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!
