Thai, Lao, Myanmar Buddhists join in Buddhist Lent activities

THAILAND, August 3 (TNA) – A large amount of Thai, Lao and Myanmar Buddhists participated in activities on Friday to wrap the Phrathat Doi Tung pagoda and donate Buddhist Lent candles in Thailand's northernmost Chiang Rai marking the beginning of the annual three-month Buddhist Lent. Thai people in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district, visitors from neighbouring Myanmar's Tachilek province and Laos gathered at Phrathat Doi Tung Temple in Mae Sai to donate and present Buddhist Lent candles and monks’ robes and necessities. They also brought yellow fabrics to wrap the Prathat Doi Tung pagoda, where Buddha relics are stored, and prayed for the good health of Their Majesties the King and Queen. In nearby Chiang Mai province, Buddhists conducted Lanna-styled ceremonies at Pa Darapirom Temple in Mae Rim district and made vows to refrain from vicious behaviors and adhere to five basic Buddhist precepts. They also participated in a ceremony to cast a 69-inch-wide Buddha image for His Majesty the King. In Nakhon Ratchasima province in the Thai Northeast, there were processions of Buddhist Lent candles in the Muang Nakhon Ratchasima municipality, as Thai and foreign tourists packed on main roads where the processions passed to see beautifully decorated candles which entered a contest for a royal trophy. Some processions featured cultural shows, as well as performances reflecting the sufficiency economy advised by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, social problems and Thailand's preparation for a single economic community of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). (TNA)