EPISODE 3

The Ghost of a Teacher

Lampang & Phayao, Thailand

Rice wine and clouds of cigarette smoke pass in-between the dancers for hours on end. Wearing colorful ornate costumes, the heat bears no burden on the joy of their celebration. The crowd is split down the middle—one half elderly woman, the other half young gay men. But who you see in person at a Fon Phi ceremony is not relevant—these special people are vessels for ancient ancestors who come from the Kingdom of Lanna. What we see in the flesh is different from what we feel in spirit.

Thammasrat is a Thai spirit medium from the city of Lampang. She had a tough childhood, and was raised by her grandmother who trained her in the art of channeling. As a trans woman, she lives a largely solitary life, but for two months out of the year, her social life blossoms as a proxy for another. She hosts a Fon Phi ceremony to honor an old warrior—a man that her great grandmother once served as a illegal consort for. Every year she sends out invitations to other

mediums and hires a traditional Phi Pot band to lead the ceremony. A young man named Korakot is in charge of this years ensemble. They’ve become known for mixing in western instruments like saxophone in hopes of exciting interest in the tradition. Phi Pot bands believe that the spirits of their deceased teachers reside in their instruments, so when they play it is always in spirit with their lineage. Phi pot bands, like the mediums who dance to their music, are performing their past. In

Northern Thailand, the Kingdom of Lanna and its many warriors and kings still resonate as more than just memories. They are bloodlines. They set the trajectory of life that many still follow today. There Lineage of Teachers shares two different Fon Phi ceremonies from different social statuses, and give viewers an understanding of how both dancers and musicians come together to build the presence of their past to codify their collective identity.