Phi Ta Khon is a  type of masked procession celebrated on the first day of a three-day Buddhist merit making holiday know in Thai as "Boon Pra Wate". The annual festival takes place in May, June or July at a small town of Dan Sai in the Northeastern province of Loei. Participants of the festival dress up like ghosts and monsters wearing hung masks made from carved coconut tree trunks, topped with a wicker work sticky rice steamer. The procession is marked by a lot of music and dancing.

The precise origin of the Phi Ta Khon is unclear. However, it can be traced back to a tradition Buddhist folklore. In the Buddha's next to last life, he was already dead. When he suddenly returned, his people were over joyed. They welcomed him back with a celebration so loud that it was held to evoke the annual rains from the heavens by  farmers and to bless crops.

On the second day, the villagers dance their way to the temple and fire off the usual bamboo rockets to signal the end of the procession. The festival organizers also hold contests for the best masks, costumes and dancers, and brass plaques are awarded to the winners in each age group. The most popular is the dancing contest.

Then comes the last day of the event, the villagers then gather at the local temple, Wat Ponchai, to listen to the message of the thirteen sermon of Lord Buddha recited by the local monks.

Then it is time for the revellers to put away their ghostly masks and costumes for another year. From now on, they must again return to the paddy fields to eke out their through rice farming as their forefathers did.

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