According to the legend of the Thai ethnic group in Muong Thanh, Dien Bien, long time ago in a year of having good weather and a bumper crop, King Hung in Phu Tho Province organized a festival and invited representatives from ethnic groups and tribes to attend. During the festive days, there were many interesting folk games, including Con (a colourful fabric ball) throwing that then became a very popular game of the Thai people.
In all festivals and Tet holidays of the Thai ethnic group in Tay Bac, besides solemn rites and ceremonies, Con throwing is an indispensable folk game. To prepare for this folk game, the Thai girls often spend some months sewing balls from cloth. Then, they stuff cotton or grass, scraps of fabric and seeds of cotton plants inside the balls and decorate the outside with five colourful fringes. The balls are the same size as big oranges.
The folk game is often held on a spacious and flat ground where the locals erect a bamboo pole, 15m-20m high. The top of the pole is tied with a five coloured flag and a bamboo-made ring wrapped in red paper that serves as the target of the game.
For the Thai people, it is a folk game of great significance. According to Lo Van In, a Thai culture researcher in Dien Bien, Con symbolizes Yang while the bamboo ring symbolizes Yin. The game shows the harmony of Yin and Yang so couples who want to have children excitingly participate in the game to pray for a child.
During the festival, Con is thrown towards the starting point of the river or stream where the Thai ethnic people live. The folk game's rules are simple and anyone can participate in the festival. The participants are divided into two teams who throw Con at the bamboo ring at the top of the pole. Those who successfully throw Con through the ring will become the winners.
Over the years, with its spiritual and cultural values, the game has been preserved and has become the most popular one of the Thai people.