It was some three hours after midnight on June 15, when four men arrived with a black water buffalo at the foot of Doi Kham Mountain to prepare for a sacrifice, whose tradition goes back to the time of the Buddha. Doi Kham is about 10km in the southwest of the city of Chiang Mai and located in Tambon Mae Hia, Amphoe Muang.

The moon was brightly shining just one night before getting full. Villagers of ten villages had purchased the buffalo a few days before out in San Patong and now one of the men killed the buffalo with a big knife to see how it falls in the forest near the Mae Hia Creek originating from the mountain. After one hour, they moved the animal to another platform with the head and its horns looking east. This was the start of the annual Pu Sae Ya Sae spirit worship ritual, which is nowadays more and more celebrated in style.

When I arrived at 6.00 o’clock in the morning, the outlay of the ritual ground was already prepared. The killed buffalo was located within a marked sacred space in front of twelve spirit houses, which were all named according to personalities, which are all worshiped according to the legend.

The legend tells of the old cannibal couple of Pu Sae Ya Sae, who lived on the two mountains of Doi Suthep and Doi Kham. Doi Suthep is north of Doi Kham. In the time, when Buddha was still living and traveled the world, he came to a village to take a rest. Thus, the Hindu Gods of Brahma and Indra blessed the village by bringing a rainstorm of gold and silver. As it rained gold at the village, the Buddha predicted that this place will be called Doi Kham meaning “Mountain of Gold” in the future. As it rained silver further north, the mountain there was called Doi Ngoen, meaning “Mountain of Silver” later to be named Doi Suthep.

At the village of Doi Kham, Buddha noticed a kind of the emptiness and asked for the reason. The villagers confirmed to him that there are two giants, who live on the two mountains as husband and wife. They often come to the village and catch people for food. That was the reason why it was so quiet and empty in the village.

Buddha felt sorry for the defenseless villagers and left to talk to the giants. He asked them to stop eating people and predicted that because of his teachings there will be soon many monks to live in this area. When the two giants heard Buddha’s plea, they asked him to allow them to have two buffalos per year instead of people and enlighten them with his teaching. Buddha blessed them by revealing them the five precepts and left.

So it comes that even today, in the ninth month of the Lan Na Thai lunar calendar, there still is a forest feast at the foot of Doi Kham for Ya Sae. Actually, a parallel feast for Pu Sae was held at the foot of Doi Suthep, but fell into oblivion a long time ago.

The ceremony started shortly after 8.00 o’clock, when some village women prepared the prescribed offerings to the spirits, containing pieces of bread, banana, popcorn, pork skin, sticky rice, sugarcane, tobacco and also water. There were bundles of 24 big silver and small gold candles each. Six trays for the spirit of the soil were prepared along 23 huge banana leave trays for the spirit houses, each containing six cigars and betel nuts.

In the south of the ritual area was a “sala” which slowly filled up with visitors to see the spirit medium, a Hang Dong villager in his thirties, who was to be possessed by the spirit of Ya Sae. At 8.20 o’clock the ritual master named “Achan Phromma” (77) appeared to read out the sacred texts to call the spirits to reside in the different houses. Actually, there were two spirit houses for the hermit “Suthep” which were erected in front of the others. Traditional music of drums, pipes, and xylophone filled the air.

At 9.00 o’clock the ceremony culminated with the hanging of the “Phra Bot” painting featuring a standing Buddha flanked by two disciples. The banner, which was brought in a black coffin, is as nine arms length and vehemently swings at a branch of a large tree with its back to the ritual ground facing north. Nine monks from Wat Pa Chi, sitting under a tent, recited holy incantations in the Pali language, while from a bronze Buddha image a white cotton string went through the hands of the monks ending in a silver bowl.

At 9.30 strange noises were heard from the nearby “sala” and the spirit medium was possessed by the spirit of Ya Sae in front of an altar covered with flower bowls. Shortly after, the spirit of “Suthep Ruessi” was called followed by the others. In the meantime the spirit medium had left the “sala” and straight went to the buffalo to feast on its meat and blood. Then he was guided by former Mayor Boonlert Buranupakorn and others to walk along the spirit houses to end up eating raw meat and drinking blood in a nearby tree. Some visitors tried to ask him for some lottery numbers (5-3-7) etc.

At 10.15 the spirit medium left the tree and continued his walk in trance to the “Phra Bot” to worship the Buddha. Going back to the “sala” more and more visitors got excited and tried to get in touch with the medium. Last not least, visitors who had the chance to sneak into the sacred area could ask the possessed man to fasten a white string around their wrists to get health and good luck.

At 11.00 o’clock the ceremony was finally over. While the “Phra Bot” banner was covered again in the coffin, fire truck, police car and food vendors slowly went home to wait for the spectacular feast again in the coming year.
Some visitors even went home with a small copy of the colorful “Phra Bot” purchased for some 300Baht = 10USD each.