17 OCTOBER 2012 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:   A vendor cooks vegetarian noodles in the courtyard of Wat Mangkon Kamalawat, one of the largest Chinese shrines in Thailand, during the Vegetarian Festival in Bangkok. The Vegetarian Festival is celebrated throughout Thailand. It is the Thai version of the The Nine Emperor Gods Festival, a nine-day Taoist celebration celebrated in the 9th lunar month of the Chinese calendar. For nine days, those who are participating in the festival dress all in white and abstain from eating meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy products. Vendors and proprietors of restaurants indicate that vegetarian food is for sale at their establishments by putting a yellow flag out with Thai characters for meatless written on it in red.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
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