Rocket Madness from Isaan

My first trip to Thailand was in 1990. There was a war in Cambodia. The Burmese border was unsafe. A sign was posted at hotel entrances; NO GUNS GRENADES, LANDMINES, OR DURIAN. These warnings no longer grace the doors of hotel rooms and this last week red-shirt protesters launched M-79 grenades onto the Skytrain platforms as anti-demonstrators contested their right to hold a city hostage. Their aim was true and several people were killed and more than a few were seriously wounded by the missiles.

The Thais was good with bombs guns and explosives. evolved from pre-Buddhist fertility rites to celebrate the coming of the rains and the end of the dry season.

Every year the northeastern provinces hold the Prapheni Bun Bang Fai rocket festival to entice the Naga spirits to deliver the right amount of rain for the rice growing Rocket enthusiasts from around Asia flock to scenic Yasothon to join in the missile mayhem with their own versions of the bang fai naga rockets.

No one wears helmets or goggles and drinking lao seems to be the only safety measure.

If you get drunk enough, then you will lie in the shade out of harm’s way.

The Japanese won that segment of the contest.

Winners are decided by how long the projectiles constructed of bamboo or PVC piping and fueled by a mixture of nitrate and charcoal remain in the air. Rockets can be up to 3 meters in length. Over 50% never leave the ground, but those achieving take-off fly without any benefit of guidance.

"I shot a rocket in the air, where it lands I do not care is the working theory."

Explosives, lao whiskey, and a four-day celebration are the right ingredients for misadventure as was proven by a potentate from the pseudo-ruling party. His missile was the biggest in the festival (6 meters) and billed as the acme of bamboo rocketry.

The farmers toasted the minister with lao whiskey.

He lit the fuse all smiles.

The rocket flew into the heaven and then veered off course.

It landed 3 kilometers away in a village, blowing windows from the school van and nearby houses as well as scattering rocket debris over the area.

How do you say ‘opps’ in Thai?

The minister claimed responsibility and did not flee the scene of the incident.

On the upside, the minister has been contacted by several space weapons agencies in the west to help them with their missiles. He must be under contract to the red shirts these days. Khun Thaksin has the big money for the crazy rocket men of Isaan.