Housewarming Ceremony in Chiang Khong

We made a last minute trip to Chiang Khong on December 30th to attend a housewarming ceremony at Kung’s parent’s new home (we built the house so kinda had to go!). The following are some impressions from the trip to this small town on the Mekong River and to the even smaller village nearby where Kung’s parents live.

---

We woke at dawn to drive 30 minutes from our hotel on the river in Chiang Khong to Ban Jet Ton where the ceremony was being held.

This style of house is called “Loft” in Thai because of the shed style roof…don’t really know why! Anyway, it’s cheap to build, durable and efficient to live in. The construction is mostly concrete and took just a few months to build by the local contractor..who also happens to be the village Phu Yai Baan (headman), owner of the village’s biggest construction supply shop and employer of my brother-in-law.

Several young monks came to perform the ceremony which involved about an hour of chanting (listen to the audio above!) during which the laymen joined in at the appropriate moments.

Kung’s Mom and Dad under the Sum Seup Chataa, a three legged structure made of branches wrapped in gold and silver foil and adorned with cigarettes, fruit and flowers used in Lanna ceremonies to bring luck and favor, with string wrapped around the family including myself, Kung and her brother. The elders of the village were also inside the house and about 60 other folks sat outside during the ceremony. My tender ass and back started hurting after only about 15 minutes.

---

As the ceremony was concluding, a monk went outside to bless the house and the participants by sprinkling everything with holy water and then the party started! One of the elders started throwing candy and coins wrapped to look like flowers and the whole herd piled into the house, picking up the coins and candy. One industrious villager was selling lottery tickets which everyone rushed to buy, presumably because the luck was running high.

---

I highly recommend you click on the underlined links in the text to learn more about the terms and transliterated Thai words a litter throughout my scratchings.

---

The men of the village were lying in wait outside with whiskey and a roasted suckling pig, served with a dipping paste made with chilies and Plaa Ra (fermented fish).

And brunch was served, clockwise from bottom left: the aforementioned roast pig, cooked buffalo Laap, raw buffalo Laap, Kaeng Awm, Kaeng Khanun and sticky rice. All of these are considered propitious foods to eat at such an event.

---

---

Even though we had just been plied with laap and booze, we had to go back to Chiang Khong before heading home to have Khao Soi Naam Naa at Pa Orn, our travel companion Austin Bush’s and my favorite joint here. If you make it this way, this is a must do!

---