There was so much amulet and good luck decoration in this taxi that I actually feared for the drivers visibility
1. Decorated Taxi
Unlike last year, when I was able to eat exclusively vegetarian for the entire festival, this year I simply had too many things going on to commit to the 9 day challenge.
However, I was able to get out a few times in Bangkok’s Chinatown to take some photos, two videos that you may have already seen, and to eat some vegetarian Thai food.
Here are 20 of my favorite photos from Thailand’s Vegetarian Festival 2012. Most of them are from exploring the temple near on the banks of the river.
A cart full of steaming peanuts, sweet potatoes and pods flowers
2. Steamed Snacks
We arrived at about 7 am to see many monks collecting their daily food
3. Monk on the Street
One of the main temples where festivities in Bangkok took place during the festival
4. Chinese Temple in Chinatown, Bangkok
Within the temple, one is only permitted to wear fully white clothing
5. Inside Chinese Temple
Awesome street restaurant packed with vegetarian street food
6. Vegetarian Restaurant in Chinatown
One of my favorite vegetarian Thai dishes is stewed bean curd
7. Dishing Up Bean Curd
First vegetarian meal during the festival
8. Vegetarian Meal
Some people that participate in the festival purchase huge sticks of incense to burn
9. Giant Torches
Similar to buying incense, others light giant candles within the temple
10. Lighting Candles
There’s a crew on standby waiting for people to buy candles or torches and these guys do all the sweaty work setting things up
11. Temple Workers
Thailand Vegetarian Festival 2012
12. Crew Member
Lighting incense within the temple
13. Lighting Incense
14. Candles and Lady
Hard labor and inches from flames, it’s not easy work
15. Setting Up Torches
This guy made rounds clearing out the old incense that had burned through
16. Cleaning Out the Incense
Sticky, crunchy, and filled with mushrooms and cabbage, these fried dumplings were delicious!
17. Fried Dumpling Stall
It was extremely tasty!
18. Fried Dumpling
Using wooden hammers, these guys alternate taking hits to crush peanuts into peanut candy
19. Pounding Peanut Candy
One of my favorite vegetarian Thai dishes during the festival was this plate of stir fried tofu with holy basil
20. Stir Fried Tofu
The annual Thailand vegetarian festival is most famous in Phuket where you can see rituals of self-flagellation, but in Bangkok there are still some interesting (and less violent) festivities and food to eat.
If you missed the vegetarian festival videos watch them here!
Wow that’s great, I would love to try vegetarian Thai dishes. Thai cuisine is so tasty and since sometimes it’s not exactly easy to find vegetarian options in Asia, except India obviously, this festival is not to be missed.
Angela recently posted..Eleonora d’Arborea, woman, daughter, mother, ruler in medieval Sardinia
Thanks Angela, you’re right, it’s a great festival especially for vegetarians!
This looks just fantastic!! I would have a gala time sampling all the vegetarian dishes
Thanks for sharing this yummy post Mark
Arti recently posted..10 Impressions from the City of Tokyo
No problem Arti, thanks for checking it out!
OMG this looks SO good. I miss Thailand so much!! I love New York, but I can’t eat hot dogs and pretzels all day. Nothing compares to Thai street food!
Koren @ City Gal recently posted..Maeklong Railway Market: Thai People Say “Hell No, We Won’t Go!”
Awesome, thank you Koren! It’s a really interesting festival, and vendors do a great job of creating flavorful vegetarian snacks and dishes!
Amazing photos! I didn’t know about this festival, and it looks interesting. The beancurb and fried dumpling look delicious!! yum…
Noel recently posted..This is… Southeast Asia’s Largest Taoist Temple
Thanks Noel! The beancurd was one of my favorite dishes this year at the festival!
Thanks mark.
If you like to see what happened Tuesday night at the Chinese shrine for the festival closing, of the burning of all the offerings and the live Chinese theatre, photos are on my Facebook. No videos yet. The next morning ceremony of the calling of heaven to earth was just as crowded.
Next year you may have to stay at the “river view guest house ” to so you can be there for the ending this time.
The best part, was actually exploring the 200 year old houses around the area and videoing with the locals what life is like there.
Max Neumegen.
Hey Max, thanks for sharing, I’ll go check out your photos on Facebook. I agree, that entire old area of town is fascinating!
A 9-day food festival? I love it!
9 day food festivals are excellent!
It’s interesting to see so many veg Thai dishes. I was thinking that it hard to find a vegetarian food in Thailand but you busted my myth. After reading your post, I am looking forward to visit this festival next time and want to enjoy all these dishes.
Hey Peter, well is during the festival when there’s lot and lots of vegetarian food, but during non-festival times, there are still some vegetarian restaurants.
Thank you so much for sharing this photos such a great work. Fried Dumpling and Tofu look really good..love spices.This Thailand’s Vegetarian Festival in Bangkok is so cool..
solo female travel recently posted..Q & A: Christina Ambubuyog talks about travel as a spiritual experience
Hey, thank you so much for checking this out, and glad you enjoyed it. The food is the highlight for me!
I wish I was able to make it there.
Katie recently posted..Travel to Vietnam: What to Do in Hanoi
Hey Katie, I hope you can make it for future vegetarian festivals!