Thai Cultural evening

This extraordinary evening was an insight into Thai history and culture.

The (unpronouncable) name of the evening derives from the heavy circular low tables on which the food is served along with copious amounts of plain rice and their speciality, sticky rice. Enthralling dancing and hypnotic music filled the evening – not to be missed if you ever make it to Chiang Mai.

Enjoy the images below to get a flavour of this remarkable event.

(Click to get full sized images)

Steve and Sherree sitting on the floor eating

The dancing began with the fingernail dance. Do not mess with these talons!

This dancer did clever (and highly risky) things with slow moving candles

What is it with men and knives? These huge steel sword-like knives were maneuvered skillfully around his body as he danced and (amazingly) he left the stage in one piece.

As Blue Peter says “don’t try this at home”

This lady, who danced with at least three nested umbrellas, had an accomplice who looked like fozzie bear with the head of a Llama. This creature sneaked around the audience cadging money out of unsuspecting participants. He missed me out possibly because I was carrying a camera that could have knocked him out with a single blow.

Sadly my cover couldn’t last for ever and I was hoiked out by the dance troop to do a Thai dance. Fortunately this consisted only of me copying the girl in front in a sedate amble around the dance floor. A piece of advice: if you ever get singled out to do Thai dancing keep your camera firmly round your neck as you never know who might use it to take photos like this!

Shock Horror! Ian dancing

We were then taken to another venue where tribal groups demonstrated their traditional dances some of which were amazing. This bunch kept these logs clicking against each other in a furious rhythm with their children dancing in and out of the gaps as they appeared and promptly disappeared. Astonishingly all toes remained intact for the duration of the dance.

Mind your ankles kiddo

This man emerged from the wings to play this instrument (and you name it for me? I can’t identify it).

It’s like playing six flutes simultaneously which sound when you blow and when you suck, thus creating an eerie continuous harmony that is quite captivating. No sooner had he finished playing his first piece than he began to dance with it, playing as he moved, rotating and tumbling across the floor while still filling the theatre with his sonorous melodies. Amazing

and extraordinary instrument

I thought I could smell paraffin and mentally checked our routes to the exits just in case. But I needn’t have worried as this man entered to do his fire dance around a camp fire that (thankfully) was not alight, except from a very ordinary light bulb.