It's a misnomer. The Thailand Vegetarian Festival. Often now also known as the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, thanks to the Thailand Tourism Authority and its marketing team . A complete mystery to brave, travelling, plant-based eaters who flock to Thailand in droves and only seem to want to see & focus on the word "vegetarian" and who simply don't get it.
The Thailand Vegetarian Festival is promoted with shocking images, like this:
and this:
If you're wondering about the common theme of dramatic, public cheek & body piercing, you'd be right. Ecstatic, ritual public piercing is done as part of the finale of the festival - the 9th day - when the supplicants prove their transcendence of physical pain and obligingly create physical entry points inviting the 9 Chinese Emperor Gods to inhabit & embody them for luck. Ouch.
The Nine Emperor Gods Festival is actually a Taoist Chinese Festival (Jiǔ Huáng Xīng Jūn / Jiǔ Huáng Da Di) and is celebrated for nine days each year; it begins on the eve of 9th lunar month of the Chinese calendar, and is observed primarily in Burma, Singapore, Malaysia, Southern Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. In Thailand it's always been a big showy event in Bangkok (Yaowarot) and Phuket town - both areas with very high numbers of Thai-Chinese. A cynic might observe also both areas with huge numbers of paying tourists in non-Covid years.
For 9 days the faithful abstain from meat and animal foods. Traditionally the "Jeh" (common Thai word for vegetarian) should only be prepared in a Taoist temple kitchen, and must never include garlic, onions or chinese spring onions.
The eager digital nomads who wander into Chiang Mai looking for the amazing vegetarian festival are mostly disappointed.
What often confuses people is the exact definition of “Je” food. Here is a quick definition and comparisons between Je, Vegetarian and Vegan.
Je: Je actually comes from “Jain”. They don’t consume meat, poultry, seafood, or any animal products (eggs, milk…). Furthermore, jay food excludes 4 kinds of pungent vegetables; including garlic, onion, Chinese single-bulbed garlic and Chinese chive.
Vegetarians: Refuse to eat meat but often may consume other animal products such as milk, eggs and cheese. In Thai people often call this “Mung sa-wi-rat”
Vegan: impose stricter rules onto themselves and refrain from eating animal produces like milk, butter and eggs and they will avoid any other use of animal products. Source
The Thailand Vegetarian Festival is NOT a food festival. It is a Chinese Taoist religious festival, with the aim being to invite the spirits of the 9 Chinese Emperor Gods to embody the cleansed human on Day 9. For luck & merit making.
For 9 days, in Bangkok and Phuket, there are Taoist religious ceremonies, parades and processions around waterways (the Gods apparently enter more easily via the waterways), lots of incense, lots of noise & fireworks to scare away bad spirits, lots of white clothing (to signify a preparing devotee ) and lots of temple offerings.
Many contemporary Thai Chinese now forego the ritual piercing and physical sublimation traditionally and publicly performed on Day 9, but still wear white for 9 days and will publicly make quite the show of eating "jeh" to attract merit. They are making tamboon.
As might be expected in a country which has (previously) attracted almost 40 million tourists per year, putting the word "vegetarian" on something in middle October gets online views, traffic, better SEO, more customers and a percentage of the tourism dollar.
Everyone who wasn't vegan or vegetarian and normally serves all kinds of food for the rest of the year, suddenly has "jeh" offerings. Because it's good business and Thai peple like it. Advertisements offering plant based milk and vegetarian offerings swamp social media as everyone rushes to cash in.
Temple and street fairs suddenly offer so-called "jeh" food at ridiculously low prices, and with little to no disclosure as to their ingredients.
Consequently people FLOCK to events and special offerings for the Thailand Vegetarian Festival and our local vegan & vegetarian restaurants, eateries and cafes who have been cooking clean and healthy all year round are almost empty.
Ironic, no?
I personally sidestep the Thailand Vegetarian Festival every year, for some important reasons:
- Cafe's suddenly offering plant based milks? Get it together guys - we prefer to support cafes who do this every day, all year round.
- Restaurants making NEW vegetarian offerings? It's a great time to launch your PERMANENT all-year-round new veggie offerings, and we support that. Cashing in for just 2 weeks, or a month? No thanks - we prefer to support the locals committed to plant based eating and always trying to do it well.
- We don't support GMO soy products in any way, shape or form. GMO was specifically created to enable the liberal spraying of herbicides whch kill frogs, birds, insects or lizards and poison the food chain - nothing "jey" about that at all! Thai Vegetarian Festival is a Corportate Polluters delight (Thai reference) - it encourages more Thai farmers to plant toxic GMO soy and destroy the natural environment. We'd prefer not to be part of that.
- We see so much "jeh" food which includes chemcial flavours, preservatives and synthetic colours, not to mention the absurd amount of foam take away boxes at temples and street events. Again, no thanks. Nothing meritorious about using or eating products that damage your health or the environment.
The Thai and Chinese Yellow/Red "Jeh" symbols and flags are SUPPOSED to mean "Jain" food - as in ritually prepared according to Taoist practice, vegetarian AND not containing garlic, onions etc.
Let's just politely say there are no controls or standards on how these symbols are used now; the dish may or may not actually be vegetarian, and MIGHT contain all sorts of thigns like fish sauce, oyster sauce etc etc depending on how literate or informed the cook/vendor is.
Should YOU consider the Thailand Vegetarian Fesitival as a travel highlight?
If you want colour, spectacle, processions, dramatic photos and an amazing tourist event, then the Thailand Vegetarian Festival is most definitely for you. We recommend Phuket Town for best tourist event, and Yaowarot in Bangkok for most authentic event. If you're particularly squeamish, give Day 9 in general or a front row seat at Day 9 temple events a large miss.
If, on the other hand, you want to celebrate GREAT plant-based food made with organic ingredients, you'd be far better off coming to Chiang Mai and going to one of the myriad of wonderful, all-year-round vegan, vegetarian and plant-based cafes or restaurants that Northern Thailand is rapidly becoming famous for.
So we're staying home in Chiang Mai again this year. Because for us plant-based is about natural health & lifestyle, and we're not feeling the need to prove physical transcendence or to create any more divine entry points. 🤣
All images used in my posts are created and owned by myself, unless specifically sourced. If you wish to use my images or my content, please contact me.
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