DAY 10 - CELEBRATE

NaPoWriMo Day 10
For Read Write Poem

RWP member Pamela Sayers says, “I live in Mexico, and one of the things I love most about this country is that people here celebrate their family and friends to the utmost.” And it is in that spirit that Pamela asks us to write about any celebration we have been to recently.
Write about a birthday party, a wedding, a baptism — any kind of celebration where you were with family or friends or both. Write about the colors you remember, the sounds (and how they made you feel) and the tastes you remember from any of those events. Did these things make you feel good? Did you experience any new foods? Did you meet any new people?
Sometimes, beyond our control, festivities can take a turn for the worse. Maybe that happened to you or someone you know. Whatever happened, be it great or not so great, let’s write about it!

Here, in Thailand, Songkhran (สงกรานต์), the traditional Thai New Year will be celebrated from 13-15 April. It is a time when people celebrate by splashing water over each other, and passers by alike. It is believed that the more water thrown during this period, the more rain there will be to water the crops that sustain life. It is a rowdy mixture of water fights, excessive drinking and family reunion. Here in the north it will be celebrated on a slightly simpler scale than elsewhere. I’ve chosen a Haiku that sums up the festival, as well as a piece about the Isan dish of preference, Somtam (ส้มตำ), of which copious amounts will be consumed over the holiday period. The piece is also a celebration of the Thai language and I have both transliterated and translated.

SONGKHRAN 13-15 APRIL

The thirst for battle
Unquenched by water’s onslaught
Frenzy of Songkhran

PAPAYA POK-POK - พาพาย้าป๊อกๆ

Take one unripe papaya
Shave skin to expose green flesh
Swift knife-blade chopping motions
Slice strands into a mortar

Photograph Copyright © Stan Ski

Flavour with home-made fish sauce
The juice of a home-grown lime
A dozen “Rat Shit” chillies
And a tablespoon of salt

Photograph Copyright © Kanpirom Srisongnang

Add some cherry tomatoes
Throw in a freshwater crab
Bruise the mix with a pestle
And gather round the table




Photograph Copyright © Kanpirom Srisongnang

Isan ‘Somtam’, delicious
‘Somtam’ – “Papaya Pok-Pok”
Tasty papaya salad
Best served with glutinous rice.

Photograph Copyright © Kanpirom Srisongnang

SOMTAM - ส้มตำ

Photograph Copyright © Kanpirom Srisongnang

PAPAYA POK-POK

Ao marlakor mar nung look
Pork perk ok ao tee nua nai
Laew ko sab
Fan sai jan

Sai plar lar tee tam eng
Sai manao jark thon
Phrik khee noo sib song met phor dee
Sai phong shulot nung shon to

Sai makeurtet look lek
Sai pudong jark mae nam
Laew ko tam pok-pok
Laew tuk khon ko mar nang kin

Somtam Isan seb lai der
‘Somtam’ – “Papaya Pok-Pok”
Yam marlakor aroi
Kin kab khao nieow dee khwar


พาพาย่าป๊อกๆ

เอามะละกอมาหนึ่งลูก
ปอกเปลือก ออกที่เนื้อใน
แล้วก็สับ
ฟันใส่จาน

ใส่ปลาร้าที่ทำเอง
ใส่มะนาวจากต้น
พริกขี้หนูสิบสองเม็ดพอดี
ใส่ผงชูรสหนึ่งช้อนโต๊ะ

ใส่มะเขือเทศลูกเล็ก
ใส่ปูดองจากแม่น้ำ
แล้วก็ตำป๊อกๆ
แล้วทุกคนก็มานั่งกิน

ส้มตำอีสานแซ่บหลายเด้อ
ส้มตำ พาพาย่าป๊อกๆ
ยำมะละกออร่อย
กินกับข้าวเหนียวดิกว่า