IMPORTANT: TAK BAT and stupid tourists

Have been in Luang Prabang for 4 days now. Aside from the natural beauty of this gem of a place we noticed some very disconcerting behaviour from TOURISTS observing and participating in dawn Tak Bat or Alms giving to the monks.

1. Do not use flash photography. It interferes with the monks observance.

2. I saw one man line up to offer a monk alms whilst taking a photo with his other free hand.

3. If you MUST part-take in this ritual, do not purchase offerings from vendors on the street. Have your hotel or guest house make rice for you in the morning and when offering rice, fruit etc do not look at the monks.

4. Suggest you part-take only if you have spiritual leanings and understand that Buddhist way of like here is under threat from tourism.

5. If you see inappropriate behaviour, confront it, GENTLY.

6. If in doubt about how you as a tourist should observe, just keep a respectful distance, observe and if taking a photo - DONT USE FLASH.

7 If you want make a contribution to the Big Brother Mouse reading programme for Lao children.

FEWER LAO ARE PART-TAKING IN TAK BAT AT DAWN DUE TO INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR.

Remember, this place is a world heritage site due it its natural and spiritual beauty. Lao need your tourism and $. But, leave the aggressive ';must have, must get, must do'; attitude at home.

IMPORTANT: TAK BAT and stupid tourists

Absolutely agree. 100%.

In fact I%26#39;d take it further. Not only no FLASH but no photographs at all.

How can people be so insensitive? You can almost hear them saying ';oh, how quaint';, and out comes the camera and then they don%26#39;t really ';see'; anything at all. Just that small square in the viewfinder or the LCD screen.

Why can%26#39;t they just go and quietly watch and appreciate being there? Instead of destroying what it is they came to ';see'; (haha). I%26#39;d like to know why people like that go there in the first place.

IMPORTANT: TAK BAT and stupid tourists

100 % agree.

Hi Ladymann,

Yes - some people seem to be quite insensitive or unaware of protocols when observing Tak Bat. Yet calling them stupid just continues an energy of judgement and alienation.

Perhaps speaking in a more respectful way would reinforce the respect that you would like to see in others. A more inclusive way to say it might use the words - inappropriate behaviour rather than stupid.

One demands justification - the other reflection.

Just a thought of how we must be the change we wish to see in the world - thank you Gandhi.

Karen

Anyone who knows how to use a camera should have an ability to take pictures without a flash.

Hi ladymann - as a regular visitor (monthly) to LP I totally agree with you, except for buying from the vendors selling small packets of sticky rice.

They are just trying to find a niche in the tourist industry that provides LP with its money, just like everyone else, whether it be handicrafts, European style restaurants, boat rides and all the rest of it.

Whilst I%26#39;ve never bought from them I have never found them pushy when I have walked past. They are mostly old ladies that go out at 5am to make a few $.

But I do not mean this to detract from your main point - which is a worthy reminder to future visiors.

Just as a matter of interest. It is not called Tak Bat. Tak Bat is when you go to the temple to make an offering.

Its called Sai Bat - forgot to mention this in my last post.

To all replies, thank you. With respect, I stand by my %26#39;stupid%26#39; observation. People should know better.

The tourist information I read before attending the morning ritual named Tak Bat as the morning giving of alms (by the Luang Prabang tourism authority). So apologies for any Sai Bat, Tak Bat confusion. (BTW the vendors are non Buddhist animist tribes from the hills. I dont begrudge them a living, just consider who is impacting who.)

To reiterate, I saw some well educated, well heeled, well fed people behave appallingly.

I shall make no further comment and I stand by my opinion on what I saw in Luang Prabang. ( Please send further comments to UNESCO office in Luang Prabang.)

Oh, please do drop in to Big Brother Mouse, the kids love to chat in English.

Thanks all for the advice on how to behave respectfully when observing Sai Bat. With regards to discouraging tourists from partaking in the offering of food, however, I wonder what the monks themselves think. It%26#39;s interesting, but we really all only have the perspective of a tourist. I can imagine that on one hand, they may resent the intrusion of outsiders into their ceremony, while on the other, they may be grateful for the donation regardless of the source.

Any monks/former monks out there with an opinion on the subject?

I may be putting myself out there to be classified as ';Stupid';... I went to LP only knowing that it was a UNESCO site and that it was beautiful. I know little about Buddism, and the main reason I was made aware of the alms procession was simply because I heard other tourists talking about it. One morning I heard the clanking of plates and I stepped (barefoot)out onto the enclosed terrace of my hotel and there they were. It was a cloudy morning I silently observed from my hotel terrace and snapped a couple of pictures which may or may not have triggered the auto flash. I was aproached a couple of times by some older women to purchase offerings, to which I declined because a)I was just a visitor and b)I am not Buddist. Afterwords I read up and learned more about what I had experienced. I dont think I am stupid. Ignorant? Perhaps, but respectfull and eager to learn about something so beautiful, whatever it%26#39;s called.