FROM RITUAL CANDLES TO UBON RATCHATHANI’S INTERNATIONAL CANDLE FESTIVAL

Abstract

Ubon Ratchathani has been a border town of the kingdom since the Thon Buri period, B.E. 2323. A majority of residents of the city share Lan Xang cultures, including twelve heet and fourteen kong (“traditions” or “rituals” that help people have a good life) that have long been practiced on the two sides of the Mekong River. During the Buddhist Lent, the villagers performed religious activities, paying homage at the temple and bringing some of the ritual candles back home, believing that those candles would bring them happiness and good luck. Later, they made a bundle of ritual candles and gave them to the Buddhist monks at the temples. In B.E. 2444, Prince Sunpasitthiprasong initiated that all the villages in the city should prepare candle processions and parade to the temples nearby. During the Second World War, this religious ritual became the city's annual festival, and the candles grew more elaborate. In B.E. 2520, this local festival was elevated to one of Thailand’s tourism festivals, and later in B.E. 2532, it was promoted to one of the international tourism festivals of Thailand. This is an example of inventing and turning Buddhist rituals into a context of social change that cannot disrupt the sustainable tourism discourse. However, who is the beneficiary of such economic activities?