South East Asian Trips

While the Lao can often be seen glued to the television whenever Thailand broadcasts a sporting event, relatively few people play the usual team sports simply because equipment is prohibitively expensive. The honourable exception is kataw. Played with a grapefruit-sized woven wicker ball, kataw is thought to have originated in the Malay Archipelago, but is also quite popular in Thailand. Kataw is something like a no-hands version of volleyball and is played both with and without a net. The acrobatics involved are simply astounding. Games are played just about anywhere, but are commonly seen in schoolyards or in monastery grounds.

As with the rest of Southeast Asia, cockfighting is a celebrated diversion in Laos. This should come as no surprise, as the blood sport originated in this region. Betting is, of course, the whole point. Cockfights take place on Sundays and the local cockpit can usually be found by wandering around and listening for the exuberant cheers of the spectators. Unlike in some Southeast Asian countries, knives are not attached to the rooster's legs in Laos, which means that cockfights last much longer and the birds don't usually die in the ring.

Another sport that relies on a wager to sharpen excitement is rhinoceros beetle fighting. Although it is difficult to say just how far back the tradition of beetle fighting goes, it is known to be popular among ethnic Tai peoples from the Shan States to northern Vietnam. The walnut-sized beetles hiss alarmingly when angered and it doesn't require much goading to get them to do battle. Pincer-like horns are used by the beetles to seize and lift an opponent, and the fight is considered finished when one of the two beetles breaks and runs. The fighting season is during the rains when the insects breed. They are sometimes peddled in markets tethered to pieces of sugar-cane.