Vegetarian Festival, Phuket Thailand

It’s early morning in southern Thailand bustling town of Phuket and I haven’t had the chance to open my eyes before the streets begin erupting with explosions. The sound is piercing and a pillow over my head will not make the noise go away. I decide that there will be no going back to bed at this point, so may as well go and have a look at what’s going on. I throw on my t-shirt and jeans and carry my tired body down the stairs of my hotel. As I land on the ground floor there is an overwhelming cloud of smoke lurking around the main doors.

I walk closer to see that I am not the only one who has been awoken by the boisterous noises. I rub my eyes and greet the morning sun only to find that I have now joined a sea of onlookers dressed in white and yellow, silent, unknowing and fascinated with the procession taking place right before my eyes. Hundreds of people, both local and foreign, have lined the streets, ordained in white and yellow, watching in silence as the “Ma Song” men women and children walk the streets.

2010 copyright, Sarah Whittington