Sat Thai (, ; also spelled Sart Thai) is a traditional Thai mid-year festival, held on the new moon at the end of the tenth

lunar month In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month. Variations In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Euro ...

. It has many features of

animism Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

, attributing

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

s or spirits to

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

s and other entities.

Etymology

''Sat'' ( or , RTGS ''sat'') comes from

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

, which means 'autumnal'. It specifically refers to the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

"when the grain is in the ear": rice grain

panicles In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

droop as seeds reach full size and fills with milky starch in the days before harvest time. Fruits also are in the bud. ''Sat Thai'' is known as such to differentiate it from the

Ghost Festival The Ghost Festival or Hungry Ghost Festival, also known as the Zhongyuan Festival in Taoism and the Yulanpen Festival in Buddhism, is a traditional festival held in certain East Asia, East and Southeast Asian countries. According to the Lunar c ...

, known in Thai as ''Sat Chin''.

Observance

''Sat Thai'' Day occurs at the end of

Thai lunar calendar The Thai lunar calendar (, , , literally, ''Specific days according to lunar norms''), or Tai calendar, is a lunisolar Buddhist calendar. It is used for calculating lunar-regulated holy days. Based on the ''SuriyaYatra'', with likely influence fr ...

Moon 10, that is, waning day 15, evening (). This is a New Moon and so is a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

; but not one of the ''Special Sabbaths'', and not one of the

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

public holidays in Thailand Public holidays in Thailand are regulated by the Government of Thailand, government, and most are observed by both the public and private sectors. There are usually nineteen public holidays in a year, but more may be declared by the Cabinet of Tha ...

. It occurs midway past the traditional

Thai New Year Thai New Year Ach Vidyagama (George Bradley McFarland), Phra. (1944). "สงกรานต์", ''Thai-English Dictionary''. CA, United States: Stanford University Press. 1,058 pp. Glen Lewis. (2007). "Thai tourism take 1: a land of diversi ...

and near the autumnal equinox. It an occasion for

making merit Merit (; ) is a concept considered fundamental to Buddhist ethics. It is a beneficial and protective force which accumulates as a result of good deeds, acts, or thoughts. Merit-making is important to Buddhist practice: merit brings good and agr ...

by honoring ( buucha) the spirits of the season, as well as one's deceased relatives, according to local

tradition A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common e ...

, with various

rite Rite may refer to: Religion * Ritual, an established ceremonious act * Rite (Christianity), sacred rituals in the Christian religion * Ritual family, Christian liturgical traditions; often also called ''liturgical rites'' * Catholic particular ch ...

s and

ceremonies A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil (secular) ceremoni ...

Beginning of the Vegetarian Festival

''Sat Thai'' Day usually corresponds with the beginning of the nine-day Vegetarian Festival, which is widely observed by

Thai Chinese Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais) are persons of Chinese people, Chinese descent in Thailand. Thai Chinese are the largest mixed group in the country and the largest overseas Chinese community in the world with a popul ...

and some Thais. It appears on calendars as "Begin 9-day vegetarian festival" (''roem thet-sa-gan kin-che 9 wan'', ) — ''kin-che'' () is to vow in the manner of Vietnamese or Chinese Buddhists to eat a strict vegetarian diet.Online Royal Institute Dictionary

References

Buddhist festivals in Thailand October observances Observances set by the Thai lunar calendar Observances held on the new moon {{Thailand-stub

Etymology

Observance

Beginning of the Vegetarian Festival

See also

References