Hello!

1)

I would like to better understand the difference between Thai "Jae" and veganism. I think Jae has something to do with a Chinese style of Buddhism, but I am not clear about this. (Buddhism is a system of meditation, not a religion, as far as I understand it.) Is Jae a sect or what? I think that people practising a Jae lifestyle abstain from alcohol, which is not part of veganism. Perhaps garlic is also avoided.

2)

Do Jae practitioners meet up now and then in Chiang Mai? Where and when?

3)

What are the best online resources for finding out about Jae living? Is there a good discussion board somewhere?

4)

Where is the greatest concentration of Jae people, in Thailand and also in the rest of the world? (Maybe Chiang Mai and some place in China... I don't know.)

Thank you very much for your help!

Jae is not a sect. It's simply a Thai word to describe vegetarian food that is cooked in accordance with certain principles, e.g. the pots and pans must only have ever been used for cooking jae food. It's associated with Chinese Mahayana Buddhist practice.

The food itself tends to be bland and unappetising - unlikely to appeal to most westerners. (Not only are animal products excluded, so are strong smelling/tasting vegetables such as onions and garlic. Also, the food mustn't be overly sweet, sour or spicy. After all, one wouldn't want to stir up sexual desire.)

There's a jae festival once a year during which many Thai people (not just Thai-Chinese) will eat only jae food for a few days. During this time lots of restaurants will add additional jae dishes to their menus.

Oh, and another side effect of the jae festival is that the price of vegetables in the market skyrockets.

Is the yellow flag used to identify restaurants serving jae food?

Is the yellow flag used to identify restaurants serving jae food?

Usually the flags only appear during the jae festival - and even then not all restaurants serving jae food will use them. Far better year round to look for the word เจ (jae) outside the restaurant - often written in red on a yellow background.

I think you'll find it's actually from the Indian Jain religion and the reason it's called Je here is because in Thai they write in เจน์ with the final n silent.

I think you'll find it's actually from the Indian Jain religion and the reason it's called Je here is because in Thai they write in เจน์ with the final n silent.

With respect, that's absolute, utter tripe. It's not spelled เจน์ - it's เจ (or, occasionally แจ), and it's from China. See, for example http://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%A8%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%88

Ooh...how nice to be proved wrong by Wikipedia..........shame about the Thaipusam part.

just say pom kin jey, that is what I say, or mangsawirat, egg ok ha ha ha

but good luck in Thailand with being vegan, the only thing you have is raw fruit and vegetables, you can cook yourself