Phi Ta Khon, the Festival of Ghosts
Once a year, a town in north-eastern Thailand fills with ghosts in huge painted masks with long noses, dancing in the streets.
What was reported
Phi Ta Khon is a festival held in Dan Sai, in Loei province. Young people dress as spirits in patchwork costumes and tall masks made from sticky-rice baskets and coconut-palm stalks, painted in bright colours with long, curling noses. They dance through the streets ringing bells.
The story behind it comes from a Buddhist tale. When Prince Vessantara, one of the Buddha's earlier lives, came home after a long exile, the celebration was so joyful that the spirits of the forest came out to join it.
Explanations offered
The festival combines the Buddhist Bun Luang ceremony with older local beliefs about spirits and the coming of the rains. It's a living tradition, and the masks are made by hand each year.
- When
- Every year, in June or July
- Where
- Dan Sai, Loei, Thailand
- Witnesses
- The people of Dan Sai
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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