Thai Festivals By Aj Mick Aj Nikki Aj

Thai Festivals By Aj Mick Aj Nikki Aj Rika Aj Rob

Introduction • Thailand is a country steeped in history and culture. This presentation looks at three important festivals in Thailand. • As Thailand is a popular foreign tourist and ex-pat destination we pondered; “Which Thai festival is the most popular with foreign teachers at Satree Phuket School? ”

Thai Festivals • Song Kran • Loy Krathong • Chinese Vegetarian Festival

Song Kran • The Songkran festival is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 15 April.

Song Kran • The most obvious celebration of Song kran is the throwing of water. Thais roam the streets with containers of water or water guns (sometimes mixed with mentholated talc), or post themselves at the side of roads with a garden hose and drench each other and passersby. This, however, was not always the main activity of this festival.

• Song kran was traditionally a time to visit and pay respects to elders, including family members, friends and neighbors.

• People celebrating Song kran may also go to a wat to pray and give food to monks. They may also perform cleansing rituals as it is believed that doing this will bring good luck and prosperity for the New Year.

Loy Krathong • Loy Krathong is held on the full moon of the 12 th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November.

Loy Krathong • During the night of the full moon, many people will float a small raft (Krathong) on a river or other body of water, such as canals, lakes and seas. Thai people believe that floating a raft on the river is to honor and pay respect to the Goddess of Water & to apologise for the bad things they have done in the past year.

Loy Krathong • The act of floating away the candle raft is symbolic of letting go of all one's negative emotions, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot. People will also cut their fingernails and hair and add them to the raft as a symbol of letting go of the bad parts of oneself.

Vegetarian Festival • The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is an annual event held in October. It is believed that the vegetarian festival and its accompanying sacred rituals bestow good fortune upon those who religiously observe this rite.

Vegetarian Festival • Phuket's Vegetarian festival began in 1825, when a traveling Chinese Opera Company came to entertain the Chinese tin miners in the Kathu district of Phuket. Kathu was then still covered by jungle and fever was rife. When the whole company grew sick from an unnamed illness, they kept to a vegetarian diet to honor two of the emperor gods. The sickness afflicting the opera troupe then disappeared.

Vegetarian Festival • During the festival, local residents of Chinese ancestry strictly observe a 10 -day vegetarian or vegan diet for the purposes of spiritual cleansing and merit-making. Ma Song, or entranced horses, are devotees whom the gods enter during the fest. They manifest supernatural powers and perform selftortures in order to shift evil from individuals onto themselves, and to bring the community good luck.