I had a couple of places maked on my map that seemed to be on the route from Khon Kaen (ขอนแก่น) to Yasothon City (เมืองยโสธร) so decided to stop along the way and visit these sites. My first stop was at Wat Nong Huling or Wat Ruea (วัดหนองหูลิง หรือ วัดเรือ). Ruea in Thai means boat and this temple was built to look like a boat.
This is a picture of what I would call a Stupa that is also at Wat Ruea (วัดเรือ).
My next stop was at Wat Prachakom Wanaram or Wat Pa Kung (วัดประชาคมวนาราม หรือ วัดป่ากุง). I didn't know anything about this temple and have no idea when or why I marked it on the map but the first thing I thought when I saw it was it reminded me a temple I visited on Jave in Indonesia. I looked up this temple when writing this and the first line on the webpage was "The pagoda imitated from Borobudur in Java Island, Indonesia"
There was also a stupa in the middle of a pound at this site that I found made a pretty picture.
When I was at Wat Pa Kung I was looking at Google maps and noticed Ku Mahathat of Prang Koo Ban Khwao (กู่มหาธาตุ หรือ ปรางค์กู่บ้านเขวา). It was a bit out of my way to visit but I am always up for going to an Khmer Ruin so off I went.
I had seen on Facebook that there was a rocket festival at Ban Kok Kaeo in Roi Et (บ้านกอกแก้ว). I got rained on while on the way to the rocket festival and when I arrived I was soaking wet, had my backpack on and the road around and the festival was muddy and slick. It was a bit crowded and I just wasn't feeling it and didn't want to leave my backpack hanging from the bike so just sat on the bike and watched a few rockets before heading into Yasothon and finding a hotel.
The day after returning to Yasothon it was off to the festival at Ban Don Klang Rockets (บ้านดอนกลาง บุญบั้งไฟ) which was not far out of the city. It was a large site and seemed to keep the rockets coming quickly throughout the day.
At one point during the day I heard what sounded like a rocket going off and a bunch of smoke in the area where they were prepping the rockets. It seems a rocket went off when it was still in the tents and shot into a couple trucks and motorbikes in the area. I didn't know much of what happened while at the festival but read the following day on Facebook that 3 people were hurt when this happened and facebook had some pictures of the trucks hit by the rocket.
I also saw the following rocket not get off the launch platform at Ban Don Klang.
On the 25th of May I went to Tambon Kham Nam Sang (ตำบลคำน้ำสร้าง) and watched the rockets. Following is the short I did while at the festival.
The 26th of May it was off to watch the rockets at Ban Phon Wai (บ้านพลไว บุญบั้งไฟ). I really should have made some notes to remind me a bit about the festivals because I am writing this about a month later and a number of the festivals blend together. The funny thing is it does not mean that it was a festival I didn't like. It seems easy to remember the things I didn't enjoy. Following is the short I uploaded while at this festival.
The festival on the 27th was at Ban Sang Paen (บ้านสร้างแป้น บุญบั้งไฟ) and was within a few kilometer from the festival the day before and may be part of the resaon these 2 festival blend together in my mind even though both were a great day out of watching rockets.
The 28th I was off to Ban Pa Wai (บ้านป่าหวาย บุญบั้งไฟ) to watch rockets. I had seen two festivals scheduled on this day and maybe the reason this place did not seem to be as crowded as a number of the other festivals. It also only had one launch platform so had longer gaps in time between the rocket launches. I was surprised to see another white face at this festival but he didn't stay long. He watched one rocket launch and was off. I wondered if he went to the other festival taking place the same day.
I still enjoyed the day with the bit slower pace and following is the short I uploaded while at Ban Pa Wai.
The festival at Ban Tha Pho Roi Et (บ้านท่าโพธิ์ บุญบั้งไฟ) on the 29th seemed to have a different type of area. The tents were pretty close to the launch platforms and then right behind the tents was an astroturf football or soccer pitch. For most of the rockets I would sit under the tent until it was about ready to launch and then retreat to the football pitch to watch the launch.
I caught one of the rockets that did not work the way they should and uploaded it to YouTube.
I got to Nong Hi Roi Et (บ้านเขวาหนองฮีร้อยเอ็ด บุญบั้งไฟ) on the 30th a bit later than I usually go to the rocket festivals and it was really crowded by the time I arrived. I looked around at the tents close to the launch platforms and didn't find any places with views of the platforms so ended sitting a long way away on the other side or what I would call a large basin and watched the rockets.
Sitting where I was I could also see rockets flying through the sky from a different festival that I believe was about 20 kilometers away.
The festival I attended on the last day of May was at Ban Lao Khao Roi Et(บ้านเหล่าข้าวร้อยเอ็ด บุญบั้งไฟ) and was another really crowded festival. There was a really long traffic jam of cars to get into the parking area and it would have been a long walk from the parking area to the festival grounds but they let bikes through and I found a place to park only a short walk to the launch platforms.
Another good day of rocket watching and following is my short video at Ban Lao Khao. I found the name of this village a bit funny because Lao Khao (เหล้าขาว) is Thailand’s traditional, cheap, and potent fermented rice alcohole. It has a different tone and spelling so not the same word but I thought I was going to the village of rice whiskey.
I ended my month of rocket festivals on the 1st of June at Phanom Phrai Roi Et (พนมไพร ร้อยเอ็ด บุญบั้งไฟ). I had this festival on my list of resolution for 2026 along with the spinning rockets at Kut Wa and neither festival was a disappointment. If you are going to go to one Rocket festival and only one I would recommend this festival or the one at Kut Wa. I had no idea how wild the rockets are at Phanom Phrai. I think I saw almost as many rockets on this one day as I did at all the other festivals combined. It seemed there was a big rocket going off every 5 minutes and they would set off smaller rockets in groups of about 8 with launching one right after the next. I don't think my video captures how amazing this festival is in any way but here it is.
If they timed and gambled on the rocket at this festival I did not notice it. I would also recommend if you come to this festival bring a chair and an umbrella. I sat for a while on what google tells me is called a Paddy Bund or the built up place to keep the rice fields separated. The sun was brutal so I did not last long on the Bund and found a chair in a tent a bit further away from the launch platforms than I would prefer but I am sure it was safer and a hell of a lot cooler.
I did see a few rockets explode but only captured one on video in the following YouTube post.
I am currently back in Kanchanaburi and sorry I am so slow on getting this blog post up but seems I have been busy trying to catchup on stuff I didn't do while being away for over a month. I still need to decide if I want to upload any more rocket videos to YouTube but am sort of thinking all the shorts and bad rocket videos I have already posted covers this trip but still have tons of videos I have not posted so may play with the videos if I have some spare time and desire.
Thnaks for checking out my blog and hoped you enjoyed all the rocket stuff.
