
The annual Rocket Festival, known as Bun Bung Fai, is held every May and June in a few provinces of Northeastern Thailand, or ‘Issan’ as it’s more commonly known. Farmers become de facto rocket scientists as the monsoon season approaches, carrying on a tradition that goes back generations. Attention turns from crop yields to propellant mixtures, burn rates, thruster angles, and optimal parachute deployment.

While most well-known in Yasothon and Roiet Provinces, Bun Bung Fai is also celebrated in neighboring Kalasin. The premier Kalasin event is held in Baan Kut Wa, Kuchinarai District. There is an epic parade on the Saturday beforehand that veers between respectful and bawdy. Anyone who has visited the northeast knows that Issan loves to party.
Unique to the Kalasin event is the ‘Bung Fai Dtalai’, or spinning rockets. Other provinces use the traditional long rocket design, but ‘Dtalai-style’ rockets are arguably more dramatic; slowly gaining momentum while corkscrewing up into the clouds. Successful flights are met with cheers by the team. Each of these represents weeks of work and investment, and also good luck.







Rockets are categorized by size: 10,000 Rocket, 100,000 Rocket, 1,000,000 Rocket and up. Rules are simple; the winner of each category is the team whose rocket stays aloft the longest. The parachute must release at the absolute peak of the arc to maximize airtime. Atmospheric conditions play a huge role. I accompanied the Thep Burapha team (‘Eastern Heaven’) as they launched several rockets. Thep Burapha is the reigning record holder of the Kalasin ‘Bung Fai Dtalai Saen’ (100,000 Rocket) category, with airtime of more than 17 minutes.
Launches commence at 7 am, with a total of around 60 for the day. Teams carry their projectiles to the launch site, prayers are said, gas is applied, the fuses are lit, and everyone sprints flat out to get behind sand piles in case the thing explodes; these rockets are essentially bombs designed to burn slowly. The whole thing wraps up late Sunday afternoon when a massive 20,000,000 Rocket, six meters in diameter, successfully launched to massive applause. (Last year it exploded during lift-off.) Many of the rocket scientists miss the end-of-the-day launches, as they are rolling around in mud pits to cool off. There is possibly some drinking involved.
Thep Burapha’s 1045-second record stood for another year.