Exciting times await travellers in Thailand. OK so right now it sux in Thailand a bit...................its' raining loads and has been pretty much all year. I was stuck in Phnag Nga in April due to floods, and that's the dry season! But err the festival right? Held each year in Phuket on the 9th lunar month on the Chinese calender. This year it will be September 26th until October 6th.
You can expect extremely loud fireworks, I mean it sounds like a war zone at times.....totally exhilarating. Everyone will be throwing fireworks around from 3 year kids to 100 year old grandma. The Chinese do not make amazing coloured firework displays, they make really loud explosions. Then comes my favorite spectacle the self mutilating and body piercing extremist. You have big earrings? Pffffffffft check these guy's out. I was there last time I think in 2008 and saw a guy who had a 60cm sword half way through hos tongue! These guys piece their cheeks typically with all manner of objects ranging from small bunches of flower& metal spikes to fake M16's and large garden tools like spades...............these processions are intense and amazing and if you a keen on the idea of taking some holiday snaps back home to amaze your friends this is the stuff to shoot. I found Phuket town the best place to be as it felt more real. Get out of Patong if you want some Authenticity.
The finale is fire walking. Sounds great but in all fairness is was a bit lame. That said I was not about to show 'em how to do it better. My experience was to be sitting in a huge crowd it was really really hot. It was packed and hard to see. Police who try to control the crowd keep reminding everyone to sit. This is really important for the believers as head height dictates status. So it;s important the crowds heads are lower than their own. Something tourist found hard to accept (me too) and the younger generation of Thais. It took ages of pounding the coals to make a cooler layer on top before someone eventually sped over them barefoot. These guy's are in a spiritual trance and acting in response to spirits and "unaware" or unable to feel pain. They are chattering mumbo jumbo and walking around like homeless drug addicts.......................although they do keep checking the temperature of the coals very diligently............but I am being cynical.
More info can be found here. I totally recommend you get there and experience some of what it has to offer. There is amazing vegetarian food everywhere and this is food that comes out once a year. Also one of the few times you can get vegetarian food in Thailand without pork in it.
You can expect extremely loud fireworks, I mean it sounds like a war zone at times.....totally exhilarating. Everyone will be throwing fireworks around from 3 year kids to 100 year old grandma. The Chinese do not make amazing coloured firework displays, they make really loud explosions. Then comes my favorite spectacle the self mutilating and body piercing extremist. You have big earrings? Pffffffffft check these guy's out. I was there last time I think in 2008 and saw a guy who had a 60cm sword half way through hos tongue! These guys piece their cheeks typically with all manner of objects ranging from small bunches of flower& metal spikes to fake M16's and large garden tools like spades...............these processions are intense and amazing and if you a keen on the idea of taking some holiday snaps back home to amaze your friends this is the stuff to shoot. I found Phuket town the best place to be as it felt more real. Get out of Patong if you want some Authenticity.
The finale is fire walking. Sounds great but in all fairness is was a bit lame. That said I was not about to show 'em how to do it better. My experience was to be sitting in a huge crowd it was really really hot. It was packed and hard to see. Police who try to control the crowd keep reminding everyone to sit. This is really important for the believers as head height dictates status. So it;s important the crowds heads are lower than their own. Something tourist found hard to accept (me too) and the younger generation of Thais. It took ages of pounding the coals to make a cooler layer on top before someone eventually sped over them barefoot. These guy's are in a spiritual trance and acting in response to spirits and "unaware" or unable to feel pain. They are chattering mumbo jumbo and walking around like homeless drug addicts.......................although they do keep checking the temperature of the coals very diligently............but I am being cynical.
More info can be found here. I totally recommend you get there and experience some of what it has to offer. There is amazing vegetarian food everywhere and this is food that comes out once a year. Also one of the few times you can get vegetarian food in Thailand without pork in it.
