Brotherly Villages Boat Race
The Wang Thong river was historically the site for a boat race between the villagers of Ban Wang Thong and Ban Saphan. The race took place annually in November after the rainy season. The original boat race was discontinued prior to the 1940s. In 1982, a plan to reintroduce the Brotherly Villages Boat Race was discussed by senior local officials, the traders of the Wang Thong Market, farmer organizations and the abbot of Wat Bang Saphan to promote the unity of the community. Rather than having one village compete against the other as in earlier days, the new boat race involves competition between local farmer and village organizations. The first race in the reborn competition was opened by District Officer Naaj Amphoe. The present form of the boat race involves less ritual activities than the pre-1940s races.
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“Persecution was at least a sign of personal interest. Tolerance is composed of nine parts of apathy to one of brotherly love.”
—Frank Moore Colby (1865–1925)
“Glorious, stirring sight! The poetry of motion! The real way to travel! The only way to travel! Here today—in next week tomorrow! Villages skipped, towns and cities jumped—always somebody else’s horizon! O bliss! O poop-poop! O my! O my!”
—Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932)
“The utmost familiarity with dead streams, or with the ocean, would not prepare a man for this peculiar navigation; and the most skillful boatman anywhere else would here be obliged to take out his boat and carry round a hundred times, still with great risk, as well as delay, where the practiced batteau-man poles up with comparative ease and safety.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Elizabeth Janeway (b. 1913)