Cheng Hieng Tua Vegetarian House

Cheng Hieng Tua is one of nine Chinese shrine halls that anchor Samut Sakhon’s annual Vegetarian Festival (Tetsakan Kin Je). The hall was built by Teochew Chinese settlers over a century ago and faces the Tha Chin River in Tha Chalom subdistrict, Samut Sakhon’s old riverside fishing district. Entry is free year-round.

Experience

Inside the main hall, Tao Bor (also called Tho Kong) and the Nine Emperor Gods (Nopkrao) hold the central position, flanked by the North and South Star deities on one side and Hua Tho Sianseng and other Taoist figures on the other. A separate hall at the rear holds spirit tablets for local ancestors, a record of the Tha Chalom Chinese community going back generations, and the complex includes an opera stage once used for the theatrical performances that traditionally accompanied temple festivals.

During the festival — timed to the ninth lunar month, roughly ten days each October — devotees observe strict vegetarianism, abstaining from meat, dairy and pungent vegetables as an act of purification. Pilgrims follow a route connecting all nine shrine halls, paying respects at each in turn, and Cheng Hieng Tua is one of the busier stops on that circuit given its size and river-facing position.

Atmosphere & Timing

Outside the festival window, the hall functions as a quiet community institution — a place for merit-making and ancestor veneration rather than a sightseeing stop. During the ten festival days it’s a different scene entirely: incense smoke, food stalls selling vegetarian versions of Thai-Chinese street dishes, and a steady flow of visitors from Bangkok and neighbouring provinces working through the nine-hall route.

Insider Tip: Samut Sakorn Foundation Charity Vegetarian House, across the river in Maha Chai, is another of the nine halls — doing both in one day covers two of the circuit’s most active stops without much extra travel.

Watch out: Festival dates move with the lunar calendar and aren’t fixed to the same week each year. Check current dates through the provincial tourism office or TAT before building a trip around it specifically.

Practical

The hall sits within walking distance of the Ban Thachalom Tourism Information Center in the same subdistrict. It’s reachable by the Wong Wian Yai-Mahachai train to Mahachai followed by the Tha Chalom cross-river ferry, or by road from central Samut Sakhon.