Firewalking in Lanta Old Town
On October 11- 13, 2008 we celebrated the annual Vegetarian Festival with the local Chinese-Thai community. All local residents of Chinese ancestry observed a 3-day strictly vegetarian diet for the purposes of spiritual cleansing and merit making. Vegetarian food was prepared and eaten communally 3 times a day in a tent in front of the Chinese Temple. Everyone was invited to refrain from eating meat and join in the vegetarian meals for three days. On the last day, processions of worshippers paraded down the main road playing their drums and chanting. Later in the evening, worshippers engaged in a spiritual trance and walked barefoot over hot coals in front of the temple.
On the full moon night of Oct 14, 2008 we celebrated Loy Rua or also know as “Setting Adrift of the Chao Lay Boat”. This bi-annual animist festival takes place on Ko Lanta during full moon of the sixth and eleventh month in
Dance floor at Loy Rua
the lunar calendar. This religious rite is performed by the Sea Gypsies (Chao Ley), who gather on the beach near Hua Laem in Lanta Old Town and Saladan. Two main music areas were set up. One with a large PA system featuring popular Thai music for dancing and the second under a “sala” where the Chao Lay men played traditional instruments and sang. We danced with the other partygoers to their famous “rong ngeng” Traditional Chao Ley folk music around the communally built boat to be set adrift at the first break of day.
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