Annual Vegetarian Festival in Thailand

Thailand Government Public Relations Department    Translate This Article
23 September 2014

Many people in Thailand are starting to observe the annual Vegetarian Festival, when they do not take meat and vegetables are mainly used in food preparation.

This year is special as the festival will be celebrated twice, marking the first time in 182 years.

The first round of the festival starts on 24 September and will continue until 2 October. The second round is scheduled for 24 October to 1 November.

Originally, the festival was observed in Chinese communities or among ethnic Chinese, or Thais of Chinese origin. Today, a large number of people, regardless of their origin and beliefs, join the celebration. Some people participate because vegetarian food is good for health. They believe that by consuming only meat-free meals for the period, they will cleanse their bodies and minds.

In observing the Vegetarian Festival, many people dress in white and pay homage to spirits in Chinese shrines. Apart from not taking meat, they also refrain from taking some vegetables with a strong smell, such as garlic, onion, spring onion, Chinese chive, and Chinese parsley.

With the culinary ability of Thai cooks, some vegetarian dishes made from soya look and taste like meat. Herbal drinks, fruit juices, and soya milk are popular among vegetarians in Thailand. Those who observe this festival were told that good vegetarian food must contain sufficient nutritional value and not be too oily.

The symbol for the Vegetarian Festival is a small yellow flag placed at vegetarian food stalls. Yellow represents Buddhism and good moral conduct. This festival encourages people to be aware of compassion for other lives. It also gives the people an opportunity to discipline themselves, so that they can clean their minds and practice acts of virtue.

Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown, is the focal point of the celebration of the festival in the capital. Other major provinces where the festival is celebrated on a wide scale include Phuket, Trang, Phang-nga, Songkhla, Nakhon Sawan. The festival has become a major cultural event of the island of Phuket and Hat Yai district of Songkhla, attracting tourist arrivals during this period, especially from Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong, which have large Chinese populations.

Phuket is preparing to welcome more visitors during the festival. The Phuket Office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand has published brochures to publicize the festival and invited members of the press from overseas to join a press tour of the province during this festival.

The Thai Chamber of Commerce University's Economic and Business Forecasting Center believes that 51.2 billion baht will be circulated during the two rounds of the 2014 Vegetarian Festival.


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