailand, and let the rest of Thailand know that the people of Nong Khai are “the children of Naga”. He even extended an invitation to me, that television crew from Singapore are most welcomed to Phon Phisai to film a documentary and perhaps promote to Singapore the naga fireballs. From the accounts of the municipality office of Phon Phisai, we can see that there are active political processes behind the naga festival. Even though local politics is much prevalent in the 60 organization of most festivals and carnivals, the naga fireballs and their existence only served to ensure that the community will continue to run the festival even if State support is low, or close to zero. As much as the information suggests that the funds from corporate sponsors are considerable, I do not think that the festival, being once a year, has managed to reap in tremendous tourism revenue for Phon Phisai. After the naga festival, Phon Phisai is back to business again – a small, tranquil town with few tourists. Surely, the driving force behind the operations of the naga festival seems to be the existence of the naga fireballs in creating a unique identity for the Phon Phisai people to be so fervently involved in. The Media and its Impact In today’s Cable Television and Internet Age of YouTube, facebook and Google, it seems ludicrous to believe that there are real naga fireballs rising from the middle of the Mekong River. However, I argue that it is precisely because of the accelerated effects brought about by the media and the Internet, with missing gaps in certain information, that has managed to put Phon Phisai, Nong Khai, and to a larger extent, Isaan, back to the stage of Thailand once more. Ideas of the naga fireballs were transmitted to various parts of Thailand, and even out of Thailand through books, TV shows, documentaries and most importantly, through movies. When I was walking along the stalls of the naga festival, there were some stalls that were selling various Thai documentaries with regard to the naga. It seems that the audiences enjoy such mysterious shows that include various other supernatural elements. In addition, there were copies of Naga books sold (in pirated photocopied form) with some photographs of strange sightings of 61 the Naga. One famous photograph of the naga was allegedly shot with American soldiers holding onto a big serpent-looking-like fish. During this time of the year, there will also be various TV programmes in the form of talk shows that attempt to investigate and discuss these mystical fireballs. Usually, the TV programmes will hire a few experts, be it scientific or supernatural, and attempt to elicit views and analyze the naga fireballs in a rational manner. These programmes can also be watched from other parts of the country and some of these experts are scientists who work and live in Bangkok. As I observed these shows, I notice that if there are telephone lines that are opened to viewers for callin, the one who would be calling would most likely be a non-Isaan person. At the end, the hosts will encourage the TV viewers to make a trip to Nong Khai and Phon Phisai to discover these mysterious naga fireballs themselves. An important movie that illustrates the naga fireballs and adds to its mysticism and immense popularity is “Mekong Full Moon Party” (2002). This award-winning film introduces Khan, a Nong Khai native who was attending university in Bangkok and went back to his hometown for the annual Naga fireballs festival. The film also presents semi-realistic elements that display the controversial debate between a local physician, Dr. Nortai, who believed there is a scientific explanation for the phenomenon. However, Dr. Suraphol, a university professor, thinks otherwise; he thinks that the fireballs are manmade and are a hoax. The interesting part of the film is that through these various competing discourses about the naga fireballs, it sets up a conflict between science and religion that threatened to change the annual celebration. After the screening of the movie in Thailand, visitors to Phon Phisai allegedly shot up by 100%. 62 What can we learn from all these media portrayals of the naga fireballs? Using the naga fireballs, we can clearly see a pattern of Phon Phisai, and more generally, Nong Khai, being more visible on the map of Thailand. The marginalization of Isaan cartographically speaking is becoming less obvious as the fireballs rightly place Phon Phisai visibly on the national Thai stage. Although sparked off by curiosity, the fireballs have motivated Thai people (including a curious student like myself) to spatially move towards a liminal land space to witness some mystical fireballs; along the way, there would inevitably be some interactions between the two groups of people. I was waiting along the river for the fireballs to appear when a TV crewmember was standing beside me, preparing to film the fireballs and put it on television for the rest of the Thai people to witness. The Margin is Centering, Too While Horstmann and other scholars are contending that there is a “centering of the margin” (2006), I will also add that, in fact, using the naga fireballs as an analytical lens to understand Phon Phisai, Nong Khai and Isaan, that the “margin is centering too”. Although Cohen is right in his studies of the naga fireballs that there is tourism impact felt in Phon Phisai when people are second-guessing about the truth of the naga fireballs, I do not think that the impact and revenue generated are worthy of such elaborate planning, dynamic political processes of gaining support for different groups, gathering of corporate sponsors and fund-raising activities. When I was at Phon Phisai, life pretty much returned to the initial state of a quiet small town after a week of the naga festivities. Hence, there must be an added dimension that the naga fireballs have provided, in terms of the social and political impetus behind this festival. 63 I believe that understanding the naga fireballs and its empirical existence will shed light to the fact that the marginalization of Isaan, or at least in Phon Phisai, is not as one-sided as it seems. Without State support in terms of monetary means, the people of Phon Phisai have still gathered together as a community to put the event on national calendar. They have tried hard to market the event to the Thai audience by putting up a good carnival year after year. Although it became easier with the help of media, I truly felt the great effort put in by the people of Phon Phisai. As such, a liminal event – naga fireballs, has also illuminated us to the finer details of the politics and lives of these people. 64 Chapter Five - Conclusion: A Long Road Ahead I had the good fortune to visit a monk working in Temple Wat York Keew who is in fact, relatively young at the age of 28. He told me that he has been a monk for many years and he can provide some perspectives of the naga fireballs to me. I asked him about the naga fireballs and he replied without conviction that they were the products of the Great Naga. His replies mostly conform to the teachings of Buddhism. I further commented that such beliefs of the naga are not in line with the orthodox philosophical doctrines of Buddhism. Looking at him, he said that there is room for such unorthodox beliefs to be within the realm of Buddhism; as long as the beliefs do not contradict the teachings of Buddha. In fact, he mentioned that there were various naga cities, and such teachings of the naga were passed down from the high monks in Laos. Me: I can hardly believe, in today’s day and age, that there are “naga cities”. Monk (smiling): If you believe, then it may be so. If you do not believe, it may be so too. Such fluid views are common amongst the many views of my informants. In my thesis, I have asked several central questions with regard to the naga fireballs and some theoretical considerations. Can we use the naga fireballs as an anthropological lens to understand larger issues of liminality and the purported marginalization of the Isaan region? Can the concept of liminality be used in tandem with community and centre/periphery to explain the underlying processes of the naga fireballs? More importantly, why do the naga fireballs matter? 65 I believe that my thesis has adequately answered these questions. Using the naga fireballs as a liminal event and its beliefs, I have gone on to explore the concept of liminality as argued by Turner (1982) vis-à-vis utilizing it as an anthropological lens. In Chapter Two, I have illustrated that liminality is present spatially and ideologically in the locality of Phon Phisai. Even though one can analyze Phon Phisai as a liminal space due to its geographical configuration as a borderland, the intricacies of liminality can never be fully explored unless one looks at it using the naga fireballs as a “carnival” that sparks off the liminality of the locality. On an ideological level, the liminal people of Phon Phisai do have shifting identities. Their identities were already made complicated due to their locality within a liminal space. Insofar, it has not been made easier for they are in constant interaction with the Lao people, through legal travels to Vientiane for a short holiday, Thai-Lao weekly bazaars or illegal smuggling activities. Some people regard themselves as Thais, most treat the Lao people as brothers and a handful see them with hostilities. However, using the naga fireballs as an analytical lens, we can see that their shifting identities have been revealed to be more complex – how does one define himself or herself as the people of the naga? Who can claim that kind of exclusivity? Can we exclude the Lao people, who some, also claim to be people of the naga as well? These are questions surfaced when one uses the naga fireballs to look at the liminality of Phon Phisai and these questions certainly have no easy answers. On the event itself, the liminality of the naga fireballs is fully uncovered as people’s perspectives and ideas of its origins and authenticity kept people second-guessing. That is one important factor that makes the naga fireballs so important and indispensable in this thesis: people 66 perennially fail to grasp and understand the naga fireballs fully. They are always skeptical about its existence and origins; but once its empirical existence is verified by oneself, the liminality sets in again. In other words, the naga fireballs are always in-between truths. This unique quality of being a mystical event that has religious/supernatural origins supported by fireballs witnessed by thousands of Thais is what I think, makes it a truly liminal event. Liminality is also explored through two planes intertwining and it is best represented by the curious case of Kham Chanot. Fuelled by the naga beliefs and strange tales, the story of Kham Chanot suggests an intricate process of liminality operating on a spatial and ideological plane that criss-cross. Roles and myths are entangled when one hears about it and when one sets foot on it, other roles and stories will take over. Such is the power of liminality when one looks at the naga fireballs in its own right. However, the story does not end here. Liminality does not last forever, as humans cannot thrive in places or beliefs that are uncertain. Therefore, I argue in Chapters Two that liminality can be used in tandem with the concept of a community. I have shown that the concept of community can be explored in a broader than Turner’s “communitas” concept (Turner 1982) when one looks at the naga fireballs being the same liminal event that helps to construct a community’s identity. This is done through invented traditions and memories (Hobsbawn 1983), as well as having visible naga symbols as ubiquitous physical structures and landmarks, evidences such as possessing a naga fossil bone, and the shared communal experience of witnessing the naga fireballs. 67 Here, I cannot overly emphasize the importance of the naga fireballs and the authentic lived experience of witnessing it “live”. I apologise to the reader in advance if I cannot articulate the experience well in words. Truly, one must experience it on his/her own, right in Phon Phisai, along the Mekong River, that one can really appreciate the communal experience, when mysticism and awe overwhelm one’s body and religiosity rises to an all-time high. I have experienced other religious rituals and even though some are stranger than fiction, the feeling of witnessing pinkish fireballs rising from the Mekong River, without knowing the real cause of it, is unparalleled. In Chapter Three I have argued that using a liminal event such as the naga fireballs, one can understand political dynamics that prevalent scholarship of state-society, agency-narrative and centre and peripheral politics might overlook. In my thesis, the focus is more on the centre and periphery concept where I illustrate how understanding the processes underlying the naga fireballs and its festival has shed light on how the Thai State has to adopt certain strategies in order to deal with the perceived naga problem. The naga fireballs present a unique challenge to its rational discourse and they are perhaps compelled to engage the locals of Isaan, Nong Khai and Phon Phisai on their own terms. Through the stories of the conviction and fervent of local Phon Phisai religious groups and factions fighting to contribute to the naga festival in Chapter Four, I have presented added dimensions and a more complicated local political story. This is because some see the organization of the festival more than just acquiring political power – it is about contributing to one’s faith and defending one’s Isaan identity. Also, the mayor’s account of the political 68 processes and the difficulties the town faces due to a lack of monetary support from the Thai State also shows the underlying political and socio-economic processes better. Although Cohen did raise several pertinent points with regard to how the naga fireballs have contributed immensely to the tourism industry of Phon Phisai and Isaan due to its postmodernization status (Cohen 2007), he did not use the naga fireballs as the pivotal lens to understand the people of Phon Phisai better. His main project was still tourism and the commodification of religious rituals. However, I think with the naga fireballs as the centre of scholastic focus, we can perhaps postulate that the tourism factor was in fact not vastly important. Once the naga festivities subsided, the number of tourists for the rest of the calendar year decreases tremendously. In fact, when I asked Paa X about her hostel business at the second level of the bookstore, she said that it was barely surviving; she was operating it out of interest. Thus I believe that the naga fireballs and its beliefs has created a communal identity for the people of Phon Phisai to defend and maintain, amidst the immense amount of liminality that they have to deal with, both spatially and ideologically in their everyday lives. Lastly, I have also shown that with the aid of media and its impact, Isaan marginalization can be reexamined using the naga fireballs as analytical lens. It need not always be a case of “centering the margin” (Horstmann 2006), but it can also be a case whereby the margin is centering, too. We can use the festival to look at how Phon Phisai and Isaan is trying to make itself more visible by using the fireballs as a way to put themselves back on the map, the calendar and present themselves to the Thai national audience. We need not only look at Isaan as a helpless and poor region that is constantly being marginalized. The posters, calendars, television talk-shows, 69 documentaries, coverage of the fireballs appearing “live” on television, poorly-made YouTube videos that show the naga fireballs are potent ways to realign and thrust Phon Phisai and Isaan back to the national limelight once again. To be honest, ethnographic work can never claim to be representative of the population at large. In fact, to claim that it is representative would be to ignore or overlook the specific complex political and socio-economic processes that would be unique to a particular place or region. My observations in Phon Phisai and in some parts of Nong Khai, are perhaps unique to these localities. However, my thesis has shown that using a liminal event such as the naga fireballs can reveal many more stories and processes of the people who inhabit these localities. Without this lens, such stories might be overlooked and borderland studies would be rendered much less interesting. I hope that my thesis has contributed in a small way to the study of borderlands and liminality. I also hope that future research can be conducted on the Lao side of the Mekong River as well. Although residing there presents a significant amount of challenge due to its underdevelopment, I hope that there will be scholars who can study more on the Lao perspective and perhaps illuminate new insights that would otherwise be hidden in the rural-ness of the village on the other side. A comparative study can also be made, using the naga fireballs as the pivotal analytical lens to tell a tale of two towns – cartographically distinct yet narrative-wise silent. The stories of their lives should also be made known to the world. 70 It was an early morning as I prepared to depart from Phon Phisai back to Bangkok. My lived experience here was indeed a rich one, for many friendships, many hot afternoons, countless conversations and idle banter, had enriched my life in one way or another. 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Peluso, “Territorialization and State Power in Thailand” in Theory and Society, Vol. 24, pp 385 – 426, 1995 Yaeger, Patricia (editor), The Geography of Identity, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, c1996, Zdzisaw, Mach, Symbols, conflict, and identity: essays in political anthropology, Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993 80 Newspaper and Internet Sources Gampell, Jennifer, “Culture and Thought – Personal Journey: Great Balls of Fire – A Supernatural Serpent Thrills Thailand” The Asian Wall Street Journal, 8 November 2002 Walsh, Gary, “River of Fire”, The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 March 2004 Somsin, B., & Ganjanakhundee, S., “Fireball probe scorches iTV” in The Nation, Bangkok, pp. 1A, 4A, November 6, 2002 “Briefing: Naga fireballs”, The Herald, 17 October 2005 “Burps for Buddha or balls of gas?” New Zealand Herald, 28 October 2003 “People eagerly to witness Naga fireballs again tonight”, Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies, 11 October 2003 Sriring, Orathai, “Mystery Thai fireball phenomenon of a damp squib”, Reuters News, 22 October 2002 “Great balls of fire”, The Nation, 18 October 2005 “The Mekong’s Mysterious Fireballs”, The New Paper, Singapore, Singapore Press Holdings, 6 December 2004 “Puzzling pieces”, Bangkok Post, 19 October 2003 “Ministry stands by fireball hypothesis”, The Nation, 15 October 2003 Gagliardi, Jason, Behind the Secret of the Naga’s Fire, in Time Online Article http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,391567,00.html, 17 November 2002 81 Thai Sources อุดม เชยกิวงศ์ , ศรั ทธาของพญานาค ภมิปัญญา, พศ 2547, (2004) (The Faith of the Great Naga), กรุ งเทพฯ: วิถีความคิด – วิถีชีวติ ชาวนาอีสาน (World View and Lifestyle of Isan Farmers) 2541 1998 เมืองปากห้ วยหลวง อําเภอโพนพิสัย (In the mouth of Huai Luang, Phon Phisai District) ทีว่ าการอําเภอโพนพิสัยหลังเก่ า (About the old Phon Phisai District) ปรากฎการณืมหัศจรรย์ บังไฟพญานาค (The amazing phenomenon of the naga fireballs) ประวัตขิ องป่ าเห่ งชีวติ ป่ าผืนสุดท้ าย ต้ นไม้ สองพันปี (The history of a 2000 year-old forest in Baandung, Thon Buri Province) เติม วิภาคย์ พจนกิจ ประวัตศิ าสตร์ อสิ าน (The history of Isaan) บังไฟพญานาค มหัศจรรย์ ของแม่ นําโขง (The naga fireballs of the magical Mekong River) 82 คําชะโนด เมืองพญานาค (Kham Chanot, The city of the naga) พญานาคมีจริง? (Is the naga real?) 83 Appendix 1A The tables and chairs of the naga festival in Nong Khai City. Naga Symbols in Nong Khai City. 84 The crowd gathers along Mekong River at Phon Phisai. Food stalls at the naga festival. 85 Tables for local officials and V.I.Ps. A religious ritual during the naga festival. 86 Thai monks awaiting. These are not naga fireballs. They are lights on a boat in the middle of the dark Mekong River. 87 Appendix 1B Phon Phisai Café. I met Phii Daeng here. The morning ritual at the naga festival. 88 Important people i.e. police, government officials at the festival. The spirit house of Phon Phisai. 89 Naga fossil bone at Wat Po Chai. Thai-Lao Weekly bazaar. 90 Kham Chanot’s entrance. It leads to a small temple. Singaporean donors to the temple of Kham Chanot. 91 Naga symbols and imagery at work. Visit to Wat York Keew 92 Tu Racing Car Shop. [...]... human being and the Buddha let him retain this form so that he could enter monkhood One day the naga fell asleep and the spell wore off resulting in the Buddha asking the naga to leave the monkhood In response, the naga asked 6 the Buddha if in future pre-ordination rites a man being ordained as a monk could be called “naga” in remembrance of the naga faith in Lord Buddha s teachings The Buddha accepted... were also Isaan in flavour and some Lao people even fancy grabbing a bite at the coffee shops closer to the town centre Now, the vital question to ask is: what has the naga fireballs, as an event, got to do with the ThaiLao bazaar? The answer is: the naga festival, which includes a bazaar, looks almost the same as the Thai-Lao bazaar The same shelter is used to sell foodstuffs; the same restaurants along... the geographical landscape of the area being a borderland and the shifting ideological identities of being a member of Phon Phisai, and to a larger extent, the Isaan region It uses the naga fireballs as lens to understand liminal people who are also living in such in- between” spaces Chapter Three will pay attention to the community aspect of the naga fireballs and how it brings about an internal structure... Chapter Two - Liminality Liminality at a Spatial Level – Borderlands as In- between Spaces With much good fortune, I got to know Phi Daeng at a rare cafe scene, something uncommon in a small town in Northeastern Thailand Phi Daeng is a local and typical Isaan person, who works as a freelance graphic designer, and also helps out at the regular café that I hang out with He is 42 years old, and a swinging...5 A Short Introduction to the Naga While I was busily munching my hot dog and sipping a glass of cool coconut drink, I could hear various touts selling a wide range of (suspiciously pirated) VCDs containing origin stories and various myths of the naga and its fireballs There are various myths concerning the naga in Southeast Asia The naga (known to the Thai/Lao as the naak) is certainly no stranger... and shifting allegiances due to the centres of power shifting 26 selling and mingling amongst both Thais and Laos are being conducted at this in- between space of approximately two kilometers along the Mekong River at Phon Phisai Liminality of the Naga Fireballs as an Event In fact, the Thai-Lao bazaar has exposed an important liminal aspect of the naga fireballs – of a liminal event It constantly shifts... Thai-Lao bazaar Talaat Thai-Lao – Borderland Markets The Thai-Lao weekly market/bazaars are significant testaments to the dynamics exhibited by the people living within borderlands It is in fact a microcosm of a borderland community On every Tuesday and Saturday, eager Lao people will travel across the Mekong River to purchase highly sought after Thai products Language is not a problem to these people as... the naga is a devout worshipper of the Buddha and pays his respects to Buddha Hence, these naga fireballs are said to be paying respects to the Lord Buddha and displaying their delight while Buddha returns from Heaven to Earth after visiting His mother (Somsin and Ganjanakhundee 2002) In particular, the people living along the Mekong River would be very familiar with the notion of the Naga As aptly argued... being marginalized? Even though scholars are arguing that the marginal spaces are heavily influenced by the centre, I would suggest that the “margin” is in fact, in its bid to centre itself; just as Phon Phisai might be centering itself to the bigger Thailand stage as a whole And using the naga fireballs as a case study, we can see that the Isaan periphery is “centering itself too.” The common theoretical... fireballs at a liminal area brought about by having no concrete rational explanation as to why and how the naga fireballs are formed In other words, there was simply no certain answer to it I am developing Turner’s idea of liminality to include in- between spaces and events as well in this thesis In addition, the liminality of the naga fireballs is such that it is neither confirmed to be authentic nor false ... is: what has the naga fireballs, as an event, got to with the ThaiLao bazaar? The answer is: the naga festival, which includes a bazaar, looks almost the same as the Thai-Lao bazaar The same shelter... Mainland Southeast Asia, and into Southern China When asked about Thailand’s relationship with Laos, he said that Laos is like a brother to them, in particular Isaan, since they are just separated... day the naga fell asleep and the spell wore off resulting in the Buddha asking the naga to leave the monkhood In response, the naga asked the Buddha if in future pre-ordination rites a man being