A 4-day holiday is coming in Thailand. This long weekend starts tomorrow, 21 October but before you plan ahead on how to enjoy these special non-working days, you may want to know more about the main reason why the Ok Phansa festival and King Chulalongkorn Memorial Day are celebrated, their history, and how they’re observed.
Ok Phansa: Festival of End of the Buddhist Lent Period – 21 October
The festival of Ok Phansa in Thailand lasts for three months. The festival primarily marks the end of the Buddhist Lent period, with a Buddhist fast lasting three months. It commemorates the day when Buddha came back from heaven. Buddha’s mother Maya died a week after the birth of Buddha, she was reborn in heaven as a deity named Santusita. To honor his mother, Buddha went to Trayastrimsa heaven and preached for three months. Thai Buddhists celebrate it with offerings and visiting temples. However, the festival not only includes religious aspects but also includes some events.
On this occasion, people of each village often build bamboo boats in different temples and decorate these boats with lights and candles. If we talk about families, they make their own boat made of banana tree trunk and with this, they take part in the procession which will remain in your mind like that enchanting scene which gives you peace.
Visitors can enjoy the illuminated boat parade on the Mekong River at Nakhon Phanom where boats are decorated with lanterns and Buddhist symbols. Street parades and various festivals also take place on this day.
In the evening, beautiful candlelight processions take place in temples and hundreds of colorful floats of flowers, incense and candles float in the Mekong River. To prepare for the celebration, families make a small round container to put candles, flowers, incense or food, and money. On the banks of the Mekong, they light candles, pray and send a boat of light floating down the river. This tradition is celebrated to pay respect to the spirits of the river, especially the Mekong River which means mother of all things. People also believe that it is a way to remove all the negativity like illness, misfortune, shortage, and failure. Vientiane also marks the end of the Buddhist fast with a spectacular boat race along the Mekong River.
During this, Buddhist monks meditate and study by staying in one place for three months, and during this time they do not go on excursions, the purpose of the rain is the large number of small creatures born in the rain. In such a situation, they may have violence during the tour. During the Buddhist fast, marriages are forbidden and many people give up meat and alcohol.
Chulalongkorn Day: Memory of King Chulalongkorn – 22-23 October
In Thailand, Chulalongkorn Day is celebrated annually on 23 October in memory of King Chulalongkorn. This day is a public holiday throughout Thailand.
But this year, the substitution for King Chulalongkorn Memorial Day has been shifted to October 22nd to allow for a long weekend. All the companies and organizations together celebrate this day.
On this day the memorials of King Chulalongkorn in Thailand become the focal point of events. Prasad is offered in his honor. The Dusit area is itself recognizable for its wide, tree-lined boulevard inspired by King Chulalongkorn’s overseas travels. Here on Chulalongkorn Day garlands are hung over the statue, accompanied by the unfurling of Thai flags and royal emblems.
King Chulalongkorn, also known as Rama V ruled Thailand for 42 years. One of his greatest achievements is the modernization of the country and the abolition of slavery in Thailand.
Not only this he is also credited with introducing other social and political reforms, including the creation of the country’s modern administrative structure in provinces and districts.
Along with this, the first postal service and railway route in the country is due to him. King Chulalongkorn is primarily remembered for working to ensure religious freedom for people of other faiths in Buddhist Siam.
At the beginning of his reign, more than 1/3 of the Thai population were enslaved. This was because the lineage was an endless continuation of the slaves. They were slaves for the rest of their lives. Traditionally, the children of slaves also became slaves.
Then in 1900 employment was created, under which all the workers were given payment, as well as the king, said that all the slaves were freed so that they would not be unemployed.
Having been taught Western customs and the English language, he was the first Thai monarch to visit Europe and used his influence to maintain Thailand’s independence at a time of increased European colonialism in the region.
Note for those who are traveling: As Chulalongkorn Day is a memorial day and not a Buddhist holiday, bars and other entertainment places are likely to be open. Immigration offices, but not immigration checkpoints at airports and land border crossings, will close. Post offices, the main branches of banks (except those in shopping malls), and government offices will also close.
There is no ban on the sale of alcohol by law for this public holiday.