While most were drinking and setting off fireworks, groups of reverent Pattaya residents were chanting through the night as the clock ticked midnight on New Year’s Eve.
At Sutthawat Temple in Nongprue, Jumnien Chaiyanit, head of the subdistrict’s Women’s Development Group, was joined by government workers and hundreds of residents in praying for prosperity of themselves, families, and friends.
The “watch night” service is a tradition conducted by Thai people since the reign of King Rama III. The night of New Year’s Eve, monks and followers pray and monks chant “The Verses of the Buddha’s Auspicious Victories” at midnight.
At Chaimongkol Temple, more than 1,000 people attended, with prayers turning to meditation after midnight, a time believers consider auspicious for making merit physically and mentally. Devotees ended 2019 with dharma sermons and welcomed 2020 with the precepts.
For those not meditating, the temple hosted a New Year’s fair with booths offers food, beverages and sales of religious and locally made products.
