Phi Ta Khon ghost festival

When is Phi Ta Khon 2027?

The 2027 dates haven't been announced yet. The town's spirit medium, Jao Pho Kuan, sets them each year by casting lots, and the festival falls between mid-June and early July, with the dates out a month or two ahead.

The grand parade is always on the middle day of the three. We add the 2027 dates the day they're set.

Plan it with Tanner, and Loei is booked the day the dates are set.

What is Phi Ta Khon?

Phi Ta Khon is the masked part of Dan Sai's Bun Luang merit-making festival, held to remember the Buddhist story of Prince Vessantara. The official name is the Bun Luang and Phi Ta Khon Festival.

In the story, the prince came home after years in exile, and the party was so loud it woke the dead, so spirits joined the parade. The name comes from "Phi Tam Khon", meaning "ghosts following people". Be there for parade day; it's the one to see.

Why it matters to Dan Sai

Phi Ta Khon fills Dan Sai: over 100,000 visitors come to a town of about 35,000. For the town, the masks are a living tradition of faith and family, made by hand every year.

• Hand-made masks: each one is hand-made over 7 to 14 days, and new designs mix in pop culture.
• The rain: the rockets and charms ask for rain for the rice planting season.
• The ancestors: on the last day, villagers give food to the monks and dedicate it to their dead relatives.

For visitors, it's a chance to see a small Isaan town's own ghost festival up close. Get a room near the parade route, and you walk straight into it.

Three days, three jobs

Each of the three days has its own job.

• Day 1: at about 3am, spirit mediums go to the river to bring back Phra Upakhut, a guardian spirit, as a stone carried to Wat Phon Chai. Masked ghosts appear by mid-morning.
• Day 2: the grand parade leaves Wat Phon Chai along Kaew Asa Road, with mor lam bands, bamboo rockets and many smaller masked ghosts, the Phi Ta Khon Lek.
• The giant ghosts: two big bamboo-framed figures, the Phi Ta Khon Yai, join the parade and are then thrown into the river to carry away the year's bad luck.
• Day 3: monks at Wat Phon Chai give up to 13 sermons, ending with the full Vessantara story. There's no ghost parade that day.

Day 2 is the one to see, so arrive early for the best light and thinner crowds. Ask Tanner to have the car there at dawn.

The masks

A Phi Ta Khon mask is a sticky-rice steaming basket for the crown, a coconut palm stem for the face and a long carved wooden nose. Each one takes 7 to 14 days to make.

Photo: E.D.W., via Wikimedia Commons

• The paint: once natural dyes; each Phi Ta Khon mask today is painted in bright acrylics.
• The costume: patchwork cloth hung with bells and tin cans, for the noise.
• To take home: small masks from the stalls, or a full-size painted one if there's room in the bag.

The Dan Sai Local Museum inside Wat Phon Chai, with its Phi Ta Khon masks, is open daily from 8am to 5pm, TAT says (checked November 2026). Add a stop there on the way out.

Why the wooden phalluses?

The wooden phalluses and long noses are luck charms, not a joke: they come from palad khik, amulets for luck and fertility, and from rain prayers for the planting season.

The bamboo rockets launched on parade day are rain prayers too.

Expect cheeky dancing from the ghosts; it's part of the show. Grab your spot on Kaew Asa Road early.

Can you drink at Phi Ta Khon?

Yes. Lao khao, the local rice whiskey, flows on parade day and more so by the evening. The morning parade is family-friendly; the evening gets rowdier.

Phi Ta Khon isn't one of the five Buddhist holy days, so alcohol sells as normal, from 11am to midnight. On those holy days, ordinary bars, restaurants and shops stop selling, but licensed entertainment venues, hotels and listed tourist-area venues are exempt, under the Office of the Prime Minister's 2025 notice.

Drink water too: it's 25 to 33°C and humid, with afternoon showers. Pace the lao khao, and keep the car close.

Getting to Dan Sai

The fastest way is to fly from Don Mueang to Loei, then drive 83 km, about 90 minutes, to Dan Sai, around 3 hours in all. Only a few flights a day go to Loei, so book early.

Minivans from Loei don't run late, so your own car is easier. A luxury van for up to 4 is from ฿6,500 for 10 hours; see VIP transport for the cars.

What to book first

The beds go first, so hold a room in Dan Sai the day the dates are out, a month or two ahead.

• A room in Dan Sai: few hotels and simple homestays; book as soon as the dates are out.
• Loei city: more rooms, if Dan Sai is full; see our Loei nightlife guide.
• Flights to Loei: few a day; the overnight bus from Mo Chit is the back-up.
• The car: book the driver for the airport run and parade day.
• Other dates: see Thailand in June and Thailand in July for what else is on.

Hold the room the day the dates are out.

What to bring, and how to behave

Bring water, sun cream and a rain poncho, and keep your camera covered from rain and dust.

• Day 3: ask before taking photos of monks or rituals.
• Temples: take your shoes off before going inside.
• Food: Isaan stalls sell som tam, gai yang, larb and sticky rice.
• Language: little English is spoken, so learn a few Thai words.

See our Isaan travel guide for the rest of the region, and add a day nearby while you're up there.

Phi Ta Khon or a city festival?

The Phi Ta Khon festival is small-town Isaan: no tickets, no VIP sections, just masks, mor lam and rice whiskey in the street.

For a city festival with clubs, Songkran in April is the big one. Want something your friends haven't done? Do Phi Ta Khon. More ideas in festival trips in Thailand.

Only a few flights a day go to Loei, so book them the day the dates are out.

Ask Tanner to add Bangkok on the way home.

Phi Ta Khon at a glance

• When: mid-June to early July 2027, not yet set.

• Where: Dan Sai, Loei, about 520 km from Bangkok.
• See: the grand parade on the middle day, from Wat Phon Chai.
• Getting there: fly to Loei, then 83 km by car.
• Book first: the room, as soon as the dates are out.

Last checked: 4 November 2026. Plan it with Tanner.