Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Around Yasothon
Phra That Kong Khao Noi
A rather sinister myth surrounds the Phra That Kong Khao Noi ( dawn-dusk) , which translates
as 'Small Sticky Rice Basket Stupa', a brick-and-stucco chedi dating from the late Ay-
uthaya period 5km outside town towards Ubon Ratchathani. According to one legend
(which is taught to school children as an example of why it's important to keep your emo-
tions in check) a young, ravenously hungry farmer, who had toiled all morning in the hot
sun, murdered his mother here when she brought his lunch to the fields late and in a small
sticky-rice basket. The farmer, eating his lunch over his mother's dead body, realised that
there was actually more food than he could eat. To atone for his misdeed, he built this
chedi .
Or perhaps not. Others say it was built by people who were travelling to Phra That
Phanom to enshrine gold and gems, but got to Ban Tat Thong and learned they were too
late; so they built this chedi instead. Some locals combine the myths and say that the re-
pentant son was unable to build a chedi of his own and so joined forces with the pilgrims
and they built it together.
Further complicating matters, most Yasothonians claim the real Small Sticky Rice Bas-
ket Stupa is at Ban Sadao village (7km east of Yasothon on Rte 202) in the back of Wat
Tung Sadoa . All that remains is the base; when the original tumbled over shortly after the
redeemed son's death, locals built another petite chedi next to it. When we asked a monk
here why Thai tourists visit the other chedi, he simply answered, ' Gahn meuang' (It's
politics).
Ban Si Than
Residents of Ban Si Than can't leave their work behind when they go to sleep: this is a
pillow-making village. All around the village (and most villages surrounding it) you'll see
people sewing, stuffing or selling mŏrn lai kít (pillows decorated with diamond-grid kít
patterns). The most famous style is a stiff triangle-shaped pillow (mŏrn săhm lĕeam) used
as an arm support while sitting on the floor. Prices here are far lower than you'll pay else-
where in Thailand, and this is also one of the few places you can buy them unstuffed (
 
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