Phi Ta Khon and Possession-Related Ritual in Dan Sai

Record summary

Phi Ta Khon is the distinctive masked festival of Dan Sai, linked to local Buddhist narratives, ancestral or wandering spirits, seasonal renewal, and communal procession. Contemporary documentation shows how participants, monks, officials, artisans, and tourists negotiate the festival’s meanings. The event offers a comparison point for spirit embodiment, mask performance, ritual inversion, and heritage-making in Southeast Asia. It should not be presented as a case in which literal ghosts have been demonstrated; the relevant evidence concerns ritual practice, oral tradition, local explanation, and changing public representation.