Lesson 2: Thai people in Bai Gao village

(Baonghean) -We returned to Bai Gao village (Chau Khe commune - Con Cuong) on ​​a sunny afternoon. The tall palm trees and coconut trees cast lush shade, the stilt houses looming under the rows of ancient trees evoked the ancient space of a Thai ethnic village. Located along the Lam River and not far from National Highway 7A, the terrain is quite flat, the Thai people in Bai Gao village have the conditions to plan and arrange their houses in straight rows, the concrete roads further enhance the prosperity of a highland village. Up to now, Bai Gao is one of the very few Thai ethnic villages in Con Cuong that still preserves the characteristics of traditional culture.

The ancient and rich features of Bai Gao village.

Bai Gao village has 87 households (374 people) of Thai ethnic group living. Due to the cultivation area, for many years, raw sugarcane and meter have become the main crops. It can be said that these two crops have brought the people here a fairly prosperous life compared to the highland villages. Many households have even bought plows and tractors to serve agricultural production. Despite the advantages in terms of terrain as well as socio-economic development conditions, the Thai people always raise awareness of preserving and promoting their ethnic cultural identity.

The most vivid and visible evidence is the maintenance of housing architecture. Up to now, in Bai Gao, nearly 80% of households still live in solidly built stilt houses, designed in the traditional architectural style of the Thai people. In recent years, many people have come to the highland villages to "hunt" for stilt houses to bring back to the lowlands, and many people have sold their wooden stilt houses to build cement houses for immediate profit. However, Bai Gao people always consider stilt houses as the "soul" of the Thai village, so almost no one has the heart to sell the house passed down from their ancestors. Households living in houses on land are mainly young couples who have just moved out and do not have the conditions to build a stilt house. Talking to us, Mr. Lo Xuan Minh (75 years old) said: “A few years ago, sometimes people came here to ask to buy the stilt house, but I told my children and grandchildren absolutely not to sell it, because without the stilt house, we would lose more than half of the Thai people's identity. And fortunately, no one in this village sold it!”

Leaving Mr. Lo Xuan Minh’s house, we went to Ms. Lo Thi Tuy’s house. Ms. Tuy’s stilt house is located right in the middle of the village. Going up the stairs, we immediately see a firewood frame and the owner is diligently working on the shuttle and threading to finish the skirt before dark. Ms. Tuy said: “I have known how to weave since I was not yet 15 years old, and now I am over 45 years old. Now my eldest daughter is married, my youngest daughter is in school and they all know how to weave.”

Looking at the way Ms. Tuy shuttles and the agility and meticulousness in her movements, we know that she is a skillful and professional weaver. And not only Ms. Tuy's family but also most families in Bai Gao have a loom placed in front of the porch. The main occupation of the people in Bai Gao is growing sugarcane, the women here only sit at the loom when the harvest is idle or at night. The brocade weaving products mainly meet the needs of the family, if any women have surplus products, it is only enough to sell within the village. Because the weaving profession in Bai Gao is currently limited to each family, there are no conditions to establish groups, teams or cooperatives to expand the model, exchange experiences and find markets. But the brocade weaving profession still has a "living place" in Bai Gao because the Thai people here still maintain traditional costumes.

The elderly wear dresses all year round, middle-aged women and young people often have 4-5 sets of dresses to wear on weddings and holidays. Besides, people still maintain the beauty of wedding customs. For example, before getting married, a girl must buy a dowry including dresses, scarves, blankets, and mattresses to demonstrate her diligence, dexterity, and ability to save. Therefore, even in the era of industrialization, Bai Gao still has the bustling sound of shuttles and looms. And we realized that the weaving here still retains many primitive features, from the shuttles, threads to the looms that are built simply, not as large-scale and elaborate as in other brocade villages.

Ms. Lo Thi Tuy, Bai Gao village (Chau Khe - Con Cuong)
has been attached to the loom for more than 30 years.

If the stilt house is the “soul” of the Thai ethnic village, then the folk songs (khap, lam, nhon), folk dances (xoe, lam vong, khac luong) and traditional musical instruments (cong, cymbals, khen be, pi) are the “soul tunes” of the Thai people. For that reason, despite the conditions for cultural exchange, the Thai people in Bai Gao are determined to preserve the “soul tunes” of their people. To prove this, Mr. Loc Xuan An (Party cell secretary) took us to visit a family in the village that was holding a small wedding. Here, the two families were gathering and happily around the dinner table. When the party ended, Ms. Loc Thi Hoang (village chief) represented the bride’s family to sing the “lam” tune. Ms. Hoang’s “lam” song tells about the bride’s good qualities, her family’s conditions and circumstances, and the hard work of her parents who raised her.

Now, she is about to go to her husband's house, her parents still have many worries and confided things. In response to the bride's family, Ms. Luong Thi Tinh (representative of the groom's family) also sang the Lam dance, praising the love of the young couple, thanking the bride's parents for giving birth to the groom's family a healthy, hard-working daughter-in-law. At the same time, the groom's family will love and educate the daughter-in-law as their own daughter. The exchange ended, at the same time the gongs resounded loudly, the panpipes resounded softly, the pi sounded passionately inviting. Everyone held hands, opened their circle wide and rhythmically performed the Lam Vong dance. Secretary Loc Xuan An said: "In Bai Gao, everyone knows how to dance the Lam Vong, every woman knows it, every man knows how to play the pi and the khen. Every time Tet comes or the village has a wedding or festival, everyone comes to join in the fun...".

Talking to us, Village Chief Loc Thi Hoang happily said: “Bai Gao Village has been recognized as a cultural title and is preserving many beautiful traditional cultural features of the Thai ethnic group. In the near future, we will try to establish a Folk Song - Musical Instrument Club and a Brocade Weaving Group to create opportunities to learn and exchange experiences with each other and teach the younger generation, avoiding the risk of traditional beauty being lost.”

Article and photos: TUONG ANH