In Thai ethnic language, "to" means to fight or to beat, and "mak le" is round, dark brown and solid nut of a fruit that grows in forests. The plant belongs to the vine family, and each fruit is 30cm long, and has 4-5 seeds.

Leo Thi Muon, a cultural official of Chieng Xom commune, Son La city, said that the way to play ‘to mak le’ is simple, and anyone, regardless of age and gender, can play it. Playgrounds are flat grounds.

To play the game, first put the ‘mak le’ seeds in a row, then draw three lines on the ground. The first line is the starting point - the player's position; the second line, close to the row of ‘mak le’ seeds, is the line marking the violation; while the third is the finish line 1-2m or more from the starting line, depending on the players.

Each team chooses a round, bigger, thicker seed to make the main ‘mak le’ to shoot. There are many ways to play, usually divided into two teams, playing in four steps. In the first step, the player puts the main ‘mak le’ on his knee, uses his thumb to shoot it to hit the rival team's ‘mak le’ and fly to the finish line or over the finish line. In the second step, the player standing at the starting line throws the main ‘mak le’ towards the rival team's ‘mak le’. If it stops at any point, takes that point as a point to squat and put the ‘mak le’ on the knee and then shoot it to the finish line. In the third step, the player puts the main ‘mak le’ on the dorsum, jumps and uses the foot to hit it over the ‘mak le’ row and the finish line to win. In the last step, the player continues to throw the ‘mak le’ to mark the line, then put the main ‘mak le’ close to the line and then use his finger to hit the ‘mak le’ row across the finish line to win.

The team that completes all four above steps will win. During the game, if a member of the team does not pass at any step, another member will save him by shooting ‘mak le’ for him.

Trying to play the game at Son La city’s Hoa Ban (Bauhinia Variegate) Festival 2023, Nguyen Thi Ha from Uong Bi city, Quang Ninh province, shared: “This is the first time I try ‘to mak le’ folk game. ‘To mak le’ does not require too much strength, but ingenuity, meticulousness, flexibility, and high accuracy. For me, This is a very interesting experience”.

This game of the Thai ethnic group has been preserved, becoming one of the activities in the local holidays, New Year, and cultural festivals. These occasions also offer an opportunity to promote cultural identity, as well as teach the younger generations to maintain the folk game, contributing to the promotion and preservation of the ethnic group’s traditional cultural values./.