That veggie time in Thailand!
The annual Thailand Kin Jae (vegetarian) Festival
is slated for October 20 – 28 this year. If you’re
going to be in the area or thinking of a good time
to visit Thailand this is the time! Good weather and
even greater foods for vegans! While the origins of
Thailand’s Jae Festival are unclear, it is known to be
a Taoist and Chinese festival that started within the
Chinese community in the Southern Thai island of
Phuket. As most Thais love a good festival it quickly
spread throughout Thailand and is today celebrated
around the country by people from all ethnic and
social-economic backgrounds. From bustling Bangkok
to Thailand’s second largest city Chang Mai in the
north to the southern provinces hundreds of thousands
of people become vegan during this 9-day cultural &
culinary extravangza. Special dishes that are served at
no other time during the year are brought out for all to
see and taste. Restaurants and food stalls that usually
serve meat go cruelty free during this special time.
The best place to experience this is in Phuket where
ancient Chinese ceremonies are held at temples and
on the streets and where the sheer variety of palate
pleasing delights are abundant. Not to be out-down,
Chinese communities in bigger cities such as Bangkok,
Chang Mai, Pattaya and others put on display their
heritage, universal religious beliefs and of course their
ancient recipes. If your vegan, searching for new and
original vegan fare and are ready for some cultural
knowledge be sure to visit Thailand during the Kin Jae
festival – and if you miss it this year, no worries next
year around the same time the electric atmosphere and
of culture & cuisine converge again.Common Ground
Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches
join hands
With so many countries experiencing environmental
disasters such as raging floods, ultrapowerful
hurricanes and typhoons and dramatic fluctuations
in temperatures Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox
Patriarch Bartholomew issued a joint statement
regarding how environmental protection (or lack of it)
is affecting our world. Pope Francis of the Catholic
Church and Patriarch Bartholomew of the Russian
Orthodox Church agreed to issue a joint statement
recently on their respective Church’s stance on
our human responsibility to the earth. The Catholic
Church consisting of 16% of the world’s population
and having over 1.2 billion members and the Russian
Orthodox Church being the 2nd largest single Christian
denomination in the world joined hands to promote
our common welfare. The Pope and Patriarch urged
world leaders to “listen to the cry of the earth and
take measures to protect the environment” the joint
statement summarized that “we urgently appeal to
those in positions of social and economic, as well
as political and cultural, responsibility to hear the
cry of the earth and to attend to the needs of the
marginalized, but above all to respond to the plea of
millions and support the consensus of the world for the
healing of our wounded creation. We are convinced that
there can be no sincere and enduring resolution to the
challenge of the ecological crisis and climate change
unless the response is concerted and collective, unless
the responsibility is shared and accountable, unless we
give priority to solidarity and service.”Jason Lovas - traveler & writer