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Local villagers in Yothaka, in Thailand’s Chachoengsao province, ended a period of drought by building a giant penis sculpture.
The super-sized phallus, or "Palad Khik" in Thai, was erected on Jun 9 in response to farmers' concerns that there hadn’t been enough rain recently and that water from irrigation canals was too salty and had been damaging crops.
This week local village headman, Chamnan Kenthongdaeng, 52, told a press conference that on June 11, just two days after the giant penis was installed it had started raining, with a shower that lasted some half an hour.
Koson Samang, the headman of a nearby village, had made a video of the rain to confirm the phenomenon.
However, local farmers complained that the brief shower hadn’t been long enough to irrigate their fields. Chamnan 52, promised that prayers to the phallus will continue,
He told Pattaya News that erecting a Palad Khik, representing fertility and new growth, was a local tradition going back decades, to the time of his grandparents.
Chamnan said that the giant penis wouldn’t cause any problems with traffic, explaining that it was built on a cul-de-sac.
"It will be removed as soon as the seasonal rain comes," he promised.
Meanwhile, local residents are being encouraged to pray to the gigantic penis and leave small offerings.
Chamnan said that he was aware that some people had been mocking the phallus online, but condemned them, saying they had "no faith" and were being disrespectful to the beliefs of the villagers that dated back almost a century.
Chachoengsao province is dominated by low plains, with massive rice farms and other water-dependent agriculture, so good rainfall is very important to local farmers.
- In the News
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