Festivals in Thailand Chiang Dao's secret shindig

Beats, bonfires and bamboo abound at DDT, a collaboration with the Karen community

- Stephanie Zheng

Two days to the Double Dick Tiger (DDT) festival, an under-the-radar music party in Chiang Dao, a region about an hour north of Chiang Mai, Thailand, I have yet to receive word on how to get there.

My friends, convinced that I am walking headfirst into either a scam or a horror film, insist that I share my live location with them on Google Maps. I oblige, if only to ease their worries about traipsing solo into the wilderness.

A day before the festival, official instructions are finally sent out. By then, most attendees have already found a way there. One Thai attendee arranges via chat app Line to meet several festivalgoers, including myself, at a bus station in Chiang Mai. Together, we will figure out how to get to the meeting point.

Independence and community spirit, it seems, will be the core themes of the festival.

Thailand's vibrant music festival scene includes events like Wonderfruit, an annual arts, music, and cultural festival; Electric Daisy Carnival Thailand, a massive electronic dance music festival; and the legendary Full Moon Party, an all-night celebration on the island of Koh Pha Ngan where partygoers dance under the full moon.

These multi-day festivals bring together DJs from around the globe and offer peripheral activities from spiritual experiences to creative workshops.

While many festivals become commercialised as they grow in popularity, smaller ones like DDT, which was founded in 2022 and hosted around 100 people for its 2024 instalment, are less overwhelming.