Meeting Phuket’s vegetarian side

The annual Jay festival is a spectacle of faith, fire and plant-based culinary creativity

- Teja Lele

Phuket brings to mind turquoise waters, golden sand, beach bars and endless crowds of sun-seckers. But a visit during the ninth lunar month takes you to a completely different Thai island.

Streets usually packed with tuk-tuks and souvenir stalls are chock-a-block with ritual processions. White-clad devotees walk barefoot across fire, while spikes pierce the cheeks of spirit mediums in scenes that astonish. Everywhere, yellow-and-red flags flutter above steaming cauldrons and sizzling woks—signs that the island has turned vegetarian.

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival, also known as the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, is one of Southeast Asia’s most intense and spiritual events. For nine days (20-29 October in 2025), Phuket’s Chinese-Thai community observes a Taoist tradition centred on purification of the body, spirit, and community.