If you’ve never heard of the Vegetarian Festival in Thailand, add it to your foodie bucket list. I went there this year at the end of October and for 9 days, this street of Phuket transform into a massive vegan market. You literally COULD NOT see the end of the street (that's full of vegan or vegan-friendly food stalls).
I've eaten through the market multiple times and I just want to show you some of my favourite food and favourite moments. I'll put more info in the comment on how you can plan for it in 2026!
by itravelforveganfood
13 Comments
Honestly, I recommend all vegan foodies to go and experience this. I haven’t been ‘overwhelmed’ with choices like this (in a GOOD way) for a long time. For anyone interested in planning a trip for next year, here is a quick overview of what you can expect:
# What is it?
It’s called the Tesagan Gin Jay. It’s a Taoist/Buddhist festival where participants go on a strict vegan diet to purify their bodies. It originated in Phuket, which is why the celebrations there are so huge (and intense!) but it’s also celebrated in other Thailand cities as well including Bangkok.
# When is it?
It follows the Lunar Calendar (the 9th lunar month), so the dates change every year, but it almost always falls in October.
# The “Jay” (เจ) Rules:
The food is “Jay,” which is a stricter form of veganism.
* NO meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, or eggs
* NO fish sauce or shrimp paste
* NO pungent vegetables (garlic, onion, chives)
But be careful, especially for some drinks and desserts stalls, they may have dairy evaporated milk/condensed milk as an option.
# What to eat?
Everything! Seriously. Almost everything I tried was delicious (and cheap!) You’ll find dumplings, Pad Thai, mock meat, and even sushi, croissant, ice cream, and much much more.
# Planning to go in 2026?
I’ve just written a comprehensive 254-page vegan food travel book for Thailand (covering the best vegan places in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket). It has a whole chapter dedicated to navigating this festival, including what to eat, comparing the festival in Phuket and Bangkok, and what to look out for to make sure you have the best experience. [Feel free to check out my book here.](https://www.itravelforveganfood.com/shop)
Thanks for putting us on, this looks amazing!
I love you for sharing this! New bucket list item achieved!
Love the je festival!
omg id love to go to thailand one day (would love it to be my honeymoon!), would be amazing to go during this time. thanks for the detailed write up op! i save your comment to come back to this.
Those MASSIVE …um, cooking vessels?!! 🔥 I’m with u/truffedup – bucket list! Looks amazing, thanks for sharing, OP.
I think people will be surprised when they go for a veggie festival and then end up with people with 25 swords stuck through their face while being pelted with bangers 😂 I went first time this year with my parents who have been a load of times. I am veggie and don’t eat onion garlic so was perfect for me. And it’s really wild. My parents stayed out on the last night for the final procession and it looked absolutely WILD so much bangers looked and sounded crazy , but apparently really cool to see also.
This looks amazing!
How do you learn to check ingredients as some things may have dairy? I have a bad lactose intolerance, so have to be really careful that I don’t get given dairy for more than ethical reasons.
Everything looks spectacular!!
It’s so exciting going places where you have more options than fries and a side salad 😍
I was in Thailand a few years ago for this and it was great! Even in Bangkok you will see the little yellow flags everywhere that signal for vegan food. A lot of restaurants will do special menus around this time where they’ll make traditional Thai dishes with replacements like tofu, mushrooms or even some impossible meats.
How fun!
I was planning on going next year… now I will absolutely have to plan around coming to this!
Thanks for sharing
Even as a non Vegan I would love to experience this