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Thailand’s annual Vegetarian Festival begins without usual fanfare

Today 04:45Key points summarised by AI

Thailand's annual Vegetarian Festival commenced with significant COVID-19 preventative measures, notably lacking its usual grand celebrations and fanfare.
Culturally important, especially to the Chinese community in southern provinces like Phuket, the festival will exclude traditional self-infliction pain rituals to prevent virus spread.
Shrines across the island mandate masks, gloves, and negative ATK test results for staff, with the festival officially running from October 6th to 14th, though some rituals began earlier.
Participants observe a nine-day abstinence from meat and sexual activity for spiritual cleansing, but floods are causing a surge in vegetable prices, and some regions, like Udon Thani, have banned the festival entirely.