Phi Ta Khon

Phi Ta Khon belongs to Bun Luang, a merit festival in the small town of Dan Sai, and its dates are not fixed: local mediums set them each year, usually somewhere in June or July. The masks are homemade and unmistakable. The face is a sheath of coconut frond or carved husk painted in hard colours, topped with a huat, the woven bamboo basket used for steaming sticky rice, and finished with a long carved hook of a nose. Wearers carry wooden bells and dance through the streets teasing the crowd. The days close with a reading of the Vessantara Jataka at the temple, which is the point of the whole thing.

What you actually see

• The masks - rice steamers, coconut husk and long carved noses.
• The parade - dancers working the crowd with bells and jokes.
• The mask workshops - families painting in the days beforehand.
• The closing sermon - the Vessantara Jataka read at the temple.

When to go

Dates are announced only a few months ahead and vary by year, so confirm locally before booking anything. Dan Sai is small and its rooms sell out at once, which is why many visitors stay in Loei town and drive in. Mornings hold the processions; afternoons get louder, wetter and slower as the day goes on.

Honest expectations

This is a genuinely remote corner of the north-east, several hours from the nearest airport, and public transport on festival days is overwhelmed. Accommodation in Dan Sai is basic and booked out far ahead. The afternoons involve heavy drinking and the crowd presses hard around the dancers. Nothing is explained in English, and rain in June is likely.

Nearby

The Loei highlands and the ridges around Phu Ruea lie east of the town.