Basi Ceremony

I think that's spelled right. "Basi Ceremony", correct? Have any of you ever done one? It's not an actual wedding, but is the whole Buddhist ceremony that goes along with one.

You get dressed up, the monks come by and bless you, then you sit down together and everyone comes by, ties a string around your wrist, and puts some money in a pot sitting in front of you. Afterwards, everyone gets fat and drunk on your dime. I think I have the gist of it down...

I want mine on the cheap though. I'm not wasting too much money on a one day ceremony. Apparently, he needs to build a new house / hall type of thing, but figures he can get it done for 30,000 so fair enough.

Then say another 50,000 all in for the monks, food, beer, etc. 80k total, I can live with that. No more though. No sinsot, as that's already paid via medical bills in my eyes.

Anyway, has anyone else done one of these ceremonies? Any stories to share? How much did it cost you? How many people were there? etc...

I definitely must start a list, no question about it. Where to start, where to start ...?

Just when one thinks the drama must be coming to an end fairly soon, Cndmatt's grabbed onto yet another scintillating chapter of what has become another extension of a far greater 'oeuvre' ... Sawatdee's very own Balzac at his most ponderous.


https://image.ibb.co/iFuiCG/honore_de_balzac.jpg

Location, location, location. It's going to be in Leo's village by the sound of things, so that's in Laos.Matt's illegal immigrant status in Thailand is going to be resolved by then?

I went through a number of these Basi ceremonies, usually organized by the family to wish good luck/bring blessings upon me and a boy, or organized by the boy to give me the impression that we had a special relationship. On the day that I "married" an Issan 20 year old, it wasn't just the usual string-around-the-wrist Basi.

We did go to the Wat early in the morning for the monk’s blessing. Lunch offered to friends and relatives, and a standard wedding reception in the evening, he in his wedding dress and me in tuxedo, at least a couple of hundred guests. This was more than ten years ago and even if I could recall, I would not want to reveal the cost of the evening.

The "bride" had been envisioning a big wedding with a foreign “husband” since he was 15 years old. As the nuptial evening progressed, it was apparent that it was all about him starring in his wedding reception show. I was just the unwitting facilitator.

Having achieved his dream wedding, preceded by a hefty sinsot, he had no thought of adjusting his life style to that of a typical spouse. I suspect there are still people in his town who might ask him what happened to his "husband", and he would reply with the usual "Oh, he found another boy".

We live and learn, sometimes at significant cost. However, as the KK-Lao Tales progress, I would hope for a happier, or at least a less predictable, ending for Matt.

Well, round about figure? 80k is fine, right? That's enough for something small, but nothing extravagent, right?


And if he was going to fuck me in this life, it would be right here and now. He's currently in possession of a sizable amount of money which is meant for both, medical bills and our move to Vientiane. Bitcoin surged in price, I got scared, so pulled out, and that all went into his name. If he was going to fuck me, it'd be right now, but he's not going to.

I guess the family, Leo, friends, will not expect anything extravagant, certainly not going as far as renting tuxedos (neither of you would be renting a wedding gown), and the affair would not be catered by a high end restaurant in Vientiane, so 80-100K should probably cover everything, unless they start talking about live music and a party that lasts till dawn.