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Phuket hotels, resorts and travel
- beaches and accommodation guide -travel and tours in Phuket
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Por Tor Festival
This is an ancestor's festival of the ethnic Chinese
that falls on the seventh Chinese lunar month, which
is the same as the ninth lunar month of the Thais.
Special foods, flowers and candles are presented to
the ancestor's altars. Cakes in the shape of turtles
are made from flour. This is done because turtles
live to great age and it is believed that by making
such offering worshippers may extend the length of
their lives. It is an important merit-making festival.
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Phuket Vegetarian Festival
The most famous festival is held from the first
through the ninth nights of the ninth Chinese
lunar month; that is, in September or October.
It was first celebrated in 1825, when a troupe
of actors enacted these rites toward off a plague.
Vegetarian food is eaten by participants and white
clothes worn during the period of the feast. Selfmutilization
is practiced by those whose bodies become the
temporary residence of powerful gods. Parades
of worshippers brave fireworks while carrying
images through the street; others walk on fire
or climb bladed ladders. Participants number in
the thousands. The whole forms one of the most
bizarre festivals in Thailand.
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Turtle Release Fair
Turtle Release Fair is held on Songkran, the nationwide
Thai water festival, on April 13. It is also the National
Fisherman's Day. Baby turtles are released into the
sea at various locations.
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Chao Le Boat Floating Festival
The festival falls during the middle of the sixth and
eleventh lunar months yearly. The feast is held at the
Chao Le, or Sea Gipsy, villages in Phuket. The Rawai
and Sapam villages hold their ceremonies on the 13th;
Sire village celebrates on the 14th; and the village
at Laem La (east of the bridge on Phuket's northern
tip) celebrates on the 15th. Ceremonies, which center
around the setting adrift of small boats similar to
the Thai Festival of Loy Krathong, are held at night
and their purpose is to drive away evil and to bring
good luck. Fingernail clipping and strands of hair are
put in the little boats before being released, along
with little dolls fashioned from wood. Afterwards, the
villagers perform their famous dance round their own
boats, called the Ram Rong Ngeng.
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Tourist Season Opening Festival
This festival is usually called the Patong Carnival
in English according to from the place where celebrations
occur, and is held on November 1. There are many stalls
with merchandise and food, parades, sports event, and
a beauty competition for foreign tourists. The feast
is held to cement solidarity among the government, the
private business sector, and the people.
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Phuket King's Cup Regatta
was first held in 1987 in honor of His Majesty's
60th birthday. The King of Thailand is a noted
boating enthusiast and yachts come from around
the world to participate in the competition, which
is the largest and most popular in Southeast Asia.
It is heldyearly on the anniversary of His Majesty's
birthday, 5 December. Site of the regatta is Nai
Han Bay.
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Laguna Phuket Triathlon
This annual year end event sees the world's top triathletes
and hundreds of amateurs competing for prize money and
placing on the world triathlon circuit. The course,
which includes swimming, bicycling, and running through
the beautiful natural surroundings of Laguna Phuket
in Tambon Choeng Thale, takes from two-and-a-half to
five hours to complete.
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