Each year, celebrations are held in this southern city and its environs. These include exhilarating drum beating and elaborately decorative boat competitions, as well as a meritorious ritual known as "Tak Bat Devo".

In the local dialect of Phattalung, "Phon" refers a small drum used to set rhythm. Traditionally the beating of the phon drum was used to herald the "Chak Phra" Buddhist ritual which falls on the first day of the waning moon in the eleventh month. In this ritual, Buddha images from various temples in the province are placed on a gilded open-sided throne with pointed spires called a 'busbok' and carried through the town on an ornately decorated palanquin in elaborate land and water processions. The beat of the phon drum was used to set the pace at which the procession proceeds. Hence phon drum beating has always taken place in conjunction with the Chak Phra Buddha image procession.

As the end of the Buddhist Lent approaches, the temples in the province will prepare for the phon drum contest by refitting existing drums or making news ones. The phon drum is made from the wood of either a toddy palm or jackfruit tree and covered with taut buffalo skin, frog skin, other types of animal skins or specially-treated cloth. The phon drum comes in varying shapes and sizes with a diameter of at least 12 centimetres. The drum-sticks are made of hardwood.

Once made, the sound of the phon drum is tested after sundown so in the silence of the night, the beat travels afar. When the beat of the phon drum from one temple is heard by another, the other temple reciprocates. This generally takes place on the eve of the Chak Phra processions. With many temples in the area, the practice of 'testing' the drums for sound and pitch quickly evolved into phon drum-beating contests with each trying to outdo the other. Since then, it has become a well-established annual folk contest.

The quality of the beat of the drum is determined by the quality of the materials used, its shape and the skills of individual drummers. Contests are usually judged either by duration (and stamina) or sound quality. The latter becoming more popular as it takes less time in deciding the winner of the contest. The first round lasts three minutes while the final round, five minutes.

The phon drum-beating contest is also accompanied by the coconut-shell "klong prok" or "kong kala" drum-beating contest. This is a form of child's play. As children are escorted to the phon drum-beating contest by their parents, children mimic adults in the junior version of the drum-beating contest by beating on smaller drums made from coconut shells and covered with calf-skin, other animal skin or cloth. The 'klong prok' or 'klong kala' drum-beating contest provides an early introduction to the essential skills and has played an instrumental role in preserving this ancient art and cultural tradition.

Contact information:
Tourism Authority of Thailand, Hat Yai Office
Tel: +66 (0) 7423 1055, (0) 7423 8518, (0) 7424 3747
Fax: +66 (0) 7424 5986
E-mail: tatsgkhl@tat.or.th