60179    A small village located in Phayao Province, northern Thailand.

60180    The mountain-dwelling Mon people of this small village commanding a view of the mountains of the Laotian border spend their first day of January 1995, in drinking celebrations.

60181    The Mon people base their calendar on lunar cycles, which provides them with a different New Year's date every year.

60182    In 1995, however, the date fell on the same day as in the Christian Year.

60183    It is the New Year's morning.

60184    The villagers put on their traditional clothes for the first time in a long while, and sacrifice pigs and chickens to the spirits of their ancestors and the village.

60185    Women prepare New Year's dishes, while men drink.

60186    They drink from a large cup made by slashing live bamboo, and filled with home-made spirits.

60187    The Mon men believe that dynamic drinking is a must to be a man.

60188    Elders say, "We learned as we threw up when young."

60189    The Mon men empty a cup after cup sitting in a circle.

60190    If they dry all the house, they move to the next house.

60191    When they drink the next house dry, they will continue on to the next.

60192    Children play in the street spinning a top.

60193    People also crowd the site of rice cake making.