Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2012 - Still Time Left

This year's Phuket Vegetarian Festival will be held from 15 October to 23 October; still plenty of time to make travel arrangements.

The religious celebration is one of my favorite events to attend and to photograph.  Duang and I have attended the festival twice, in 2008 and in 2010.  It is once again two years since we last attended so there is a strong possibility that we will attend once again.

The Vegetarian Festival is Phuket's biggest celebration and is a grand event for Phuket's Chinese community. Phuket was once a large tin mining as well as trading center. The Chinese immigrated to trade and to work in the mines. Today a large proportion of Phuket's population is Chinese. During the Vegetarian Festival, there are many ethnic Chinese visitors from throughout Thailand as well as from Malaysia and China.

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival started in the early 19th century. In 1825, a visiting Chinese opera company, that had visited from China to entertain the tin miners, caught malaria while performing in Kathu. In those days, malaria was often fatal. The opera company decided to adhere to a strict vegetarian diet as an offering to two of the Nine Emperor Gods. The opera company recovered from their illness. The people of Kathu celebrated by holding a vegetarian festival each year to thank the gods and celebrate the opera group's recovery. An additional belief that inspires the festival is to bring good luck to individuals as well to a community.

The festival is held over nine days during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calender.

The central belief of the festival is that by eating vegetarian food and observing 10 rules, believers can purify their body as well as their soul while bringing good luck to themselves along with their community.

A Shrine Volunteer Covers A Container of Rice Which Will Be
 Distributed As Part of Vegetarian Meals to Believers

The 10 rules that believers are supposed to follow are:

Maintain body cleanliness

Use only clean kitchenware that hasn't been used by people who are not participating in the festival

Dress in white

Be moral in thoughts and actions

Do not eat meat

Do not have sex

Do not drink alcohol

Avoid foods with strong flavor such as garlic and onion

People in mourning should not participate in the festival

Pregnant or menstruating women should not attend the ceremonies

During the festival, many rituals are conducted to call upon the gods. These ceremonies include body piercing, fire walking, bathing with hot oil, and climbing ladders constructed with sword rungs. The ceremonies are held at each of the nine Chinese shrines.

The largest rituals are the daily processions of believers during the morning through Phuket Town. The origins of the processions go back to the early days of the festival when a local resident went to Kansai, China to invite two deities to reside in Kathu, a district of Phuket. He returned to Phuket on the seventh night of the ninth lunar month. He brought back with him the sacred documents used in the ritual back in China. Residents of Phuket had a grand procession down to the dock to welcome him back upon his arrival from China. Today's processions commemorate his original welcoming ceremony.

Spiritual Mediums, called "Mar Song", also written as "Ma Song", become possessed by the Nine Emperor Gods. The Mar Song are dressed in clothes befitting the god that has possessed them. People believe that the god will protect the mediums from harm while they perform the various rituals and acts of self mutilation.

Each of the main Chinese shrines parades through Phuket Town on their appointed day during the festival. During the parade the Mar Song demonstrate the power of their respective Emperor God by withstanding the pain of their ordeal. For devotees, the Mar Song through their ordeal, are able to remove evil spirits and can bestow good luck upon others as well as for the community. With their power and devotion Ma Song are highly respected and revered. Along the parade route many people and businesses set up tables of offerings to receive blessings from the passing Mar Song. Long strands of firecrackers are set off as a Mar Song approaches to scare away the evil spirits. The greater the sound and noise the more effective the ritual of driving the evil spirits away on to the Ma Song. 
As the processions advance, huge amounts of firecrackers are set off. The air becomes filled with the sharp staccato of bursting firecrackers, flashes of light, flying shards of bright red firecracker paper wrapping, and huge clouds of choking sulphurous smoke. The fusillade of firecrackers is especially heavy for the passing of the shrine idol. The shrine idol is placed on a chair that is carried upon the shoulders of several young men. The young men wrap shirts around their heads to afford some protection from the onslaught of firecrackers that are thrown at their bare feet or explode above their head from suspended strings. Power of the Emperor God is manifested in the ability of the young men to not be frightened or injured by the sound, fire, and confusion created by hundreds of firecrackers exploding about them. Other followers assist the young men when the firecrackers commence small fires on the shrine idol. They rapidly wave cotton tee shirts around the suspended chair to extinguish the flames.

The Mar Song are considered to be warriors. Their bodies are typically heavily tattooed with Oriental designs. The Mar Song are in a trance like state - they appeared to be talking or chanting to themselves with their heads trembling from side to side almost as if they had Parkinson's disease. The trance-like state for some people is attributable to a form of self hypnosis. For the devotees, the trance is due to possession by an Emperor God.

The morning processions will occur from Wednesday the 17th through Tuesday the 23rd.  The processions commence at 7:00 A.M.  Participants in the procession are members of specific shrines for each day.
For 2012 the participants and schedule are:

          Wednesday, 17 Oct - Sapam Shrine

          Thursday, 18 Oct - Sam Kong Shrine

          Friday, 19 Oct - Baan Tha Rue Shrine

          Saturday, 20 Oct - Bang Neow Shrine and Chering Thalay Shrine

          Sunday, 21 Oct - Jui Tui Shrine

          Monday, 22 Oct - Kathu Shrine and Yok Ke Keng Shrine

          Tuesdy, 23 Oct - Sui Boon Tong Shrine

If your time is limited, I would recommend attending the processions on Sunday and Monday.

To get the full experience of the processions and associated ritual, you can visit the shrine before the start of the procession.  I recommend that you arrive before 6:00 A.M. to witness close up the preparations of the Ma Song.  Be forewarned, the preparations include piercing the Ma Song with various objects ranging from needles to assault rifles  It is quite a spectacle and a unique experience.

Headed Home With A Vegetarian Meal From the Shrine

A New Gallery Available - Phuket Vegetarian Festival

A Mother Shields Her Son from a Fusillade of Firecrackers

A new gallery, "Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2010", has been created on my photography website at the link below.

http://www.hale-worldphotography.com/Thailand/Phuket-Vegetarian-Festival/14384463_SK22G

The gallery is a work in progress but is finally to the point were sharing is possible.  With over 2,000 photographs to review and edit, it has kept me very busy since our return from Phuket.

A Ma Song - His Cheek Pierced By a Samurai Sword

Friday 15 October 2010 - Fire Walking

A Ban Neow Ma Song Fire Walks

Friday morning was rainy.  During an early morning lull in the rain, we headed out to the wet market.  We were out on the streets at 7:00 A.M. so Duang was able to earn merit by offering food to a Monk who was making his alms walk.  She may have earned some merit but her good deed did nothing to improve the weather situation.  We got just about one-half of the way there when the rains started up again.  We had brought our rain jackets and an umbrella so using them and taking advantage of balconies as well as canopies we arrived at the wet market relatively dry.  The market was not anything special but it offered protection from the rain.  We spent some time and took only a few photographs.

It rained fairly hard on our return to the hotel.  After waiting for the rain to diminish somewhat, we walked over to the procession route to observe the devotees from Kathu Shrine parade through town.  I took only about 41 photographs due to the inclement weather and fatigue setting in from combating the weather. Thinking that the procession was finished at 9:30 A.M., we returned to the hotel.  In reality it was only a brief respite in the procession, it continued on to late in the morning.

We spent the afternoon as we had spent the previous afternoons - in our room watching television, napping, and writing in my journal.  The weather continued to be horrible - I was actually beginning to contemplate the possibility that our flight the next afternoon would be cancelled.  The combination of wind and rain often reduced visibility to 300 meters.

One of my goals on this trip was to photograph the fire walking ritual.  We had not attempted to witness the previous scheduled fire walking rituals or sword ladder climbing due to bad weather.  I had attempted to photograph fire walking two years ago but failed due to a combination of distance and lack of light.  This year I had a new camera which is far superior for taking pictures in low light conditions.  In addition, the Ban Neow Shrine venue is much more intimate than the previous Saphan Hin location.


A Phuket Tuk-Tuk Taxi


The fire walking ritual was scheduled to commence at 8:00 P.M. so we left our hotel at 6:00 P.M.  We took a Tuk-Tuk, a small (very small) truck taxi to the Ocean Shopping Mall which is very close to Ban Neow Shrine.  We had dinner at the Pizza Company, Thailand's knock-off of Pizza Hut, and walked the remaining short distance to the shrine.



Devotees Tend the Large Wood Fire in the Ban Neow Shrine Courtyard

 Ban Neow is a small shrine in the heart of the commercial district of Phuket Town.  The front courtyard of the shrine was just about completely barricaded off to form a large rectangle.  In the middle of the barricaded area area was a very large wood fire.  When we first arrived, the fire was about a meter and a half, 4 feet, high.  Occasionally eight men would drag a wide board across the coals and embers to flatten as well as to spread out the fire.  They also used the same board and bamboo pole assembly to tamp down the coals to form a dense bed of coals.  The men wore white clothing as is required of participants during the festival along with tee shirts or towels that had been drenched in water as some protection from the fire.  Interestingly, most of the men were barefoot.

Devotees Spread Out The Coals In Preparation for Fire Walking Ritual

We arrived just in time.  The courtyard was rapidly filling up we spectators.  We ended up 3 people back from the metal barricade at the lower right hand corner of the rectangle - at one of the four altars set up in each of the corners.  We were not there very long when the rains began - once again.  The Public Address announced that the coming one hour before the start of the fire walking was a good omen.  She was 1/2 right it was an omen but not a good omen!    We had arrived prepared for rain - we each had a rain jacket, hat and umbrella.  We had brought one of the large hotel umbrellas from our room.  We put on our rain jacket and I placed my camera underneath my jacket.  Some men moved some large beach umbrellas from the refreshment booths over to protect the crowd along the barricade.  It was my good fortune to be directly beneath the center of one of the umbrellas.

We had been talking and joking with the people around us, so we gave our umbrellas to the people at the barricade who had no protection from the rain.  I tried to collect rent for the use of umbrellas but the people knew that I was only joking.  There were at least three showers, some of them with strong wind gusts, prior to the start of the fire walking ritual.  There were several announcements to be aware and on alert to pick pockets.  Surprisingly the warning was specifically warning about child pick pockets.  There were no children around us and my wallet was in in my front pants pocket underneath my rain coat.  Duang also was keeping a good lookout over me.

The announcer also warned that people born in the year of the snake or monkey to not look at the ritual.  This was in addition to the warning to menstruating women (Duang's "friend" was no longer visiting so she was safe), pregnant women, or people who were mourning.  No warnings other than being born in the year of the snake or monkey applied to falang (foreign) men - so I was good to go - at least in my mind.  I don't know what year I was actually born in.  Since I really wanted to photograph the ritual, I adopted the US Military policy of "Don't ask, Don't tell."  After about one-half of these warnings there was a correction - it was for people born in the year of the D-R-A-G-O-N or Monkey.  It turned out that people born in the year of the snake could watch the ritual after all!  I wonder how many snake people had already left.

Shooting the ritual was a great challenge.  Besides the rain to contend with, everyone was sticking their hand up to shoot photos with their cell phone.  I took several blind shots by extending my arms above my head and eye balling the bottom of my lens to get the angle.  The English language television channel at the hotel had been broadcasting a program about modern day military snipers so I was inspired as well as motivated.  After a while and a big rain shower, 2 people left the metal barricade.  Although somewhat easier, shooting was still a challenge.  Attendants inside of the rectangle were constantly in the way.


Offerings to the Nine Emperor Gods and Spirits Are Made at One of the Altars


The fire walking ritual commenced around 8:15 P.M. due to the adverse weather conditions.  A big part of the pre-ritual preparations was preparing the fire bed.  The attendants ensured that the embers were spread out to form a bed about 3 feet (1 meter) thick.  They also took great efforts to compact the embers to create a dense bed.

Ma Song Throws Prayer Papers On To the Fire

One of the Ma Song was supervising the fire bed preparation.  Other Ma Song came out to pray and make offerings at the altars in the corners of the large barricaded area.  Part of the worship at the altars involved lighting candles and burning wood.  Based upon the copious amount of smoke that I ended up inhaling, I believe the wood was some type of cedar. The Mar Song did some chanting, and would crack the whip that they carried.  You could see that they were working themselves into a trance-like state.

Final Preparations Being Completed

Prayer Papers Burn In Front of a Ma Song



A Ma Song Walks Across the Fire

A Ma Song, who appeared to be a leader, inspected the bed, threw some rice on the embers, and threw some prayer paper on the bed.  The rice popped like popcorn and the paper immediately ignited.  Seemingly satisfied with the preparations, the Ma Song walked to the far end of the fire.  Many other Ma Song were at the far end of the fire awaiting the word to proceed.  Upon the leaders arrival at the far end, the Mar Song commenced walking across the fire.

After the Ma Song completed their fire walking, some of the other devotees walked across the fire under the supervision of the Mar Song.




A Devotee Walks Across the Fire

 We left as the fire walking was coming to a close.  One-half a block from the shrine the sky opened up - the heaviest rains of the trip up to that point.  Fortunately we were clear of the jam packed crowd back at the shrine.  We quickly sought and found shelter under the extended balcony of a store front.  With the heavy rain and ensuing street flooding, it was obvious that we were not going to be walking back to the hotel.

A motorbike pulled up and the operator asked if we wanted a ride.  In Thailand there are four main modes of transportation in urban areas - motorbikes, Tuk-Tuks, Somlaws, and Songthaews or buses.  In Phuket I did not see any somlaws, three wheeled motorcycles, but there were plenty of roving motorbikes offering rides for a negogtiated price.  Motorbikes are involved in many accidents.  With the rain, road conditions, poor lighting, and crowds, I did not want to hop on the back of a small motorbike.  I told Duang that I did not want to ride on a motorbike.  I told her that I was afraid.  She told the motorbike woman.  The motorbike woman told Duang to stay where we were and she would return with a taxi for us.  About five minutes later the motorbike returned followed by a sedan.  The motorbike woman was concerned about me crossing te street and assisted me to cross the street in heavy traffic.  We returned to our hotel safe and sound - thanks to the kindness of a stranger.

Thursday 14 October 2010 - Phuket Vegetarian Festival

Spectators In Front of a 7-11 Store

After a good night's sleep, we were up at 5:00 A.M. to get to Jui Tui Shrine for the morning's preparations for the downtown procession.  I checked outside and was pleased to see that there was no wind.  It also appeared to be no longer raining.  We were dressed and prepared to head out 30 minutes later.

As we exited the hotel, we discovered that although there was no wind, it was raining - not a torrential downpour but enough to dissuade me from risking damage to my photography gear.  We turned around and returned to our room.  The hotel breakfast buffet commences at 6 A. M. so we were able to experience the start of the service as opposed to the close of service the day before.  The buffet had also been switched from the ground floor to the 19th floor of the hotel.

The 19th floor location was a surprise.  Three sides of the 19th floor were just about floor to ceiling glass with views of the city, harbor, Andaman Sea, islands, and surrounding hill sides - provided rain and low clouds did not obscure the visibility.  There was also two doors that lead to an outdoor observation deck.  During our breakfast, I kept an eye on the outside weather.  Since the wet market (so called because seafood, meat, poultry, and vegetables are sold there and having nothing to do with the current weather conditions) was not far from the hotel I harbored the hopes of getting down there for some morning photos.  As we continued our breakfast, the rain only intensified.  We returned to our room to watch some television with one eye on the TV and one eye out the window for the weather.  Around 8:00 the weather seemed to stabilize - somewhat.  The sounds of firecrackers exploding along the procession route and the immediate lack of precipitation were too much for me to resist.  I set up the new camera with the lens that I figured on using the most, I strapped the flash case to my hip, placed a couple of CF cards and a spare battery into my pants pocket, stuck the umbrella into my pants (carefully) like a sword, put on my Goretex rain jacket and headed out.  Duang still not feeling 100% elected to remain in the room.

Firecrackers Explode At the Feet of a Mar Song

I knew that what little gear that I brought with me would be safe and protected under my jacket if the rain returned.  The secret was to get past the two blocks from the hotel to the procession without any rain.  Once at my vantage point, it would all be manageable.  It was the impediment of setting off in the rain that I feared and would have to overcome.  With this being the tropics, local architecture, in general, takes into account the torrential rains.  The buildings have balconies or canopies from the second story that extend almost all the way across the sidewalk.  This sheltered space provides protection from the sun as well as rain.  This sheltered space is also sometimes used as displaying merchandise for some of the businesses.

A Female Devotee Marches in Procession With A Steel Rod Piercing Both Her Cheeks

A Jui Tui Shrine Ma Song and His Attendants March



A Ma Song Causes His Tongue to Bleed With a Sword



Something Different - A Ma Song Eats Burning Wood

My gamble with the weather paid off.  At the three locations where I stopped to take photographs of the morning procession, it only rained twice for short periods of time.  I but more importantly my camera gear were protected by either an extended balcony or canopy.

A Resident Making An Offering to Ma Song

Around 10:00 A.M. I was tired and had 421 new photographs.  I was also once again soaking wet - not from the rain but from perspiration and the increased humidity of wearing a rain jacket while bending, along with squatting to shoot more interesting perspectives of the event.  I decided to head back to the hotel.  Just as I turned the corner to return, I ran into a smiling face - Duang.  She had been looking for me for 1-1/2 hours carrying the remainder of my camera gear.  She had felt guilty about not accompanying me and was concerned that I would need to change my camera or lens so she had set out to find me.  We returned to the hotel together with Duang carrying all the gear.  Fortunately Duang's efforts were not entirely wasted, she got to enjoy the procession just as I was able to do.

Morning Procession Spectator

I spent the remainder of the day writing in my journal, reviewing photos, drying off my gear, and watching both TV and the deteriorating weather.  Duang -  "relaxed" as in napped.

As I wrote earlier, one of the "rules" to be followed was "Pregnant or menstruating women should not attend the ceremonies"  Two hours before we left our home in Udon Thani to go to the airport for the flight to Phuket, Duang's "Friend came to visit" (an expression that I picked up from some Southern good ole boys back in 1971).  On our previous trip for the Festival the weather, other than being hot and blinding sunlight had not been an issue at all.  This trip was completely opposite.  I mentioned to her that I thought that it was because of her that the weather was so terrible.  I was only joking because the rains had actually started days before our arrival.  I suspect that must have been a pregnant woman or two and several other women who had their "friends visiting" attending the ceremonies who had angered the gods.  Is it "Climate Change"?  Or were we just lucky two years ago?

The bad weather forced us to adapt to the situation that we were faced with.  It was a condition that we had no influence or control over.  It did present us with different opportunities than we had expected or hoped for.  Just as in life, we had to make the most of what we were given.  Just as in life we had to make the best of what we had when we had it.  Waiting and hoping for something better to come along or just plain procrastinating were too great a risk on this trip - just as in life.  Every day is to be lived fully, joyfully, and as best you can.

Wednesday 13 October 2010 - Phuket Vegetarian Festival

Mar Song From Ban Neow Shrine Parade Through Phuket Town

We arrived in Phuket the evening of October 12, 2010.  In researching this trip to attend the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, I had been tracking the weather forecasts.  The forecasts were for thunderstorms and 20 to 60% possibilities of rain for each day of our stay.  Two years ago we had spent 7 days in Phuket and had about one hour of intense rain one afternoon during a thunderstorm.  Based upon that experience and our knowledge of brief daily rains here in Isaan during the monsoon season , the Phuket forecast was not a major concern.  We brought an umbrella and two Goretex rain jackets as a precaution.

One half of the way from the Phuket International Airport to our hotel in Phuket Town it began to rain. By the time that we went to bed, there was a hurricane outside - well not really a hurricane but definitely squall lines raking across the city.  There were horizontal rains and winds around 60 to 70 KPH.  The wind continued all night and it rained most of the night - due to the wind we were asleep at 10:30, 12:00, 1:30, and 3:30.

Tuesday morning, I woke up at 5:00 A.M.  I could hear the the wind outside but I did not hear any rain.  I opened the curtains on both sides of our room and although it was very dark, I could tell that it was not raining.  I could also tell that there was a very ugly sky - fast moving storm clouds - but it was not raining!   Duang and I showered and prepared to get to Ban Neouw Shrine by 6:00 A.M. for the preparation of the Mar Song for the morning's 7:00 A.M. procession.

A Mar Song Pierced By An Umbrella As Well As Steel Skewers

Ban Neow Shrine was close to our hotel so we decided to walk over to the shrine.  Quickly all the sights from 2 years ago came back to us.  We had walked the same area before on our last visit to Phuket.  The shrine is near the large morning market - about 4 or 5 blocks from our hotel.  the morning market was very busy as we passed by.  Fish, meat, vegetables, along with hard goods and household items were being shopped and sold.  The route for the upcoming procession became apparent as we walked towards the shrine.  Merchants together with residents along the procession route had set up altars outside of their businesses and homes for the Mar Song to stop at.



A Ma Song Delivers A Blessing At A Local Altar

 Ma Song through their pain and suffering from piercings and self mortification are believed to be able to take away bad luck and evil of others as well as for the community thus ensuring them good luck as well as success during the up coming year.  To assist in the departure of evil and bad spirits, people and especially businesses will ignite firecrackers to scare off the evil as well as any bad spirits.  We were told that in front of one local gold exchange, 100,000 firecrackers were exploded.

Just as on our previous visit to the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, I found myself in the middle of one of the firecracker barrages.  For a former young boy who loved the smell of gun caps, this was pure ecstasy.  Five hours after the procession had ended as I was writing in my journal, the smell of sulfur and the other components of gunpowder was still discernible on our bodies and clothing.

We arrived at Ban Neow Shrine around 6:00 A.M., but it was too late to stake out prime territory at any of the Ma Song piercing stations scattered about the shrine courtyard.  Each station was surrounded by 4 to 6 deep rings of photographers.  Undeterred, I muscled up and sometimes below the myriad cellphone cameras as well as point and shoot cameras to take some shops.  Wednesday was the first of four scheduled morning opportunities to photograph and document the preparations for the processions.



Mar Song Being Pierced By Many Hypodermic Needles





An Assistant Adds Another Row of Needles to a Mar Song



A Ma Song Awaiting the Start of the Procession

As the light improved with the passage of time so did the weather.  The wind died down.  The clouds rose higher and became lighter.  By 9:00 A.M. there was actually abundant sunshine.  We never had to use the umbrella or the rain jackets that we had in the camera backpacks for the procession.  I did have to use my floppy hat from the camera backpack for protection from the sun.

Duang was not at 100% strength so I sought and found a great location for both of us.  At a street intersection where the sun was shining on the marchers and at my back, where the procession had to take a 90 degree turn to continue their trek, I found a club named "Fantasea"which had a beer garden at the sidewalk level.  The beer garden was closed but the tables and benches remained outside under a roof.  The location besides being convenient, sheltered and comfortable had full visibility of the street.  It was a great place for Duang to sit and enjoy the procession while I photographed the event 30 feet away in the middle of the street.  An added bonus for this location was that it was directly across from a business that had 8 long bamboo poles from which six to eight foot long strings of firecrackers were dangling.

It was a great morning - 775 photographs of which 709 were with my one year old camera - a new camera since our last Phuket trip.  This might bring up the question of why return to a place that you have been to before.  I have been to Machu Pichuu twice - why?  I had three reasons - 1. I had a new camera with greater capabilities than the previous cameras.  2.  I wanted some specific shots that I did not get during my first visit.  3.  I wanted to experience, enjoy and appreciate the location more fully.  So it also was with my return trips to Yellowstone National Park, Foz do Iguacu, Grand Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, Paris, Maehongson, Bangkok, and so many other wonderful locations and events.  So it was with this Phuket Vegetarian Festival.

A Ma Song Possessed By An Emperor God

At the conclusion of the morning's procession, I was soaking wet - not from rain but perspiration.  We returned to our hotel at 10:00 A.M., 2 blocks away from our last procession vantage point.  We arrived at the hotel in time to have the breakfast buffet which stopped serving at 10:30 A.M.  After  showering and changing our clothing, we watched the return of the squalls - wave upon wave of torrential rain and gale force winds that rattle the windows of our room. 

The remainder of the day was spent relaxing in our room and working on my journal.  We were fortunate to not to have to leave the protection of the hotel.

Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2010 - Background

Phuket Vegetarian Festival - Background

Devotees Carrying Shrine Idol Through Phuket Town

We arrived home last night (Saturday 16 October in Thailand) after a 1-3/4 hour direct flight on Air Asia back from Phuket.  The flight besides being economical was a vast improvement over our last journey back from Phuket two years ago - 12 hour; a combination of taxi, plane and bus.

We had spent 4 days and 5 nights in Phuket to observe and photograph the 9 day Phuket Vegetarian Festival.  The Festival, this year started on Friday October 8th and ended on Saturday October 16th.  We arrived Tuesday night and left on Saturday afternoon before the grand closing rituals.

The Vegetarian Festival is Phuket's biggest celebration and is a grand event for Phuket's Chinese community. Phuket was once a large tin mining as well as trading center. The Chinese immigrated to trade and to work in the mines.  Today a large proportion of Phuket's population is Chinese.  During the Vegetarian Festival, there are many ethnic Chinese visitors from throughout Thailand as well as from Malaysia and China.

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival started in the early 19th century.  In 1825, a visiting Chinese opera company, that had visited from China to entertain the tin miners, caught malaria while performing in Kathu. In those days, malaria was often fatal. The opera company decided to adhere to a strict vegetarian diet as an offering to two of the Nine Emperor Gods. The opera company recovered from their illness. The people of Kathu celebrated by holding a vegetarian festival each year to thank the gods and celebrate the opera group's recovery. An additional belief that inspires the festival is to bring good luck to individuals as well to a community.

The festival is held over nine days during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calender which is usually late September or early October. Two years ago it was held from 28 September to 7 October.  This year it was October 8 to October 16.

The central belief of the festival is that by eating vegetarian food and observing 10 rules, believers can purify their body as well as their soul while bringing good luck to themselves along with their community.

The 10 rules that believers are supposed to follow are:

     Maintain body cleanliness

     Use only clean kitchenware that hasn't been used by people who are not participating in  the       festival

     Dress in white

     Be moral in thoughts and actions
     Do not eat meat

     Do not have sex

     Do not drink alcohol

     Avoid foods with strong flavor such as garlic and onion

     People in mourning should not participate in the festival

     Pregnant or menstruating women should not attend the ceremonies

During the festival, many rituals are conducted to call upon the gods. These ceremonies include body piercing, fire walking, bathing with hot oil, and climbing ladders constructed with sword rungs. The ceremonies are held at each of the nine Chinese shrines.

The largest rituals are the daily processions of believers during the morning through Phuket Town.  The origins of the processions go back to the early days of the festival when a local resident went to Kansai, China to invite two deities to reside in Kathu, a district of Phuket.  He returned to Phuket on the seventh night of the ninth lunar month.  He brought back with him the sacred documents used in the ritual back in China.  Residents of Phuket had a grand procession down to the dock to welcome him back upon his arrival from China.  Today's processions commemorate his original welcoming ceremony.



A Ma Song From Bang Neow Shrine In Phuket Town

Spiritual Mediums, called "Mar Song", also written as "Ma Song", become possessed by the Nine Emperor Gods. The Mar Song are dressed in clothes befitting the god that has possessed them. People believe that the god will protect the mediums from harm while they perform the various rituals and acts of self mutilation.

Each of the main Chinese shrines parades through Phuket Town on their appointed day during the festival. During the parade the Mar Song demonstrate the power of their respective Emperor God by withstanding the pain of their ordeal. For devotees, the Mar Song through their ordeal, are able to remove evil spirits and can bestow good luck upon others as well as for the community.  With their power and devotion Ma Song are highly respected and revered.  Along the parade route many people and businesses set up tables of offerings to receive blessings from the passing Mar Song.  Long strands of firecrackers are set off as a Mar Song approaches to scare away the evil spirits.  The greater the sound and noise the more effective the ritual of driving the evil spirits away on to the Ma Song.




A Devotee Helping to Carry Shrine Idol



A Shrine Idol Under Bombardment

As the processions advance, huge amounts of firecrackers are set off. The air becomes filled with the sharp staccato of bursting firecrackers, flashes of light, flying shards of bright red firecracker paper wrapping, and huge clouds of choking sulphurous smoke.  The fusillade of firecrackers is especially heavy for the passing of the shrine idol.  The shrine idol is placed on a chair that is carried upon the shoulders of several young men.  The young men wrap shirts around their heads to afford some protection from the onslaught of firecrackers that are thrown at their bare feet or explode above their head from suspended strings.  Power of the Emperor God is manifested in the ability of the young men to not be frightened or injured by the sound, fire, and confusion created by hundreds of firecrackers exploding about them.  Other followers assist the young men when the firecrackers commence small fires on the shrine idol.  They rapidly wave cotton tee shirts around the suspended chair to extinguish the flames.



Ma Song Gives His Blessing to A Resident

The Mar Song are considered to be warriors. Their bodies are typically heavily tattooed - Oriental designs. These tattoos are much more elaborate and sophisticated than the religious body ink that I have seen here in Isaan. The Mar Song are in a trance like state - they appeared to be talking or chanting to themselves with their heads trembling from side to side almost as if they had Parkinson's disease. The trance-like state for some people is attributable to a form of self hypnosis.  For the devotees, the trance is due to possession by an Emperor God.

11 October 2008 Phuket Vegetarian Festival Day 6

Phuket Vegetarian Festival - Day 6 Monday 06 October 2008

This morning was the best morning - weather-wise. It was bright and sunny without a cloud in the sky. We walked from the hotel to the area where today's parade will pass.

As we walked we passed the area along the main road where we had been stunned the previous afternoon.

After taking our customary cool-off and rest-up break the previous day, we had set off to walk to the shopping center. We took a left on to the short street that connects our back street with one of the main streets of Phuket Town. Just as we made the turn there was a large bang and flash. I saw some men across the main road and I thought that perhaps they had set off a huge firecracker or 1/4 stick of dynamite. After hesitating to ensure that we were not going to be walking into a bad situation, we walked down the street and turned onto the main road. We came upon a group of motorbike taxi drivers and found out from them that a snake had gone up a tree onto the power lines. When the snake crossed to of the bare conductors it electrocuted itself and tripped the ciruit breakers at the nearby transformer.

I asked the men through Duang if they were OK and then performed a pantomime about checking their pants to see if they had soiled themselves when the snake got zapped. We all had a hearty laugh and we continued on our walk. Duang and I were very lucky to not have been walking underneath the snake when it short circuited the power lines or they would not have had to check my pants - it would have been obvious!

This morning there was no excitement on our way to the parade route.

Because of the bright conditions this morning, I changed my strategy for photography. I decided to utilize my 80-200 mm zoom without flash rather than the 28-70 mm with flash that I had been using the previous days. This change would allow me to shoot at higher shutter speeds and get close ups without having to get as close which was necessary with the shorter lens. The variety was refreshing and I believed that it would also add to the total experience that I want to share with others through my photographs.

I had only been shooting a short time when Duang called me over to her location. She was standing there with a beautiful little girl all dressed in white. The little girl wanted her picture taken. She was not shy at all. She was 2 years old and loved posing for the camera. She was adorable and a little ham. Her parents were very proud of her. It was apparent that they enjoyed Duang and I paying so much attention to their daughter.

I returned to shooting the parade. I saw the little girl several times afterwards with her father and I acknowledged them. Later Duang informed me that the little girl had walked back to her and just stopped. After awhile Duang realized that the little girl wanted to be photographed some more! I ended up taking some more pictures of the little darling and enjoyed sharing them with her on my camera screen. She truly loved seeing herself on the monitor.

As we were leaving the parade her parents came by with her to say goodbye. Duang told them that we would send them some prints of the pictures after we returned to Udon. The man gave me his business card. It turns out that he is a MP - Member of Parliament. He told Duang to call him before our next trip to Phuket because he wants to take care of us. Once again strange and interesting things always seem to happen on our adventures.

The parade as on previous days was very exciting. When the staues arrive, they are on chairs that are carried on the shoulders of young men. The men carrying the idols are joined many other young men. They work in shifts to carry the statues along the route. When they approach an area, all hell breaks out. Masses and masses of firecrackers are thrown by spectators at the idols. Firecrackers are exploding in the air and on the ground all around each idol. It is at this point in the midst of the fire, smoke, flashes of light, and sulfur fumes that the alternative idol carriers serve another very useful purpose - they start waving yellow towels frantically to clear the air around the idol carriers and to extinguish any fires that may start due to the exploding ordnance. All the young men continue their march oblivious to the maelstrom around their heads and feet. The smoke is choking. The percussion of the exploding firecrackers buffets the body. The young men run this gauntlet the entire length of the parade. Their bodies and white clothing become red from sweat and the accumulation of bits of red firecracker paper and gunpowder. The men do stuff their ears with cotton and wrap a towel around their head to prevent their hair from catching on fire.

It was an awesome day.

So concluded our journey to the 2008 Phuket Vegetarian Festival. It was a wonderful experience for both of us and we learned a little about another culture as well as got many photographs. Duang is getting into photography and she took about 250 pictures during the trip.

Some people have commented "WHY?" in regards to the piercing.

I have given it some thought.

The piercing is not a macho thing. I saw women being pierced.

The piercing is not a youth rite of passage into adulthood. I saw many elderly men and even one grandmother who must have been over 75 years old being pierced.

The piercing is not a family expectation.

I met and spoke with a young man in the Pub Pub Digital Lab who had been pierced the day before. He confirmed that his piercing earned merit for himself and his family. He added that he had participated against his family's wishes. They were opposed but he was pierced because he wanted to be.

I believe that the people get pierced out of pure faith. They believe that their pain will help their community, earn themselves and their family merit for their next life. They believe that their gods will give them the strength and power to overcome their ordeal.

I find it very interesting to witness this devotion and sacrifice in today's world where so little has been demanded or expected of us. These people's strength emanates from their complete trust and confidence in their beliefs.

Their trust and confidence in the institution guides them through their trials and tribulations during this festival.

Each generation seems to get tested. Our grandparents prevailed over the Great Depression (economic – not curable by today’s plethora of miracle drugs). Our parents endured the Second World War. Our generation managed to make it through the 60's and Vietnam aka "American" War.

Our sons and daughters, as well as we are currently being challenged by the developing world wide economic crisis.

The erosion of confidence in our institutions, the loss of respect for our "leaders", and the loss of faith in our systems makes prevailing over the crisis more challenging.

It is inspiring and an honor to have witnessed the faith as well as confidence of others supporting them in their struggles.

10 October 2008 Phuket Vegetarian Festival Day 5

Phuket Vegetarian Festival - Day 5 Sunday 05 October

Having marched in the parade, witnessed the parades marching through town, today we got up at 0400 to be ready to go to the Jui Tui Shrine for their preparations prior to their morning parade through Phuket Town.

The preparations involved the piercing of the mar song, "warriors". We arrived at the shrine at 0510 and had a treat - a beautiful 7 month old girl dressed in white trousers and tunic was toddling all around the mostly deserted shrine courtyard. She was seven months old with the attitude of a 2 year old - she was very entertaining. The little girl was absolutely darling and very photogenic. As I had noticed through the Festival, participation is a family event with all generations represented. Especially impressive were parents teaching their very young children to pay respect either bowing, kneeling, or making sign of prayer as the mar song and idols passed by.

At about 0600 more people arrived. The new arrivals were comprised of two groups - marchers and supporters of the mar song. As is the case for all events associated with the Vegetarian Festival, the action commenced after a flurry of bursting fire crackers. The mar song entered their respective temples - one for men and one for women to pay their respects and commence entering into a higher level of spiritual state. Duang and I ended up near an altar close to the entrance to the women's shrine. Soon some men showed up with latex gloves, rolls of toilet paper, alcohol, and small bottles of palm oil. After the mar song had sufficiently mentally prepared themselves, they and their handlers would go to one of the several stations scattered about the courtyard. By now the courtyard was packed with people. Many foreigners, "falang", had joined the marchers, mar song and believers. The foreigners were busy photographing the proceedings.

Due to the crush of people and just good fortune, Duang and I ended up at the backside of the altar - a mere 4 feet from where the piercings were being performed. Several times when we went to the end of the altar we had to bend or shuffle our position to avoid hitting some of the longer rods that had pierced a mar song.

Prior to piercing a mar song, the object was cleaned with alcohol and then lubricated with palm oil spread with a square of printed yellow paper. The warriors sit in a plastic chair in front of and facing the altar and the latex gloved men. Some of the mar song would point to the cheek where they wanted the piercing to commence. The warriors, male as well as female, sat quietly as they were pierced. Most sat with their eyes closed deep into their thoughts. After piercing some mar song had tears in their eyes that would be dried by their handlers with the corners of the black or yellow banners that the mar songs carry along the parade route. I assume that the warrior's tears of pain are believed to infuse the banners with mystic power. I had learned from the owner of the Pub Pub Digital Lab that people believe that the pain of the mar song takes away our bad luck and brings good luck to us.

I told him about the Medieval practice of having a "Sin Eater" A "Sin Eater" was a social outcast who lived outside of a village. This person who was rejected by society was kept alive by the villagers - the very people who spurned him. The villagers kept the "Sin Eater" alive by feeding him. By the act of eating a person's food the "Sin Eater" was believed to be removing the sins committed by the villager.

I find it fascinating the different religious practices around the world and how often the practices and rituals have things in common.

All along the parade route, believers pay homage to the mar song and to have the mar song's banner brushed over the top of their head - a much sought after blessing.

The mar song would occasionally stop and give out wrapped candy, small pieces of printed cloth, and colored strings. These objects are highly sought after by believers alongside of the parade route.

One of the female mar song stopped in front of me and gave me three pieces of wrapped candy (coconut flavored caramel). She didn't seem to be quite "all there". She said some things to me in an alien language - not Thai, not English and not Chinese in an alien voice. I have heard the voice before during the Vegetarian Festival from other mar songs. It is very high pitched and squeaky voice but not as irritating to me as Sarah Palin's voice.

During this morning's parade I had a strange moment or rather encounter with one of the mar song. I do not believe in their religious rituals or dogma but I respect their devotion. As a mar song approached, our eyes locked on to each other. I nodded my head to him as is my habit more and more lately to signify my recognition of him and as my type of common greeting. He stopped and waved his banner over my head allowing the cloth to drag along the top of my head. It was, for me, very poignant as well as powerful.

As I grow older and older, I gain a greater and greater understanding as well as appreciation of nonverbal communication. Part of this stems from an acceptance of one's intuition and ability to read body language and other signs. This acceptance and willingness to communicate has provided many exciting opportunities everywhere that I have travelled in the past twenty years. I survived a divorce from my first wife. Having survived that rejection, why would I be concerned about what total strangers may or may not think of me?

Having dropped many of myself imposed defenses and barriers, I am apparently very accessible to strangers now. This has greatly improved my life experience.

In Peru, I was taken from the market to a man's home. At his home he proudly showed me a room where he was raising "cuoy" (Guinea Pigs).

Cuoy are eaten by some highland Peruvians on special occasions such as Birthdays, Christmas, and Weddings. The great cathedral in Cusco has a replica of Da Vinci's masterpiece "The Last Supper" painted by natives in the early 1500's. On the table in front of Jesus is a platter with a cooked guinea pig on it.

Policemen have told me to cross their barriers to photograph a parade in Cusco from the middle of the street.

Algerians have told me that they knew what I did and that I was a real man - I had told the truth. From people who had nothing, I had gotten one of the most precious gifts - their respect.

I have attended the feast at the conclusion of Ramadan in the home of a hotel worker.

I have travelled in the countryside in Brasil and stayed in family homes and the attended a village "baile" (party).

I have been invited to spend the night in a Paduang refugee camp on the Thailand/Burma border.

I have been invited to spend nights in Hmong village in northern Vietnam.

I have celebrated with a religious group in Cusco, Peru, and was invited to travel with a shaman at Machu Pichu.

My only regrets have been the invitations that I have not been able to accept - yet!

In appreciation for everyone's kindness, I share my experiences with others who do not have the opportunities or mind set to explore - to push their boundaries further out.

9 October 2008 Phuket Vegetarian Festival Day 4

Phuket Vegetarian Festival - Day 4, 04 October 2008

We slept a little later this morning because my strategy was to let the parade come to us rather than us marching with them. Rather than finding the parade and keeping up with the group, today we set up at a convenient location and let the parade march by us. We walked 4 blocks to a point where the parade made a 90 degree turn on their way to the park at the finish point. It was a terrific location.

Due to the change in direction the parade would slow down. The participants were very friendly and cooperative. They would stop and pose for photographers. I personally do not want to interfere with people - however I had no problem in having Thai people stop the warriors to photograph them with me jumping in to get my shots.

I was shooting like crazy and by this time had over 1,200 digital photos. I knew that I was headed for a problem. My digital media could handle roughly 1,600 pictures with fire walking that night and the best parade scheduled for the next morning. I did not want to ration by photo selection and perhaps miss "The Shot". I shot freely. My plan was to finda shop that would transfer the electronic files from my digital media to DVD disks.

I found a shop near our hotel and the owner transferred the files to two DVDs for $11 USD - far cheaper than buying additional media even if I could have found it.

That evening we went to the fire walking ritual. The fire walking venue was an approximate 100 foot by 100 foot roped off area. The area had 7 rows of plastic chairs along its perimeter. There were 4 shrines on the outside of the roped off area. In the center was a large mound of burning wood approximately 20 feet by 30 feet and 3 feet high.

Every so often two men would tamp down the burning mound using a long strap with a large rectangle in the center.

The spectators were extremely well behaved - I saw only one policeman at the site though I am certain there must have been more. I am certain that the rules for not drinking alcohol and being moral in thoughts and actions contribute greatly to the behavior of the spectators. The audience was allso made up of people of all ages with many groups of three generations of a family represented.

Small fireworks were being set off by people on the outside of the venue. Some warriors appeared inside the roped off area and spent a lot of time generally milling around. Once in a while they approached the burning mound feel the heat or toss some rice on the embers. After about 45 minutes of general inactivity, the warriors started to prepare themselves for the upcoming ritual. Some took pieces of paper and set them afire from the burning mound. The warrior then passed the burning paper around his body as well as between his legs in an act of purification. Suddenly large fireworks started to be shot from two separate locations into the sky above our heads. It was beautiful as well as impressive. Excitement was building rapidly throughout the venue. About 15 minutes after the completion of the professional fire works, all hell broke loose. The idols were entering into the venue atop the shoulders of young men - just like during the morning parades. It was like a war - firecrackers were exploding 360 degrees around the fire walking venue. The fusilade continued for at least 10 minutes. The sky was filled with billowing clouds of smoke.

Once the idols had been placed in their final locations, the mar song paid their respects and went into a deeper trance. They ended up in a line at the far end of the mound of embers and took turns traversing the embers. Some mar song sprinted across the mound while others took a leisurely stroll across the embers. I believe that some mar song went across three times. The entire procession across the embers lasted about 20 minutes.

8 October 2008 Phuket Vegetarian Festival Day 3

Phuket Vegetarian Festival - Day 3, Friday 03 October

Another beautiful morning and once again we were off at 0700.

Today the Ban Tha Rue shrine was parading through the streets of Phuket Town. We drove to the starting point which was further outside of the town center than yesterday.

Just as yesterday the start of the parade was preceded by a fusillade of fire crackers. Today however there were at least twice as many warriors - including female warriors. Today was the first time that I had seen women with face piercings. Women, mar song, in previous events merely walked barefoot in a trance like state along the parade route. They would stop occasionally and give out wrapped candy to people - adults as well as children. On some of their stops the female mar song would also give out blessings which were much sought and appreciated by the believers along the route.

Today's warriors were much more extreme in their selection of objects to pierce their face. One man had a full sized roof top TV antenna running through his cheek! Another had a garden shrub through his face. These were not the strangest objects that I saw during today's procession. The strangest mar song was a man with two ceramic deer heads with their antlers piercing his cheeks.

The parade was more impressive than yesterday's. I got a little too close to the action once and got a little shell shocked from the fire cracker bombardment of the idols. All around me, above me, and at my feet hundreds of fire crackers were exploding. I could feel the concussions of the blasts all over my body. The air was filled with choking smoke. The combination of sound, pressure waves, blast flashes, and swirling smoke was very disorientating. I quickly got some more distance from the statues that were the focus of the fire cracker assaults. I developed an admiration for the fortitude of te young men who carry the statues under assualt for the entire length of the parade.

I am in awe by the passion displayed by all the participants. True devotion was shown by the believers. I had seen such devotion before during the Feast of the Corpus Christi six years ago in Cusco, Peru - people living their religion with their faith on full unabashed display.

Today's parade moved along very quickly resulting in Duang and I becoming separated early on. I was not able to photograph the parade and keep up with the mar song at the same time. I stopped along the route and waited for Duang to catch up. We called Khun Lak and proceeded to do a little sightseeing of the island.

We headed SE to view parts of the island. We visited the Phuket Sea Shell Museum and enjoyed the very well displayed and documented shells. From the museum we went to Rawai Beach.

Rawai Beach has a new concrete pier extending at least 200 meters into the bay. At the base of the pier is a tsunami warning siren. Roadsides are marked with tsunami evacuation routes. With today's current warning system there is a supposedly a 30 to 40 minute advance warning of a tsunami. To the left of the pier is a small village.

The village is a series of small sea shell souvenir shops, shacks, and many small fishing boats. The villagers are very poor and obviously not typical Thai in appearance. They actually are "Chao Lei" - Thai for "sea gypsy". The people are "Moken".

The Moken people live ashore during the Monsoon season which runs from June to October. For the rest of the year, they live aboard their boats out at sea going from small island to small island as they fish and dive. The Moken people according to Mr Lak are not allowed to move off of the beach. We met a couple of older men resting on a raised wooden platform under the canopy of a large tree. We had a very interesting conversation with them. We learned about free diving in the ocean, one man according to his friend is crazy from drinking too much, one man's wife had left him, and one man has trouble walking due to diving too much.

The people are very dark and resemble Indians or Ceylonese people more than Thai people. They are small and skinny. When they go in the water they wear just their underwear - briefs rather boxer style.

The Moken men were interested in knowing where we were from etc. I wandered around and took some photographs of children as well as men loading up their boats with supplies. Another boat was headed out to sea with 5 men aboard.

The Moken boats are similar to the long tail boats on the Chao Praya River in Bangkok. They are powered by a propeller on the end of a long metal shaft driven by a small car engine.

Underway the boats throw up a large rooster tail and announce their arrival well in advance.

We finished in the village and walked out to the end of the pier. At the end of the pier were two pavilions that provide welcome shade and shelter. We stopped and watched some workmen fishing. Large schools of small fish swarmed around the support columns of the pier. The bottom of the sea was flat and sandy. The water was very clean and emerald green.

From Rawai Beach we drove to Phromthep Cape to view the sea and islands. It was very very hot and Duang was not feeling well so we called it a day and returned to town.

Another interesting day.