Whether they’re used to mark an auspicious day or to conclude a funeral, Thais, and those of Chinese descent in particular, love their firecrackers. But why? Ask around and the most common answer you’ll get is that people believe the loud sound is to scare away evil
spirits. Others will tell you that setting off fireworks signifies prosperity – the more you light, the more your life will improve.
Such beliefs are ancient, and came to Thailand via China.
It is said that the first Chinese firecrackers were made out of dynamite inserted into a bamboo pipe. The resulting explosion most likely put the fear of god into everything around it – children, dogs, villagers, and perhaps even spirits.
One particular beast that the ancient Chinese hoped to scare off was the Nian, a mythological beast described as a cross between a cow and a rhinoceros.
Miss Suthasinee Promdaen, Chinese Culture instructor at Thaksin University in Songkhla, told The Phuket News about the legend of the Nian, how the beast would come and take food from villagers while they were cooking over fire pits made from bamboo.
“It is said that during one raid by a Nian, a hot piece of bamboo suddenly exploded in the fire and scared the creature.
“Some locals believed that the Nian was particularly afraid of the red splash from the fire, so this is why they started to write good things on red paper and red clothes, and put them in front of their houses. They believe that this prevented the Nian from visiting
their homes.”
Ms Suthasinee went on to explain another theory linking firecrackers to the mythological beast.
“The Chinese word ‘Nian’ sounds like the word for ‘year’, and at the end of each year the weather was always cold and people got sick,” she said.
“Ancient Chinese concluded that the cold and sickness was caused by the Nian, so they believed that through lighting firecrackers, the Nian – the cold and the sickness – would go away.”
When thousands of Chinese immigrants came to seek their fortune on the island, the idea of communicating with the spirit world through firecrackers carried over from China to Phuket. A groundskeeper at A Put Jaw Temple, one of the oldest Chinese temples in
Phuket, explained that locals have been lighting firecrackers here for a long time to honour Chinese deities.
“In the past, people didn’t light firecrackers at funerals... they were just for the Chinese gods.”
These days, he said that the reason why people light firecrackers is because they like to make loud noises and that the loud noise represents prosperity.
Indeed, the Thai word for loud, popular and famous is one and the same – “dung”.
Perhaps the most obvious reason for the popularity of firecrackers is that people just get a thrill out of setting them off, and any excuse will do. The owner of a firecracker shop in Phuket Town thinks so.
“Nowadays, people will light firecrackers for almost any occasion – an auspicious ceremony, the Vegetarian Festival, funerals, moving into a new home... pretty much any big event.”
The shop owner explained that while there are many sizes and types of firecrackers,
the quantity doesn’t have any universal meaning.
“At Wat Chalong, many people make a vow to have a good working life. When
their vow is fulfilled, they may light 2,000-3,000 firecrackers, but the number is really up to them.”
Although the sheer thrill and excitement is probably the most prominent reason for lighting firecrackers nowadays, there is no doubt that underlying belief in the paranormal still persists to some degree.