PHUKET: Officials from the Phuket Vegetarian Festival are likely to be asked to explain how the logo for a beer brand came to appear on the traditional yellow flags that promote nine days when people renounce meat, sex and alcohol.
Dr Krit Sakulpad of the Phuket Public Health Department visited the Phuket City Police Station today to complain that the Chang logo - popularly associated with a national beer label - appears prominently on yellow veg fest flags around the Jui Tui Chinese Temple in Phuket Town.
A 2009 law, recently reinvigorated with the military takeover of Thailand, prohibits promotion of alcohol. There's a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a fine of 10,000 baht.
While previous Vegetarian Festivals have always welcomed sponsorship, the acceptance of the Chang label seems at odds with the purity desired by the thousands of adherents who renounce meat, sex and alcohol and will do so again this year.
Police will be investigating.
Given the tolerance associated with the festival, followers who cannot last the whole nine days are usually forgiven if they succumb to temptation after as little as three days.
It could be that whoever approved the Chang label on the traditional yellow flags merely succumbed to temptation a little bit earlier than most.
The Phuket Vegetarian Festival begins on September 24.
Dr Krit Sakulpad of the Phuket Public Health Department visited the Phuket City Police Station today to complain that the Chang logo - popularly associated with a national beer label - appears prominently on yellow veg fest flags around the Jui Tui Chinese Temple in Phuket Town.
A 2009 law, recently reinvigorated with the military takeover of Thailand, prohibits promotion of alcohol. There's a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a fine of 10,000 baht.
While previous Vegetarian Festivals have always welcomed sponsorship, the acceptance of the Chang label seems at odds with the purity desired by the thousands of adherents who renounce meat, sex and alcohol and will do so again this year.
Police will be investigating.
Given the tolerance associated with the festival, followers who cannot last the whole nine days are usually forgiven if they succumb to temptation after as little as three days.
It could be that whoever approved the Chang label on the traditional yellow flags merely succumbed to temptation a little bit earlier than most.
The Phuket Vegetarian Festival begins on September 24.
Drink Chang Soda...
Posted by Rupert on September 18, 2014 08:35