Phuket Vegetarian Festival

Many of the reasons people buy a villa in Phuket is due to the culture and the great food! Incorporating both of these is the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, a Chinese 9 day festival that takes place every October. With its sacred rituals, street processions,ceremonies and of course delicious food this is a great time to be staying in your Naithon villa.

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival started about 150 years ago in the Kathu district, where the majority of the Chinese tin mine workers lived. A traveling group of opera singers visited and fell victim to an epidemic of  malaria. Within the community it was ascertained that they had forgotten to pay homage to the Nine Emperor Gods (Kiu Ong Iah) for the first nine days of the month. To atone for this they refrained from eating meat, drinking alcohol, and other bacchanalian pursuits to see the miraculous recovery of the opera group.From this year on the people of Phuket have continued to celebrate the festival.

During the festival local residents of Chinese ancestry adhere to a strict 10-day vegetarian or vegan diet to ensure spiritual cleansing. Other ceremonies that take place include fire-walking, body piercing and the’ raising of the Lantern Pole’, an act that notifies the nine gods that the festival is about to begin. The ceremonies of the festival take place in the localities of the six Chinese temples scattered throughout Phuket.

The vegetarian dishes on offer are very similar to the main Thai fare, as soya meat and other meat substitutes are used instead. To help inform the many tourists, travelers and sightseers that turn up to witness the festival  look for the yellow flags with red Chinese or Thai characters that signify the vegetarian food stalls. The nearest location to the Naithon Beach Villa is Cherng Thalay .