A group of grannies sit chatting in a temple hall while their hands busily work on their new hobby. All round them are roses, hibiscuses, lilies and daisies in full bloom but strangely, the flowers give off no sweet fragrance. It is only when one realises that the flowers are made of paper that the reason becomes clear.
Laughter fills the hall now and then when the pensioners share a joke.
In their hands are paper stems and petals that slowly transform into realistic looking flowers. Arriving at the temple in Chiang Mai's San Sai district at 8 a.m., Mrs Buakaew joins the other members in the hall to make paper flowers until noon. One of the items they make is dok mai chan, a simple white paper flower used at cremation rites. Although some people think making funeral flowers is a bad omen, Mrs Buakaew is philosophical. Birth and death is a fact of life.