Vegetarian Festival

การปรับปรุงซ่อมแซม ศาลเจ้าใกล้เสร็จสมบรูณ์ พร้อมต้อนรับเข้าสู่เทศกาล ไหว้เจ้า กินเจ ในเดือนหน้าที่จะถึงนี้เทศกาลกินเจ จะมาถึงแล้วในเร็วๆนี้ เริ่ม วันที่13 – 21 พฤศจิกายน 58. ส่วนกำหนดการต่างๆท่านจะได้รับรายละเอียดที่จะมีมาในไม่ช้า..จะแจ้งให้ท่านได้ทราบอีกที่ครับ

2015 Vegetarian Festival @ Bun Tao Gong Temple

Khao Lak 813 are proud to support Bun Tao Gong Temple in Khuek Khak.

The Brand New 2015 Schedule is available in English HERE!

Not for the Squeamish

This is not a Festival for the squeamish. If you don’t fancy seeing people impaling their cheeks, tounges & various other body parts with a variety of instruments then you might want to look away now. The piercings usually involve a large spike or sword but are definitely not limited to this. They may use axes, tree branches, knives, garden tools or anything their imagination allows. These extraordinary acts are not something you would usually associate with the word vegetarian. So where did it all come from?

Origins of the Vegetarian Festival

This is a festival of Chinese origin although the details are not certain. It is most likely from a travelling Chinese theatre group that visited Phuket and became very ill. They supposedly stuck to a strict vegetarian diet and all made a miraculous recovery. Whatever the origins, the reason the Vegetarian Festival is so popular in Khao Lak is because of the large population of Thai’s with Chinese heritage. Before tourism, Phuket & Phang Nga provinces started to grow from an influx of Chinese entrepreneurs taking advantage of the areas resources (mainly Tin and Rubber). This makes Phuket and Phang Nga excellent places to visit for any Chinese festival.

How Bizarre!

The Vegetarian Festival in Khao Lak is marked on the eve of the 9th month of the Thai lunar calendar. It is a strange affair to say the least. Your senses will be overwhelmed by loud music, thousands of fire crackers, colourful flags lining the streets and the smell of burning incense. And then there are the rituals…

The Mah Song

The highlight of the Vegetarian festival (apart from free food) are the Mah Song. ‘Mah’, meaning horse in Thai, refers to their bodies being used as a vessel for the Gods. They will go into an extreme trance state and locals believe that they then become completely unaware of their actions. They become possessed by a God and then that deity will take control of their body. Through power given by the Gods, their bodies are then supposedly able to perform incredible (sometimes grotesque) feats.

The most memorable images of the festival are the previously mentioned body piercings. But dont forget all the other spectacular sights. The 100% genuine fire walking is not an interactive event for tourists. It is dangerous! Also, witness the Mah Song have their bodies wrapped in firecrackers; as they explode they rip apart the clean white linen shirts, yet leave their skin untouched. It is absolutely a mind boggling and extreme festival. For those of you who saw the word ‘Vegetarian’, and wrote the whole thing off as ‘boring’, you were mistaken.

Make sure you check out the full 2015 Vegetarian Festival Schedule HERE!