The Vegetarian Festival is celebrated all over Southeast Asia.The Phuket festivities in Thailand are particularly notorious. In Bangkok, the festival runs in Chinatown because it is originally a Chinese festival known as the 'Nine Emperors Gods Festival' [九皇爺]. The Thais call it 'Tesagan Jin Je' Festival [เทศกาลกินเจ].
After reading an article about the event in the local press, I went there out of curiosity. There was a mention of a Chinese Opera performance by the Chao Phraya River. I was not familiar with the part of Chinatown, where it is all happening. Bangkok Chinatown is really big and it is a maze of narrow alleys. The particular place where this is being held is situated between Charoen Krung Road at the level of Soi 20 and the Chao Phraya riverbank. This part of Chinatown usually specializes in the trade of car parts. But during the festival this gray area becomes brightly colored in white and yellow – the traditional colors of the Vegetarian Festival. During this period of time, Buddhists try to follow the precepts of not eating
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| Incense burning |
any kind of meat. And since food is an important cultural event in Thailand, the narrow alleys are full of vegeterian stalls displaying traditional techniques of making Chinese cookies, selling fruits and all kinds of natural juices. Perhaps, on a normal day, you might not feel all that secure in all these narrow, winding alleys. But during the Festival, they are brightly lit with lights and lanterns and full of people of all ages dressed in white for the Festival purpose.
In order to find out where the right places are, you simply need to go with the flow making sure you can find your way back because this is not a place where any tourists come. Although I did see a few isolated farangs amidst the crowd, most of the time I was all alone. People are always friendly and smiling in this country, so this is not a problem.
Besides the street activities, I saw a few interesting Chinese temples particularly visited since this is first and foremost a religious festival. There is also a cultural exhibition in an old riverbank mansion. Many local artists had displayed their artwork there. But the most fascinating place was at the Chao Phraya riverbank. There is an old Chinese Temple there with a sort of covered yard that was filled with giant candles burning.
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| Stage of the Chinese Opera |
The Chinese Opera was set by the river facing the temple. People were allowed to go on the backstage to attend the making-up session before the performance. It takes a long time for each artist to paint his/her own face. It certainly was a fascinating moment and quickly became the evening's highlight.
Needless to say, I tried many of the delicious culinary delights on sale at the many stalls. Later in the evening, I found my way back to Charoen Krung Road and walked on to the Chinatown Gate near Wat Traimit. They had a great dragon show on Yaowarat Road but this part of town is a better known area. It lacked the authenticity of the back riverbank alleys.
Christian Sorand
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| Chinese shrine |
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| Chinese Opera performance |
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| Backstage make-ups |
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| Dancer's costume |
Yaowarat Festivities
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Chinatown Gate
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| Human pole |
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| The dragon rules |
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| Yaowarat Chinese Temple |
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At the temple
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