The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXXI, Part 1-2, 1983 - Khamkoo

SPIRIT BELIEF AND IRRIGATION ORGANIZATION IN NORTH THAILAND 137
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spmts, to which the spirit agreed.
The Retired Kamnan commented that the
spirits had always protected Sugar Cane Dam in the past. Great Mountain Lord turned
to the irrigation headman of Sugar Cane Dam and said that this year he should have
gotten a young buffalo from the water users and Lord of 100,000 Elephants should
have gotten a pig. He dismissed the irrigation headman by saying that if the rains
were poor this year they shouldn't blaine him and the other spirits, and' turned to
attend to his devotees' requests. The irrigation headman muttered that he had just
been a village headman before this position and didn't know about such things. The
Retired K~mnan wrote out the offering schedule and suggested that perhaps the buffalo
.and pig could be offered next year, instead of this year.
At the ceremony in honor of Lord of 100,000 Elephants two days later an 80
kg pig was provided for the spirit by the owners of the tobacco curing plant near his
offering house and another pig was being sacrificed as a kEEbon offering from a devotee.
Great Mountain Lord alone of the other lordly spirits was invited to "share the respect"
of the owner's family--a departure from the usual conduct of the ceremony in great
offering years. A kamlang elder commented that no one from the irrigation system
had "run around t.o collect the money" to purchase the pig that should have been Lord
of 100,000 Elephants' offering. This was their responsibility, he said, not his and
dismissed the matter: Neither the Retired Kamnan nor any of the officials of the
irrigation system attended the ceremony and no public mention was made of the
missing offering,
Spirits, Irrigation, Officialdom, and Change ,
As this narration has shown the staging of a major offering, in this case the
. kEEbon ceremony, requires the cooperation of three groups--the _spirits, their devotees,
and kamlang elders, the irrigation officials and water users, and the village headmen
and kamnan. The maintenance of the offering system involving the irrigation systems
requires the continuance of this cooperation, and as events in 1982 have shown it is at
the point of collapse. The human and supernatural systems can probably function
independently of each other. The lordly spirits will continue to fulfill those services
they have always performed for their devotees and receive their offerings in turn. Most
of the mediums and kamlang are middle-aged or elderly, but the devotees of the spirits
include younger people and the spirits will, no doubt, continue to be venerated. Victorious
Warripr Lord and a lesser lordly spirit in the area both chose new mediums in
1980-1 981. All of the lordly spirits,. except Great Mountain Lord and Lord of 100,000
Elephants, have received their great offerings for generations without the benefit of
support from the irrigation systems. The irrigation systems are also viable social
concerns which have existed in their present form, more or less, for over 200 years.