The yellow flags at restaurants and food stalls all over Thailand signal the start of the annual vegetarian festival, which falls in the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar.
This year, the nine-day celebration kicked off last Saturday (Oct 1) and lasts until Sunday. Adherents abstain from all kinds of animal meat and animal products, even including fish sauce, oyster sauce, shrimp paste and pla ra (fermented fish). Also "off" are eggs, dairy products and honey.
People who practice Chinese-style vegetarianism during the festival must also not consume five plants with pungent odours - garlic, onion, Chinese garlic (rakkyo), chives and tobacco. These are believed (by Chinese myth) to damage the heart, kidney, spleen, liver and lungs respectively.
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Vegetarianism in the 21st century sees huge differences from the old days, where choices of food were limited to tofu, pickled vegetables and mixed vegetable stew, or jab chai.
Today's vegetarianism greatly expands not only in terms of food selection where practitioners can enjoy all types of meat substitutes, mock meat and food innovations, but also in terms of convenience where vegetarian food is available on the shelves of convenience stores year-round.
But besides fine-dining restaurants in shopping malls or roadside food stalls that serve meat-free food during the annual vegetarian festival, there are also vendors and small shops hidden in several markets across Bangkok where vegetarian dishes are freshly cooked and served at affordable prices. Many of these places offer vegetarian food throughout the year.
Life takes a stroll through Bangkok's markets in search of good-quality meatless treats that are not just friendly to the palate but also to the purse.
Yaowarat Old Market
Yaowarat 6 (Soi Itsaranuphap)
Yaowarat Old Market is probably Bangkok's biggest and most vibrant source of vegetarian food, especially during the festival.
Since last week, Soi Itsaranuphap has been transformed into food shops and stalls offering meatless edibles. The street is lined with not just ready-to-eat dishes (mostly for takeaway) but also ingredients for vegetarian food such as mock duck, mock chicken, mock seafood, dried mushroom, wheat gluten products, vegetarian sauces and seasoning powder to name but a few.
This is why the Yaowarat Old Market is flooded with people who come to eat, and restaurant owners who want to buy ingredients for the festival of compassion.
Shops and vendors at Yaowarat Old Market are mostly open all day, from the early morning. But due to high demand during this festive period, a visit before 10am might see a huge crowd. The soi is quite narrow - only a few metres wide - but visitors often have to make way for motorcycles and delivery carts.
This is the nature of this colourful neighbourhood.
For 10 days, Yaowarat Road, which starts from Chinatown Gate (Odian Circle) to Chalerm Buri intersection is closed during the evening and becomes a vegetarian food street fair. Among the highlights are fried dumplings, takoyaki (a Japanese snack made from wheat flour and vegetables), deep-friend taro, tofu and spring rolls.
Chatuchak Market
Kamphaeng Phet Road
Who would imagine a large cafeteria-style vegetarian food hall hidden behind Chatuchak Market?
The Vegetarian Society of Thailand under the Dharma Practitioner Association runs this place, serving meat-free delicacies all-year-round. The outlet is under the control of the Santi Asoke sect made famous by former politician and yellow-shirt leader Maj Gen Chamlong Srimuang.
Outside the annual vegetarian festival, a few dishes might contain garlic, onion and chives but during the festival, practitioners can be assured that all the food served is prepared strictly according to Chinese belief.
Directly across Or Tor Kor Market, the food hall features around 20 stalls selling a wide range of delicacies from Isan favourite som tum and other treats such as larb (spicy minced tofu salad), nam tok (spicy grilled soy protein salad) and soup nor mai (spicy boiled bamboo soup) to noodles, khanom jeen, mock chicken rice, khao soi (North-style noodle in curry soup), all types of chilli paste, as well as fresh fruit and desserts. Prices start from 20 baht a dish.
Apart from ready-to-eat vegetarian food, it also offers farm fresh, organic produce. Available are ingredients for vegetarian food and other chemical-free household products such as shampoo, dish-washing liquid, soap and mosquito repellent.
During the festival, the food hall is open daily from 6am-2pm, closing at 3pm on weekends. Outside the festival it is closed on Mondays.
Klong Toey Market
Sunthon Kosa Road
Klong Toey Market features two vegetarian stalls that are opposite each other. One of them sells vegetarian food all-year-around while the other only does so during the vegetarian festival.
Mae Anong vegetarian food shop's owner inherited the business from her mother, who started selling meatless food more than 30 years ago. This place is small with only a few tables but has a large menu available daily. Outside the vegetarian festival, the stall closes in the early afternoon. During the festival they try to stay open later.
Mae Anong offers noodle and rice dishes such as yen ta fo (pink noodle soup), tom yam spicy soup, sukiyaki (Thai style hot pot) and mock chicken rice.
Other customer favourites are deep-fried mock naem (fermented mushroom sausage), gaeng som (spicy assorted vegetable soup) and caramelised oyster mushrooms.
The second vegetarian food stall that sells meatless food only during the festival is the popular Che Aeo, which sells khanom jeen outside the vegetarian festival. Che Aeo offers more than 20 freshly-cooked meat-free dishes daily. Dishes are a mix of both Thai and Chinese cuisine styles.
Huai Khwang Market
Soi Pracha Songkhro 32, Pracha Songkhro Road
Khun Aeo vegetarian restaurant is probably the biggest vegetarian eatery in Huai Khwang Market. And because it is at the centre of a fresh market, the path to the restaurant is quite wet - lined with stalls selling vegetables, fresh fish, meat, eggs and other ingredients.
The first thing customers will notice is a wide range of dishes in a glass display in front of the restaurant. The restaurant is clean and there are several tables for those who want to eat here. There is also a takeaway service.
Khun Aeo sells vegetarian food all-year-round like khanom jeen nam ya (Thai-style fermented rice noodle in creamy mushroom soup), deep-fried spring rolls and fried Isan sausage (fermented rice and glass noodle sausage). The cabbage stew is also a must-try.
Khun Aeo has vegetarian ingredients for sale such as sauces, soy protein sheets and seasoning powder, to name a few. The restaurant also has vegetarian instant noodles for sale.