Takraw game in progress... Ta Pae Gate, Chiang Mai

Takraw is a traditional Thai game, played with a woven rattan ball. The object here is to get the ball into a netted basket which is suspended about 20 feet over the players. You can use every baody part except hands to accomplish this. Including shoulders, kicking with legs and feet, and, yes, foreheads. People wear a large foam pad, about the size of a dish sponge but very thick, strapped around their heads, with the pad in the front. Not many baskets are made per game, but it is entertaining to watch... especially when they head butt the ball!