BANGKOK – Shrines across the nation have been crowded as Thais of Chinese heritage were seen paying their respects to mark Chinese New Year.
At the Poh Teck Tung Foundation in the Yaowarat area of Bangkok, many of the faithful were seen praying to Luang Pu Tai Hong at the Tai Chong Kong Shrine, despite tight measures against COVID-19, including temperature screenings, alcohol gels and signs reminding people to social distance. Everyone at the shrine was told to wear their face mask and it will be disinfected at the end of each day.
Activities, such as the mass eating of sago have, however, been cancelled this year, due to fears of infection, with people being allowed to take the dessert home instead. Circumambulation has also been avoided to reduce crowding. An innovation for this year is the prakengonline.pohtecktung.org website, an online place to join in prayers for family fortune and year-round blessings. Volunteers have been stationed at the foundation to manage crowds and a limit of 100 people on the premises at one time has been set.
From February 11-20, the shrine is to feature a medical unit providing emergency care. PM 2.5 readings are also to be read out in real-time to encourage practitioners of Chinese traditions to choose more environmentally-friendly approaches to praying. (NNT)
