普吉素食节今晚收官 送神队伍夜间抵达Saphan Hin 九日斋期落幕
泰国普吉素食节（九皇斋节）于 10 月 18 日（周日）晚收官，各庙宇的送神队伍将在夜间汇集，前往海边的 Saphan Hin 恭送九皇爷回銮，为期九日的斋期落幕。
普吉素食节源于 19 世纪华人移民传统，是泰国规模最大的华人节庆之一。节日期间，普吉镇的 Jui Tui Shrine 等华人庙宇连日举行仪式，信众茹素、穿白衣，街头有巡游与庙会市集，老城区的餐饮摊位在这九天里全面改供素食。
送神夜是全节最后一项大典：各庙队伍抬着神轿穿过普吉老城街道，沿途信众摆设供桌迎送，队伍最终抵达 Saphan Hin 海边完成送神仪式。今年的收官夜恰逢农历九月初九重阳节正日。
泰国国家旅游局每年把普吉素食节列入全国节庆日历向游客推介，节日期间普吉镇酒店与老城商圈人流明显高于平日。
Phuket Vegetarian Festival Closes Tonight With Farewell Procession to Saphan Hin
Thailand's Phuket Vegetarian Festival — the Nine Emperor Gods festival — closes tonight, Sunday, October 18, as temple processions converge on Saphan Hin by the sea to send the deities off, ending nine days of observance.
Rooted in the island's 19th-century Chinese immigrant community, the festival is one of Thailand's largest Chinese celebrations. Chinese shrines in Phuket Town, led by Jui Tui Shrine, hold daily rites while devotees keep a vegetarian diet and wear white; street stalls across the old town switch to vegetarian menus for the nine days.
The farewell night is the festival's final major rite, with palanquin processions moving through the old town streets to Saphan Hin as households set out offering tables along the route. This year's closing night falls on the Double Ninth Festival.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand lists the festival on its national events calendar, and Phuket Town hotels and old-town businesses see visibly heavier traffic during the nine days.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：普吉老城区街道（资料照片）。图片来源：CEphoto, Uwe Aranas，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。Photo: A street in Phuket Old Town (file photo). Source: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
