A rocket with 120 kilos of gunpowder, shot from a scaffold, to keep a god to an old promise. That is Bun Bang Fai, the rocket festival with which villages in the Isaan herald the rainy season every year. #Yasothon celebrates the largest, this year from May 8 to 10 in Phaya Thaen Park.
The name half explains it. Bun stands for earning merit, a bang fai is a flare. The festival is part of the sixth month of the moon, just before the rains come and the farmers start planting the rice. For those who depend on the monsoon, that is not a side issue. The roots lie in fertility rites before Buddhism, and rockets also go up in Laos every year. It is not a silent ceremony. There is dancing, drinking and a lot of spotting, and the teams that lose end up in the mud, according to the Thailand Foundation.
A path prince who waged war with the rain god
The explanation is in a legend told throughout the Mekong area. Phaya Khankhak, a prince from the city of Inthapat Nakhon, was born with the skin of a toad.
Because he faithfully followed Buddhist teachings, he turned into the most handsome man on earth. Humans, animals and celestial beings were so full of him that they forgot to make sacrifices to Phaya Thaen, the god of rain.
Phaya Thaen retaliated. He forbade the naga, the serpent king, to swim any longer in the heavenly pond, and the rain stayed away. The drought lasted seven years, seven months and seven days. Khankhak went to war with people and animals.
Termites built a road into heaven, the army won, and Phaya Thaen had to promise to send enough rain from now on. Since then, rockets have been going up as a reminder of that agreement.
From one kilo to 120 kilos of gunpowder
The missiles get their name after the gunpowder inside. A bang fai kilo contains one kilo, a bang fai muen 12 kilos and a bang fai saen 120 kilos, reports the Thai traffic agency TAT. The body of the rocket, the lao bang fai, is a tube of about one and a half to seven meters. It used to be bamboo, tied together with bamboo rope. Now builders also use steel and plastic pipes, because the powder is easier to squeeze in.
In Kalasin it goes one step further. There, the Phu Thai Kutwa people launch rockets from huge wheels up to six meters across. In 2022, there were 50 rockets weighing 120 kilos on the program and two bang fai tai lan weighing 1,200 kilos.
Even in the Deep South, rockets take to the air, in Sukhirin district in Narathiwat. People from the Isaan who moved there took the party with them.
Two days in the village, three in the city
Traditionally, Bun Bang Fai lasted two days. On the first, the host village and neighboring villages marched with their rockets to the temple, with dance and plays about village life, such as tying fishing nets. On the second day they brought food to the monks and the rockets of the scaffolding went. Wooden fertility symbols walked along, the palad khik, and the songs were anything but prudish.
Yasothon has made it a big provincial celebration. On Friday the decorated rockets were positioned along Chaeng Sanit Road and in the evening the Miss Rocket election followed. Saturday was the big parade, which also included a competition in reciting folk verses. On Sunday at seven o'clock in the morning, the teams reported for the safety inspection. An hour later, the governor and mayor fired the first rocket, along with a rocket that predicts the year. The awards ceremony followed at four o'clock in the afternoon.
The party was held later in 2025, from May 16 to 18. It didn't happen at all in 2020 and 2021.
A program that is online late
If you want to see it for yourself, count on a late announcement. The official 2026 program was not online on the Thai government site until May 6, two days before the first rocket. The major launches are on the last day, from eight o'clock ’in the morning.
Sources: Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT Newsroom), Thailand Foundation, Thailand.go.th of the Government Public Relations Department (accessed November 6, 2026).
Source: Thailandblog.nl
