Por Tor Festival
Although Thais are very much intact with their traditions and value their culture very much, they also respect the traditions of the Chinese community in Phuket. During the seventh month of the Chinese calendar, the community is celebrating the Por Tor Festival. The Por Tor Festival symbolizes the opening of the Hades’ gates that would unleash the restless spirits ghosts or what they call the Hungry Ghosts. There are no specific dates as to when the Por Tor Festival was first celebrated.
When celebrating the Por Tor Festival, families give offerings to the souls of their departed family members. However, they believe that the spirits or the hungry ghosts can be a malicious spirit eventually. Because of this belief, they pay their respects and give offerings that would please the souls. More often than not, turtle cakes are offered by the relatives. For them, turtle is a symbol of longevity. So whenever they offer turtle cakes to the hungry spirits, they believe that they have the chance to life longer.
Aside from paying respect to their dead relatives, the Por Tor Festival gives the Chinese the time to give respect to the god of devils. The Por Tor Kong or the god of devils has a shrine located in Phuket. The Por Tor Kong Shrine is situated near the area of Bang Neaw School. A stage was also built to accommodate the likay which is a local performance in Thailand. Moreover, the stage is also used for outdoor movies at the same time.