Chapter 24. KHANTOKE DINNER

Old Chiangmai Cultural Center

After our day trip we set off to the Cultural Center to have a traditional "Khantoke" dinner while witnessing a fantastic cultural performance. We had to wait almost an hour at the lobby due to a arrangement glitch. CCB.

Everyone was seated

When we finally arrived at the center, it was packed to the brim. Everyone was in a jovial mood and busy chit-chatting away. Some had already started to dig into their dinner. We were sitted next to a big Singapore student (pretty noisy) contingent.

Complimentary picture

Before we began, 2 tribe girls appeared and a cameraman starting snapping away. Obviously these photos would be developed and sold back to us later.

I managed to swiftly snap a pic of the housemate with the girls. Sadly she couldn't return the favour for us due to lack of situation presence and hand-eye coordination. ;(

Flower chain

Close up

We were each presented with a chain of flowers to wear around our neck. It's those flowers Indians frequently use in their ceremonies. They emit a really fresh and relaxing floral scent.

The "Khantoke"

1. Fried Chicken
2. Deep Fried Crispy Pork Skin
3. Gingery Burmese Pork Curry (Gaeng Hang Lay)
4. Stir Fried Cabbage
5. Chili-tomato-minced Pork Dip (Naam Prik Ong)
6. Sticky Rice

Closer look

The name "Khantoke" derives from the circular wooden tray (RED) set on pedestal that serves as a table. It is a traditional cultural dinner for special occassions passed down generations upon generations since the Lanna Kingdom (1200s).

I've found out there's actually a sequence of eating this dinner where the main element is to roll the sticky rice with your hand. No one informed us so we just munched and chomped our way through the food. hehe

Crispy Rice Dessert

The crunchy pork skin was extremely addictive. It was a buffet so we had another helping of the fried chicken and the pork skin. Yummy.

A "Khantoke" dinner is never complete without the dance aspect. It is essential that a "Khantoke" dinner be accompanied by beautiful and pretty tribes ladies decked in their traditional costumes and charming you with their swaying traditional dances.

Fingernail Dance

Silk Weaving Dance

Chao Phraya Dance

Night Market

After dinner, the host invited us to venture outside to the market and the outdoor stage for Part 2 of the show. Oh yeah, no one is allowed to wear shoes in the dining hall so wash your feet profusely if you have Hong Kong feet. ;p

Outdoor Stage

At the market, the tribes people setup stalls selling their own handmade handicrafts. Most of them use their adorable little kids to man the stalls. They look so damn cute in their tribal costumes. ;p

Leg Pole dancing


Adorable little ones

This performance by the little kids was really heart-warming. The audiences really loved them. One of them missed her step and almost had her little leg squashed by the fast moving bamboo poles. Luckily she jumped over the pole to the applause of the audience.

Lady with wings and a strange creature

This performer had a strange looking creature sharing the stage with her. The creature was all hairy and would go around the audiences for alms. He will lick and kiss you in return. ;p

Balancing ladies


Neat balancing act

The 3 of them would hook up their legs and become a 3 legged monster. They danced (more like jumped) to the music. It actually takes quite a lot of balancing and timing. The entire body would crash to the ground should anyone of them mistime a jump. Unfortunately that didn't happen. hehe

Row of pretty ladies

This is the dance of throw rice in air to remove shell. I recall our Iban tribe in Sarawak have a similar routine as such, maybe they're distant cousins or something.

Most of the entourage participating in the dance (including the one in the hall) were multi talented. Like the flame swinging guy in the video who took part in 5 or more dances.

The host mentioned that all the dancers are actual tribes people who were employed by the government to stay in the city to host this event. Most of the tribal ladies are quite fair skinned and some of them are quite pretty.

Here's a video of the highlights for the outdoor performance.

It ended with a decent albeit small fireworks display. ;p

Overall we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly during the night. The Khantoke Dinner cost only 300Baht, well within any travelling budget.

Technorati Tags: Khantoke, Chiangmai, Cultural, Tribes