The Events

Long after the festival has ended the ears still ring from the noise of firecrackers. I've experienced my share of Chinese New Year festivals. I've never experienced anything that even approaches the disturbance and discomfort of this festival. I witnessed food workers in stalls across from the main temple (ironically, a center for random firecracker-tossing), who worked all day with the noise, yet still jumped in shock and anger. The loud, sudden impulse of the noise apparently exceeds the being's capacity to adjust. Take a close look at these photos and you'll spot the makeshift earplugs and smoke masks. In Figure 8, that is not smog, but smoke. Figure 10 shows the spent firecrackers left after a procession. In addition to the displays of self-impalement, the local English weekly (Phuket Gazette) cited the painful noise of firecrackers to support the claim made in its festival cover story: Gruesome festival 'has gone too far'.