An amateur rocket made from PVC pipe and gunpowder blasts towards the clouds in Yasothon, Thailand, a rural farming community. The annual rocket competition promises glory and cash rewards to teams of working-class rocket makers. (Patrick Winn/GlobalPost)
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Spectators inside a designated “danger zone” watch a homemade rocket blast off at an annual rocket-building competition in Yasothon, Thailand. The contest, occasionally leading to fatal accidents, awards cash to rural Thais whose rockets fly the highest and farthest. (Patrick Winn/GlobalPost)
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Rocket builders enjoy rice whiskey in the middle of Yasothon, Thailand’s main avenue. The small town’s annual amateur rocket competition invites rural Thais to drink, flirt and dance with impunity before the difficult rice planting season begins. (Patrick Winn/GlobalPost)
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Amidst rolling smoke, an amateur rocket builder in Yasothon, Thailand shouts with joy after the successful launch of his nearly 50-foot rocket. (Patrick Winn/GlobalPost)
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A homemade rocket built from PVC pipe and gunpowder prepares for launch at the Yasothon Rocket Festival, a raucous amateur competition in rural Thailand. The rockets double as phallic symbols, sent into the clouds to fertilize the sky and bring rain. (Patrick Winn/GlobalPost)
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Rocket makers scramble to lift their creation onto a wooden launching stand as debris from a separate missile falls around them in rural Yasothon, Thailand. Farmers traditionally built the homemade rockets to symbolize penises, fired into the sky to usher in a rainy season that loosens the soil. (Patrick Winn/GlobalPost)
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