Phuket -- Not for meat lovers.

Phuket is currently staging its annual Vegetarian festival, now till 16th October.

If you can't stand the sight of bloody meat, you are advised to stay well away.

You see, the Ma Song devotees parade through the town with a war-chest full of knives, swords, blades, etc stuck in, on, and though their body parts. Maybe it's the only way they can get enough iron in their diets. 

It's a southern Thailand thing. Actually a Chinese thing. The idea is that for 10 days they observe a vegetarian or vegan diet, and demonstrate their strength of sacred beliefs by not feeling any pain, and these major gashes amazingly don't seem to end up in a bloodbath.

If their intention is to convert more people to a vegetarian way of life, it's working.

It's enough to put me off ordering the, um, blade steak tonight. Jing jing!