The bars may have been closed, but tourists nonetheless poured into Pattaya for the long Buddhist holiday weekend, making merit for Asalaha Bucha Day and Lent rather than partying until dawn.
The tourists were overwhelmingly Thai, coming from Bangkok or upcountry to relax with family at the beach and join locals at area temples for prayer, alms giving and traditional Wien Thien candle processions.
At the Khao Phra Yai Dharma Practice Retreat, both Thai and foreigners came to decorate candles, sit for dharma lessons, meditate, observe Buddhist precepts and clean the temple grounds.
The Big Buddha Mountain shrine is a famous and sacred place with a nice view and atmosphere that is well-known internationally. Most tourists came with family, tour groups and loved ones to pay respect with flowers, incense and candles. They molded candles, made birthday wishes and visited Buddha’s footprint.
Closer to town, Sutthawat, Khao Thongthong and Boonsamphan temples all were buzzing with Buddhists making food offerings in the morning on both July 8 and 9.
At Thamsamakee, Krathingthong and Boonkanchanaram temples, Thai women towed their foreign expat husbands to the temple to make merit in accordance with tradition. They wore white and abstained from eating meat for at least the day, if not entire three-month lent period.
All area temples staged Wien Thien processions after dark with believers parading around the main sermon hall or a giant Buddha three times with candles.
That was about the only action in Pattaya after dark for the entire weekend, as bars and entertainment venues were ordered closed Saturday and Sunday, although some Walking Street establishments reopened at midnight on Sunday.
The city was light on western tourists, with Chinese tour buses dropping off about the only foreign visitors Pattaya would get this quiet weekend.
Sacred History
Asalaha Bucha falls on the 15th night of the full moon during the eighth month of the Buddhist lunar calendar. It’s deemed a holy day because of three important events occurring on the day: the first sermon given by the Buddha, called the “Dharmachakapavattama Sutta” concerning the “four noble truths” presented to the Buddha’s first five disciples; the birth of Buddhism; and the Sangha, or the ordination of the first Buddhist monk.
Khao Phansaa marks the start of Buddhist Lent and is one of the most important days on the Buddhist calendar. Traditionally it starts the period when monks stay inside during the rainy season to avoid trampling the village rice crop. It’s also a period in which Buddhist followers make merit by presenting gifts – particularly lanterns and candles – to monks to help with their enlightenment.
In recent years the holiday has also taken a meaning similar to Lent in the Roman Catholic Church with believers giving up one or more vices for the summer.
