Umbrella Festival

Our stay in Chiang Mai overlapped with the annual Umbrella Festival in nearby BoSang. We passed an enjoyable day first learning how the umbrellas were made and then enjoying the festivities and food. Maya purchased, and then released, a pair of sparrows that were caged in a small bamboo wicker enclosure. The birds aren't sold to be pets, the idea is to release them to begin with. Releasing caged birds brings merit and good luck. Obviously. However, there is something a little perverse about a cottage industry that captures birds so that others can earn merit by releasing the birds. If you lose merit by catching the birds, this would be essentially a zero-sum game; there would be no net gain in the end. However, upon reflection, this seems like a particularly rational/Western assessment. I suspect the Thais feel that capturing birds to bring others' good luck provides a valuable benefit to society... everyone wins! Except possibly the birds. But for all I know, they get a little food and perhaps they enjoy a brief respite from having to be constantly on guard against the hawks. Heck, for all I know the same birds keep getting captured over and over again. It is pretty cool to release the birds.