Incredible Festivals In Thailand

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival 

This is the largest festival on the tropical resort island calender, although it does have some spiritual meaning for some Thai people, it is also a hit with visiting tourist. If you have seen photos of this festival, you would never forget it, as they sickening to most people and if they do not turn you off, it would be high on your list of the most bizarre things you have ever seen. The self mutilation is simply brutal to watch, these Thai men pierce their face with knives, swords, skewers and anything else they can find. Many of them also slice their tongues with razor blades and then proceed on a well worn parade route throughout the old town, it really is an amazing street processions. 

Local business along the route built alters that look like miniature temples where the mutilated men stop at each of these shop fronts to take the offered fruit and Thai flowers. They will either pierce the fruit with a skewer that is poking out of their face or if their face is all ready full, they will bless the fruit and give it to by-standers who watching the freak show. The flowers are also blessed and inserted into their belts, while they also drink nine little cups of tea along the painful journey. This is all to the backdrop of very loud fireworks in the streets. 

This bizarre ritual in Phuket is not seen anywhere else and although the vegetarian celebrations are practised throughout the country by devout Chinese individuals with that heritage, there is no known record of this ridiculous behaviour associated with the Chinese Taoist Lent, it seems to have come from a travelling circus that was performing on the Thai tourist island during the time of Thai Lent, and it was a hit. If you want to see this for your self, the dates vary year by year, but it is held during the end of September or early October. In 2013 it is scheduled to be on 4-14th October. 

Chiang Mai Flower Festival 

This is the largest display of flowers in Asia and a must see for any flower enthusiast. I know that sounds a little bit “corny”, however words can not describe the sheer scale of this month long festival. Chiang Mai is well known and marketed as, “The Rose of The North”, the whole region is blooming naturally at that time of the year, everywhere you look there are flowering plants which also smell great.

There is a main weekend that has the judging of the spectacular floral floats in Suan Buak Park which is central in the city. It is also the weekend when when most the entertainment activities are held and the judging of the beauty pageant, which is a hit with the men. The competition for the 'Chiang Mai flower Festival Queen” is taken very seriously, one would hope they lighten up a bit in the future with some of the 'cat fights' requiring police intervention in years gone past between contestants! It is traditional held in early February each year, next year it is planned from 31 Jan – 3 Feb in 2014.  

John Shoane is a Bangkok based florist who is passionate about Thai Orchids and designs floral arrangements for Gogo Florist. He also writes for their blog and has travel extensively through Thailand and Asia. You can contact him directly here on G+.