Thailand celebrates Chinese vegetarian festival
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Thailand on Tuesday starts celebrating the first day of the Chinese vegetarian festival. Shrines in every province in the country have raised lantern poles to signify the beginning of this year's vegetarian festival.
In Phuket province, Phuket governor Jamleran Tipayapongtada this morning chaired the lantern pole raising ceremony at Phuket’s Jui Tui Shrine, with both locals and tourists donning white to participate in the ceremony. A ceremony to invite gods to the shrine was also conducted the night before.
The same ceremony was carried out in Kiew Oong Aiu Shrine in Trang province, where attendants raised the lantern pole and invoked emperor gods to signify the start of the province’s vegetarian festival.
In Ranong province, Thais of Chinese descent wearing white also attended the province’s ceremonies, which included fireworks and participation by 19 Buddhist schools.
In Songkla province, various temples and shrines handed out free vegetarian food, while the province’s Supasarnrangsan road was lined with vegetarian food stalls.
In Ubon Ratchathani, thousands of people wearing white attended a prayer ceremony for His Majesty the King.
In Nakhon Pathom province, Thais of Chinese ancestry held a parade along Phra Phathom Chedi road to invoke the emperor gods, giving residents an opportunity to pay their respect and join in on festivities.
In Chaing Mai province, residents flocked to vegetarian food stalls, especially in the province’s Thanin market, where a variety of vegetarian food was sold at affordable prices.
