Before the groundwork could continue a Thai Lucky Ceremony was held. My wife wanted such a ceremony so I went along with it. The ceremony was presided over by an elderly retired monk and the lucky ceremony lasted about 45 minutes. The date for this ceremony was determined by astrology or something similar and the chosen date had a direct bearing on when the groundwork was started a few days previously.
The first part involved the retired monk chanting and reading from a book. I could only understand the odd word, my wife could not understand some of it either, as some parts of the book were read in Sanskrit. This went on for about 30 minutes and was conducted with us sitting next to the items in the top image. I do not know how to describe them, but my wife and her family spent all the previous day making the boxes and whatever was in them. During this time the retired monk blessed us repeatedly.
Next, two metal frameworks for concrete supports were lowered into 2 specific foundation holes. These specific spots had also been chosen because they were not going to be part of any bathroom / toilet. These supports were decorated with various Buddhist lucky items.
Money into the Foundations for Luck
Then my wife and I threw 9 coins each into each hole. My wife threw 9 old Thai coins and I threw 9 coins from the UK. They would later be covered in soil and concrete. This Thai traditional ceremony is to bring luck, happiness, food and wealth to the householders.
Then it was all over. The metal frameworks and the Buddhist lucky items, as well as the boxes on the wooden plinth, have to remain in place for 3 days.
What I was impressed with was the attendance of the architect and the man in charge of the Phayao office of Modern Tage developers. Clearly part of the reason for their attendance was to take photos for marketing purposes, but to do that did not need the archtect and his boss any worker could have done it. Nice touch.
Lets hope it all works.