Phuket’s poor turn out for annual alms festival

PHUKET: More than 1,000 of Phuket’s poorest people were at the Kusoldharm Foundation headquarters in Phuket Town yesterday to receive donations of food as part of the annual Te Krajard merit-making ceremony.

Starting at 2:30pm, Foundation President Benjawan Tamphanuwat led Kusoldham workers in handing out 4,800 packs of rice, each weighing five kilograms, as well as packs of other dry foodstuffs.

Most of the recipients were from local sea gypsy communities.

The event marks the birthday of the Chinese God Hui Joh, who is highly revered by Phuket’s ethnic Chinese community, explained Ms Benjawan.

“Today, we handed out scholarships of 2,000 baht each to 200 poor students studying at 18 local schools in Phuket. We also gave sacks of rice to 28 schools, with each school receiving 250kg of rice,” she said.

“We do this twice a year. We also hand out donations of rice to schools during the Por Tor ceremony [an annual Chinese festival to celebrate longevity],” she added.

“However, Te Krajard [literally “strike the tray”] merit-making is a part of the Kusoldham Foundation’s annual activities to achieve our goal of providing help to people in need in Phuket,” Ms Benjawan said.

— Kritsada Mueanhawong