Nine Dragon Gods Festival, Phuket, Thailand

Posted on October 6, 2021

Thailand has numerous festivals throughout the year. One of the most colourful and extreme is the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, also known as the “Vegetarian Festival”, which takes place in September or October. While this festival is celebrated across the country, including Bangkok, it is most elaborate on the island of Phuket, especially in and around the Old Town.

Legend has it that the Nine Emperor Gods Festival originated in 1825 in the Kathu District of Phuket at a time when tin mines were flourishing. A mass influx of Chinese miners, mainly Hokkien-speaking Hoklo people from the southern part of China’s Fujian province, came to the island at a time when it was still covered with dense jungle and epidemics were common.

Not long after their arrival, many miners fell ill with high fevers–most likely malaria. They decided their survival depended on appeasing the Jade Emperor God and the Nine Emperor Gods—deities they worshipped in China—by following a strict vegetarian diet.

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GlobeRovers Magazine December 2021

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