Giant Golden Dragon Junk Boat Burns, Ending Samut Songkhram Vegetarian Festival
Thousands of white‑clad devotees gathered at the Naja Satai Jee Ekong Shrine in Samut Songkhram to burn the largest golden dragon junk boat in Thailand, marking the end of the 2025 Vegetarian Festival. The ceremony, filled with firecrackers and prayers, sent the deities back to heaven and included a ritual passage under the boat’s elongated dragon neck for good luck. Lucky‑seekers are already eyeing the numbers 457 and 142 displayed on the vessel as possible lottery picks.
The boat’s head features an especially long dragon neck so devotees can pass beneath it to ward off misfortune and receive blessings, while the midsection is widened to symbolize abundance and prosperity under the concept ‘plump, full, and prosperous’. Each year the junk’s design differs; this year aims to convey abundance and auspiciousness amid economic hardship, encouraging merit-making and blessings during the Vegetarian Festival. Of particular interest to luck‑seekers are the numbers displayed on the boat: 457 on the side of the prow and 142 at the stern, which many have noted as potential lottery numbers.
