Thoed Thai - Kruba Boonchum - Casting a gold Buddha - Wat Ka Kham

DavidFL

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Making merit for my birthday at the Shan temple of Wat Ka Kham in Thoed Thai with my favourite monk, I got an invite to pop along to the Wat on the 5th January 2021 for Kruba Boonchum's birthday & casting a gold Buddha for him.
But I thought Kruba Boonchum was still meditating in the cave in Myanmar?
Yes he is, but we are going to take the Buddha for him to place it outside his cave, once covid is clear & we can go.
Wow that all sounds pretty special - I will come on the 4th & see you here at the Wat. An opportunity not to be missed I thought?

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A banner promoting the event. If you can't read Thai, the give away sign is the image bottom left corner, plus KBBC on the right of course. Not that I picked up on all of this at the time.

Now if you don't know about Kruba Boonchum, he's the legendary Shan monk, born near Mae Chan, who generally lives in Myanmar.
He is more like a god to the Shan people, has thousands of Shan people come to see him for his birthday, was once hunted by the Burmese army & also predicted the rescue of the 13 members of the Wild Boar football team in the cave near Mae Sai.
Kruba Boonchum often meditates in caves for more than a year at a time & is currently in the middle of a 3-year cave meditation in Myanmar.
He's featured on GTR here before.

I got away from Chiang Khong at 3.30PM & rushed over to Thoed Thai. It is not far & by 5.30 PM I was having a nice cold beer & a late lunch outside the Ting Ting restaurant, next door to the Rim Taan GH.
Fans of the Ting Ting will be amazed by the size of the new premises & I had to ask if they now had rooms for rent to double as a hotel. But nope, it is just their house upstairs & the restaurant downstairs. There's good money to be made out there in the border boondocks, despite covid-19 & a dire tourism economy!
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The Ting Ting really has excellent Yunnanese food & is a magic spot to watch the late afternoon Thoed Thai world go on by.
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Happy hour done it was time for a quick check up on Wat Ka Kham to see what was going on. Was there any Shan dancing that night as had been suggested?
There was no dancing but the Wat was certainly looking magic, with preparations well under way for the big day in the morning, although I was still unsure on exactly how it would all unfold on the day.

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Preparing a massive seub sataa (like GTR does in MHS for the Memorial Ride).
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The casting centre for the gold Buddha
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To be continued..
 
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DavidFL

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Back to the Rim Taan early & by 8Pm the old fellah was tucked up in bed, looking forward to the next day.
Situated right beside the Kham River, the Rim Taan GH is a delight at night.

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If I understand right, aproximately 56 kms downstream the little Mae Kham river is a village that is the birth place of Kruba Boonchum?
Getting the right name & precise location of the village has been a challenge, however I reckon it could be here,
in this village, but I could well be wrong, as there seems to be many variations of the village & district name of where he was born!
Ian Yonok maybe you know?

9am the next morning it is rock'n roll time at the Wat.
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The place is packed, with hundreds of Shan people coming from everywhere.
Parking the Vstrom was an issue & the old fellah opted to park it outside the grounds, where it would be accessible, in a spot where I could leave when I wanted.
The Shan people are my favourite ethnic group along with the Tai Lue, and the colourful costumes of the women always impress me no end.
Free food and drink was available everywhere for everyone.

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With John from Rim Taan
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John is the owner of Rim Taan guesthouse, & has worked on "both sides" in his lifetime. He started with US AID & the John Dooley foundation in Laos & then back home in Thoed Thai, with his ability to speak 6 languages, was a translator for Khun Sa the opium warlord; although he is not always open to discuss this.

He is a walking encyclopaedia of info on the area & there should be a documentary about his life, it has been so rich.
He is a fabulous man & human being, gentle, kind humble. We have had many wonderful times together in Thoed Thai & I love him like a brother.




Merit making is the name of the game before the big seub sataa ceremony starts, & it's interesting to note how many places around the Wat you can pay respect to make merit.
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Cash donations, that get your name read out, no matter how small the donation. Everyone gets acknowledged.
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to be continued..
 
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DavidFL

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Inside the wat the crowd is jam packed with little space to manouevre, getting photos was a serious challenge without stepping on people.
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It was quite perilous trying to work you way through the crowd to get photos & not bring the canopy of strings crashing down. Stupid bloody farang, that would have been the end of my welcome in Thoed Thai forever!
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Time to get the show underway
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To be continued
 
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DavidFL

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The morning ceremony finishes on time, then it's time to feed the monks & everyone to have lunch.
The old fellah sneaks off to the ex Khun Sa Coffee for a cuppa, during the break.

The Ex Khun Sa Coffee
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now renamed the Chon Chet Thai, for political correctness.

At 12.45PM it's time to head back up the hill to Wat Ka Kham & get ready for the main show.
I'm not alone.
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The big mould is ready
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The cauldron is boiling away
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Western industrial safety standards are not needed today.
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as the time drew closer the crowd built up & the band played on to celebrate the event.
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to be continued
 
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DavidFL

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It takes another hour of heat & noise before the big time.
I forgot to check if there was an exact auspicious time, but it was damn close to 2PM, going on the meta data from my images.

The important artisan team of the day
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Ready for the the pour & a blessing
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This was a truly awesome experience, definitely one of the best in my 40 years in Thailand, and actually the 2nd great expereience in Thoed Thai.
TQ dear Thoed Thai, the lovely Shan people of your fabulous town & last but not least the abbot of Wat Ka Kham, my favourite monk.

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Jurgen

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Compelling story, always great to get an insight in traditions that might not occur every day. As Ian said, a great place also, with an amazing ethnic diversity and traditions related to it and to its loaded history. Was worth to watch the report on a large (computer) screen.