Festivals across Thailand in July

Author: Josh@Asia Backpackers

Discover Thailand with Thailand Discovery

Festivals across Thailand in July, Here in the Land of Smiles, festivals are a way of life, with any number taking place at any one time all across the country. Getting to the bottom of the actual dates is never easy, with the events determined by all manner of calendars and other strange and wonderful reasoning. see more

Below are a selection of events in Thailand, with links to the relevant Wikipedia web page, where you can find details on how to get to the province along with information on what else to do when you get there.

The date and time of the following festivals  may change as a result of the weather or postponement by the organisers of the events. To confirm  the dates and times….. Call the Tourism Authority of Thailand  1672 or 0 2250 5500.

Festivals across Thailand in July

The Phi Ta Khon Festival

When: 6-8th July 2016

Where: The town of Dan Sai, Loei province. North-Eastern Thailand

Festivals across Thailand in July. The Phi Ta Khon Festival (also spelled Pee Ta Khon (Thai: ผีตาโขน), sometimes known as the Ghost Festival) is the biggest attraction in this otherwise mainly farming community and while the days normally simply float past the sleepy district and town of the same name, Dan Sai, once a year it erupts into life with the unique and magical Phi Ta Khon Festival

The date of this three day event was once selected annually by the town’s mediums. This is not uncommon in the Kingdom (see more) with the dates of some events not know until a few weeks before they start, thankfully today’s visitors only have to look to the Thai lunar calendar, in fact to the first weekend after the sixth full moon (see so much easier!).

The whole three day event is called Bun Luang, part of a Buddhist merit-making holiday also known as Bun Phawet.

For more on the event click here

Candle Festivals across Thailand

When: July 2016

Where: Mainly North East Thailand

Candle festivals take place right across North East Thailand almost exclusively in July each year, prior to the 3 month Buddhist lent. It is believed the modern candle festivities have been taking place annually  for over 120 years.

Candles make up an important part of most Thai merit making and no more so on Asanha Bucha Day and the start of the Buddhist Lent period, both typically held in July each year,  this is also the traditional time for preparation for the rainy season. Merit making at this time of year comes with donating items for the personal use of the monks at local temple, who in turn will not leave the temples during the 3 months of Lent, these gifts include such things as clothes, food and candles.

This form of ‘merit making’ was and is still the core event of many village celebrations especially during Asanha Bucha Day, when the giving of candles and their use in the evening Candle Light Procession, the Wian Tian, takes center stage. During the Wian Tian, believers will walk three times around a Temple in a clockwise direction, carrying a lighted candle, it is this ancient religious event that forms the bases of these now major festivals.

Festivals across Thailand in July