"Boat racing in Nan"
by Krisda Dhiradityakul
This weekend will be a feast for boat racing enthusiasts when the largest dragon boat racing event of the year will be staged on the Nan River in Nan, a sleepy little town with a population of only 70,000 people. For the rest of the year, nothing wildly exciting happens here. There is not much activity at night as Nan is something of a rarity in Thailand in that it doesn't provide illegal nocturnal 'entertainment' that places such as Pattaya do. However, what Nan has to offer is a peaceful atmosphere for its visitors.
I was recently sitting by the side of the river, enjoying the gentle breeze which wafts across the water by the riverside restaurant, and enjoying some of the local cuisine with my friends. Suddenly the silence was shattered by the rhythmic chanting of male voices. Then a long boat with sixty oarsmen suddenly materialized right in front of us. It was a narrow wooden craft, thirty metres long, and painted red and gold in the traditional local style. On its bow, a carved image of the Naga towered above the water line to chase away bad spirits, while inviting only the good ones to participate. Its crew, dressed in blue and red velvet shirts paddled furiously against the current to the frantic beating of a drum by the captain, who was sitting on the stern.
The Boat Racing Festival of Nan province is held annually right after the end of the rainy season around early November. According to old stories, boat racing combined religious rituals and entertainment. Back in the old days people utilized the river as their main source of transportation for the offering of robes to the monks after the rainy season. This ceremony is known as Tarn Guay Salark (ตานก๋วยสลาก). Traveling by boat was a relaxing way of getting to the temples and allowed people to socialize and enjoy the trip. As we all know, a sense of competition for fun and friendship has been programmed into our blood. Women also took this opportunity to arrange meetings with male friends. Usually women were restricted to work in their houses and had little or no opportunity for any sort of social life. Boat racing provided a once a year opportunity to let their hair down before returning to the drudgery of home life. So boat racing was a social function, as well as a sporting event.
No one knows exactly when boat racing actually began. According to archaeological artifacts discovered in Ban Tha Lor, Muang District, Nan Province. , the wooden boats called "Sua Thao Tha Lor," are believed to date back to the early Rattanakosin Period. The design hasn't changed over the years. Hundreds of spectators witness the festival each year and it has become one of the most amazing festivals in Thailand. If you are looking for an exciting water sport, the boat racing festival in Nan is not to be missed.
However, the winds of change are blowing down the river. While the festival draws lots of tourists and money into Nan every year, this doesn't mean that the economy of Nan is getting any better and local people are reaping the harvest. In reality, the local people are losing out. Most of the shops and booths set up for the festival are not run by locals. Only one large beverage company from Bangkok has been allowed to monopolize these outlets. In addition, the company was allowed to display its advertisements all over town. Under the sponsor's contract, the company was allowed to put huge advertising signs all over the city, and place its outlets in several key locations in the festival area. To make matters worse, small vendors were forbidden to sell their products in the same place. The large amount of money put in to sponsor the festival is enough to halt all activities if the company suddenly withdraws its support. According to organizers, they tried to reject the support of the large monopoly, but couldn't find any other people to help them. According to the staff of the Public Health Center, they can only try to convince people not to indulge in drinking alcohol to excess, and instruct vendors to obey the law in that they must not sell alcoholic drinks to underage people, and only sell drinks at a certain time. There seems to be nothing else the Public Health Center can do.
This tug of war between the government and the profit driven private company is a farce. In typical Thai fashion the government is simply failing to enforce existing laws, in much the same way that it shirks its many other responsibilities. In the eyes of some, the festival is becoming more tourist orientated, while the significance of its cultural heritage is being reduced. People just come to Nan to drink while watching the boat racing and the major drink companies will reap the benefits.
Politicians have also been accused of typical abuse of power. For example, it's been suggested that local politicians will seize this opportunity to advertise their names on the side of the boats and elsewhere as the hosts and supporters of the festival. The public could get the impression that the festival is being promoted or supported by one particular politician instead of the entire population of the province.
Over the next few days leading up to the event, the opposing forces will be pedaling their messages. The alcohol lobby is going all out to make sure they sell as many drinks they can entice people to buy. Not far from away, signs campaigning against drinking have also been erected. It is such an oxymoron that the signs extolling such totally opposing messages are being displayed at the same time in the same area. There is a faint possibility that it is a genuine combination of cultural preservation and tourism promotion. However many are worried that tourism seems to be taking priority, while the cultural significance of the event is being pushed into the background.
