360° Video: Thai Veg Festival’s Extreme Piercings Can Shock You

Apart from abstaining from meat and sex, devotees in Thailand pierce their bodies with bizarre objects.

A devotee of the Chinese Bang Neow shrine with a gun barrel pierced through his cheek takes part in a procession celebrating the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket, Thailand (Photo: Reuters)

Religious devotees in Thailand celebrate the ‘vegetarian festival’ with this bizzare tradition. The devotees not only follow a strict vegetarian diet but also pierce their bodies with swords, guns, bikes and knives and run on a bed of burning coal.

A devotee of the Chinese Jui Tui shrine takes with his mouth pierced with spikes takes part in a procession celebrating the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket, Thailand(Photo: Reuters)

A devotee of the Chinese Bang Neow shrine with a gun barrel pierced through his cheek takes part in a procession celebrating the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket, Thailand(Photo: Reuters)

A devotee of the Chinese Jui Tui shrine takes with his mouth pierced with spikes takes part in a procession celebrating the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket, Thailand(Photo: Reuters)

A devotee of the Chinese Bang Neow shrine poses with his cheek pierced with blades as he takes part in a procession celebrating the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket, Thailand (Photo: Reuters)

A devotee of the Chinese Jui Tui shrine takes part in a procession celebrating the annual vegetarian festival in Phuket, Thailand(Photo: Reuters)

Devotees also abstain from sexual intercourse during this period. It is believed that the devotees piercing themselves stay in a trance and experience no pain.

The festival was first celebrated 150 years ago in Thailand’s Kathu district. The tradition was brought into Thailand by the Chinese mine workers after beating an epidemic with the help of ‘Chinese Gods’.

Video: Jorge Silva

Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam