Wat Thai of Los Angeles

Besides smaller merit-making ceremonies which are held frequently throughout the year o such as birthdays, weddings, memorial, and funeral occasions, a number of annual festivals and celebrations are regularly observed on a much larger scale on Buddhist holy days and other traditional holidays. Presently, according to the notification the Temple has made to the city government, Wat Thai of Los Angeles usually holds twelve festivals and celebrations every year:

New Year Festival, on the first day of January. (There is an evening chanting ceremony on New Year’s Eve);
Magha Puja Day, on the full moon day of the third lunar month (usually in the middle of February) in commemoration of the Great Assembly of Disciples;
Wan Waikhru, or the day on which students show reverence for their teachers, on any Thursday in January;
Songkran, or Water Festival, on April 13; (Usually in the second weekend of April)
Visakha Puja Day, on the full moon day of the sixth lunar month (usually in the middle or towards the end of May) in commemoration of the Birth, the Enlightenment and the Passing away of the Buddha;
Lorthien or Candle-Casting Ceremony, on any day of July some weeks before the beginning of the Vassa residence;
Asalha Puja Day, on the full moon day of the eighth lunar month (usually in the middle or towards the end of July) in commemoration of the Buddha’s First Sermon;
H.M. the queen’s Birthday, on August 12;
Salakapat Ceremony, near the end of August, to offer the utensils for the monks without specifying whomever;
Ok Pansa, or the end of Vassa residence (period of retreat during the rains, or the Buddhist Lent), on the full moon day of the eleventh month (usually in the middle or towards the end of October);
Tot Kathin, or the Post-Lenten Robe-Offering Ceremony, on any day during one month following Ok Pansa to present robes to the monks who have completed the Vassa residence, (usually in the second weekend of October or November some year);
H.M. the 9th king’s Birthday, on December 5.
Along with the large population of Thai people and Thai-Americans, refuges from Cambodia, Vietnam, and especially Laotians, are most of the participants in the religious activities of Wat Thai.

To promote the teaching of The Buddha, Buddhist beliefs and practices, Thai culture, and to publicize its activities, the Temple publishes Duang Pratip, a bilingual monthly magazine, with more articles in Thai than in English. To realize Buddhist educational objectives, it runs Buddhist Sunday School classes for children who learn Thai language and culture as well as Buddhist morality. The school offers regular meditation training to Thai, Americans, and other people who are interested in it. A vocational school for adults has also been opened to teach the art of preparing decorative food by fruit and vegetable carving. It is notable that, as a service to the local community, the temple grounds used for polling booths for political elections, as is similarly done in Thailand.