‘Doraemon’ is used in the rain ritual in Thailand. X (old Twitter) still
As the heat and drought get longer in Thailand, residents of one local area even stage a scene praying for rain by evoking Doraemon, a popular Japanese cat character.
According to foreign media outlets such as AFP on the 7th (local time), residents of Payuhakiri district in Nakhon Sawan, central Thailand, recently locked a Doraemon doll in a cage and paraded through the streets.
Residents dressed in glittering clothes are said to walk around the village carrying iron crates containing Doraemon dolls. Spectators sprinkled water on Cawell’s doll.
This event is a local traditional rain making ceremony called ‘Haenang Miu’, which means ‘Parade of the Female Cats’. Due to the popular belief that the sound of a female cat’s ‘meow’ brings rain, local residents hold a rain making ceremony every dry season.
Haenang Miu’s rainmaking ritual has been carried out by locking cats who hate water in a cage and spraying water on them to make noises. However, recently, as criticism that these events are animal abuse has increased, the residents have held the events using cat character dolls such as ‘Doraemon’ or ‘Hello Kitty’ instead.
Recently, a record-breaking heat wave continues in Thailand, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees in 26 regions. More than 30 people have died from heat stroke since last March, and drought has continued for several months following the heat wave.
Not only Thailand but all of Southeast Asia is struggling with the heat wave. At the end of last month, temperatures rose to 38.8 degrees in the Philippines due to the El Niño phenomenon, causing tens of thousands of schools to suspend classes. Also, around the same time, abnormal temperatures were seen in Vietnam, with the average temperature 2 to 4 degrees higher than last year.
Reporter Lee Kang-min river@kmib.co.kr
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