Thai people of Chinese decent will be at Chinese temples and shrines, burning candles and hanging lanterns. To awaken the spirits, loud drums are banged and to welcome the 9 Emperor Gods, fireworks are let off. Spiritual and physical cleansing along with creating inner peace by merit making are the beliefs behind this festival.

Finding true vegetarian food in Thailand, outside of the festival, is sometimes quite difficult as many of the dishes are flavoured with sauces like fish or oyster, or may have seafood ingredients like dried shrimps. Cooking oils may also be of animal origin. In Thailand, Mang-Sà-Wí-Rát indicates vegetarian and means that dishes will not have sizeable pieces of meat, though they could include eggs, a stock made from meat or other animal products. Jae is the term indicating a more strict vegetarian diet with no animal products at all. It also excludes pungent vegetables like garlic, onion and some herbs as it may cause people to have too much energy and perspiration. So for strict vegetarians you are best to understand a few Thai phases to help you navigate the food scene. Below are some fabulous deep fried corn fritters, a specialty of some vendors.

To order a meal that is strict vegetarian, you would indicate Gin Jae; for food without any meat you can say Mâi Sài Néua-Sàt. To indicate you are vegetarian, say Phŏm (male) or Chăn (female) Mang-Sà-Wí-Rát. This is always good to have rehearsed, so you can repeat this to the vendor or waiter. Here is an example of how to order a particular dish, Pàd Thai, vegetarian style: Ao Pàd Thai Mang-Sà-Wí-Rát • “I’ll take a vegetarian Pad Thai” Just change Pàd Thai to whatever other dish you are wanting. The other tip for travellers is to have vegetarian or without meat written in Thai script. Copy and past the Thai script from here. Vegetarian • Mang-Sà-Wí-Rát มังสวิรัติ Without Meat • Mâi Sài Nʉ́ʉa-Sàt ไม่ใส่เนื้อสัตว์. It is totally acceptable to show this, as any cook just wants to please and deliver you a great dish. If you don’t want fish sauce, then Mâi Bplaa is what you say. Leigh Higgins, our GM and resident foodie, recommends doing the following 3 things when in Hua Hin if you consider yourself a vegetarian foodie. 1. Get involved with the festival and explore all the food options including dishes with meat substitutes, as it’s most interesting 2. Do a cooking class at the Blue Lotus Learning Center for Plant-Based Cuisine at the Evason Resort, Hua Hin. As a self-confessed lover of meat, I truly loved the classes and learnt a lot about flavour profiles from only plant-based ingredients.” 3. Try these three vegetarian restaurants that deliver great flavours everyday:- Ruean Thong 38/1 Sà Sŏng Rd (cnr Soi 75 - near where the Green Songtheaw stops at Chat Chai market) Open Daily 6am to 3pm. Hua Hin Vegan Café Hua Hin Shopping Mall 100 Hua Hin Soi 74/2 Phetkhasem Road. Open Daily 9:30am to 9:30pm Chat Sila Night Market Right at the top of the night market are vendors that sell great vegetarian food. Open Nightly 5pm to 11pm.