17 OCTOBER 2012 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:   A som tam (papaya salad) vendor packages a bag of vegan papaya salad during the Vegetarian Festival in Bangkok. Papaya salad is normally made with fish sauce, but some vendors hold the fish sauce out during the Vegetarian Festival. 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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