I have added the following video to the end of my post on Kut Wa but adding it here in case people read this blog in order and might be interested in seeing this video.
Monday, May 25, 2026
Saturday, May 23, 2026
Khon Kaen (ขอนแก่น)
The day after the fun day of watching spinning rockets I headed to Khon Kaen (ขอนแก่น). I had a bit of a scare on the way waiting too long to fill the bike and when I got to the station I put into the phone GPS they were out of fuel. I stopped at two more stations that were also out of fuel. I was heading to another station that I wasn't sure I had enough fuel to reach when I saw one of those vending machine type of pumps. I was thrilled to get a 100 baht of fuel. I tried to buy another100 baht but the machine kept refusing all my bills. It did accept a 20 and I maybe should have used more 20 baht bills but made it to a gas station with fuel and filled up.
I didn't find many festival this week so had decided that spending a week in Khon Kaen (ขอนแก่น) would be a good use of my time. I don't think it was a really a good use of my time but I enjoyed a bit of down time. I had seen on Facebook that 2 bars had darts so tried both bars. I didn't see a board in one bar but the owner of the other bar gave me a couple of games.
I have been to Khon Kaen before and had been to most of the tourist sites which I wrote about in Khon Kaen and Backtracking to Khon Kaen but spent one day playing tourist while here.
I sometimes watch a YouTube channel of an English expat living in Khon Kaen and learned of both of the places from his channel.
My first stop was at the very unusual site of Shiva Mahadeva Temple (เทวาลัยศิวะมหาเทพ). It is a Hindu temple and seem to have some images of what I would call the devil.
My 2nd and last tourist stop was at the Khmer Ruins at Ku Kaew (อโรคยาศาล “กู่แก้ว”)
I didn't do a lot in Khon Kaen other than recharge my internal batteries for more time at rocket festivals the following week but enjoyed wasting some time.
I didn't find many festival this week so had decided that spending a week in Khon Kaen (ขอนแก่น) would be a good use of my time. I don't think it was a really a good use of my time but I enjoyed a bit of down time. I had seen on Facebook that 2 bars had darts so tried both bars. I didn't see a board in one bar but the owner of the other bar gave me a couple of games.
I have been to Khon Kaen before and had been to most of the tourist sites which I wrote about in Khon Kaen and Backtracking to Khon Kaen but spent one day playing tourist while here.
I sometimes watch a YouTube channel of an English expat living in Khon Kaen and learned of both of the places from his channel.
My first stop was at the very unusual site of Shiva Mahadeva Temple (เทวาลัยศิวะมหาเทพ). It is a Hindu temple and seem to have some images of what I would call the devil.
My 2nd and last tourist stop was at the Khmer Ruins at Ku Kaew (อโรคยาศาล “กู่แก้ว”)
Monday, May 18, 2026
Spinning Rockets of Kut Wa, Kalasin (กุดหว้า กาฬสินธุ์ บุญบั้งไฟ)
I usually skip the parades that most of the rocket festivals have. The parade is usually the day before the rockets but I attended a bit of the parade in Kut Wa. The following video is a small bit of the parade.
I have thought about coming to this festival for 3 years and am so glad I finally made it to Kut Wa, Kalasin Rocket Festival (กุดหว้า กาฬสินธุ์ บุญบั้งไฟ). The spinning rockets are amazing.
I uploaded 2 shorts to YouTube. One while at the festival and the 2nd the following day.
I also uploaded a video of a rocket exploding. I saw 2 rockets explode but only caught this one on video.
The rockets have parachute and when they reach the top it's supposed to deploy but often doesn't and drops like a stone. I was surprised by how far they kept the crowd back from the launch area until I saw a couple rockets drop and I was happy to stay back. This is Thailand so a lot of the area they kept out of during most of day was full at the end of the day but I didn't see anyone have a rocket land on them.
A fun day of watching rockets and I hope to return to this festival in the future.
This is the long video I added when I returned to Kanchanaburi and played with my videos on my PC.
I have thought about coming to this festival for 3 years and am so glad I finally made it to Kut Wa, Kalasin Rocket Festival (กุดหว้า กาฬสินธุ์ บุญบั้งไฟ). The spinning rockets are amazing.
I uploaded 2 shorts to YouTube. One while at the festival and the 2nd the following day.
I also uploaded a video of a rocket exploding. I saw 2 rockets explode but only caught this one on video.
The rockets have parachute and when they reach the top it's supposed to deploy but often doesn't and drops like a stone. I was surprised by how far they kept the crowd back from the launch area until I saw a couple rockets drop and I was happy to stay back. This is Thailand so a lot of the area they kept out of during most of day was full at the end of the day but I didn't see anyone have a rocket land on them.
A fun day of watching rockets and I hope to return to this festival in the future.
This is the long video I added when I returned to Kanchanaburi and played with my videos on my PC.
Saturday, May 16, 2026
More Rockets and a Temple
I didn't have anything planned on the the 13th so moved to a hotel closer to where the rocket festival that was taking place on the 17th at Kut Wa. I couldn't find any hotels that I could book online so just went to a hotel and got a room for 5 days.
I stopped for coffee while on the way to the new hotel and checked facebook. A post for a festival taking place on the same day popped up on my feed so I rode on to the hotel, checked in, dumped my bags and then turned around and back tracked for about an hour to the festival at Ban Nong Muang Klang (บ้านหนองเมืองกลาง).
This was a large festival and they seemed to just keep the two launch platforms moving along with little delay between rockets. I was really happy I attended this festival and not sure why it wasn't listed on the Yasothon Rocket Festival schedule.
I had a listing for a festival on the 14th but was unable to find it. I was in the area where I think it was supposed to be and even saw a rocket but couldn't find where it was launched from.
On the way to the area I got caught in a down pour and stopped to put my recently repaired phone under the seat but sadly it had already gotten too wet. Not a good day, no rockets and I had once again broken my phone.
On the 15th I rode to the town of Mukdahan (มุกดาหาร) to buy a new phone and visit a Temple I had pinned on Google maps. I posted a Mukdahan Face back in 2014 when I was on a trip in Thailand.
I had marked Wat Roi Phra Phutthabat Phu Manorom (วัดรอยพระพุทธบาทภูมโนรมย์) on Google some time ago but am finnaly getting around to visiting.It is set up on a hill overlooking the town of Mukdahan, the Mekong River and the country of Loas on the other side of the river.
I didn't spend a lot of time at the temple before heading into town to search for a new phone.
I found and bought a new phone, got most of my apps setup and then went to my 2 Thailand banks to get those apps working. I am glad I don't have to go into my US or Dutch banks each time I get a new phone and just have to hope I never break a phone when out of Thailand or will not be able to pay any of my Thailand bills until I return. Getting the apps working in the bank was painless this time which made me happy. Last time I got a new phone I spent over 30 minutes trying to get the app to recognize my face but worked on the 2nd attempt this time.
My bank account may be a bit smaller but was happy to have a working phone again so a successful day.
Next post will be on the spinning rockets of Kut Wa.
I stopped for coffee while on the way to the new hotel and checked facebook. A post for a festival taking place on the same day popped up on my feed so I rode on to the hotel, checked in, dumped my bags and then turned around and back tracked for about an hour to the festival at Ban Nong Muang Klang (บ้านหนองเมืองกลาง).
This was a large festival and they seemed to just keep the two launch platforms moving along with little delay between rockets. I was really happy I attended this festival and not sure why it wasn't listed on the Yasothon Rocket Festival schedule.
I had a listing for a festival on the 14th but was unable to find it. I was in the area where I think it was supposed to be and even saw a rocket but couldn't find where it was launched from.
On the way to the area I got caught in a down pour and stopped to put my recently repaired phone under the seat but sadly it had already gotten too wet. Not a good day, no rockets and I had once again broken my phone.
On the 15th I rode to the town of Mukdahan (มุกดาหาร) to buy a new phone and visit a Temple I had pinned on Google maps. I posted a Mukdahan Face back in 2014 when I was on a trip in Thailand.
I had marked Wat Roi Phra Phutthabat Phu Manorom (วัดรอยพระพุทธบาทภูมโนรมย์) on Google some time ago but am finnaly getting around to visiting.It is set up on a hill overlooking the town of Mukdahan, the Mekong River and the country of Loas on the other side of the river.
I didn't spend a lot of time at the temple before heading into town to search for a new phone.
I found and bought a new phone, got most of my apps setup and then went to my 2 Thailand banks to get those apps working. I am glad I don't have to go into my US or Dutch banks each time I get a new phone and just have to hope I never break a phone when out of Thailand or will not be able to pay any of my Thailand bills until I return. Getting the apps working in the bank was painless this time which made me happy. Last time I got a new phone I spent over 30 minutes trying to get the app to recognize my face but worked on the 2nd attempt this time.
My bank account may be a bit smaller but was happy to have a working phone again so a successful day.
Next post will be on the spinning rockets of Kut Wa.
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