Thai-Chinese people born in zodiac years that clashed with the Year of the Tiger believe that this year will bring them bad luck, so to prevent adversity and misfortune in the new year they prayed for heavenly intervention at the start of Pattaya’s Lunar New Year festival.
While many Pattaya locals of Chinese ancestry came to the Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Foundation Jan. 31 to pray for prosperity, those born in the years of the monkey, snake, pig and tiger year performed a “kae chong”- (to fix their fate or the clash of years) ceremony to ward off bad luck in the new year paid respects to Tai Sui Ye, the guardian god of this year. They also wrote their names on slips of paper to leave their fate with the deity.
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