CHAIYAPHUM: With skyrocketing pork prices, people in this northeastern province have decided to present salt-baked fish, instead of the usual pigs’ heads, as an offering at a local shrine in return for good health and fortune.
Each year, many people take part in a ceremony to pay homage at the Chaopho Phraya Lae Shrine in Muang district of Chaiyaphum. They believe that the shrine houses the spirit of Phraya Phakdi Chumphon, an important local figurehead in the province.
In normal times, people present pigs’ heads, ducks, chicken and fruit as offerings at the shrine. This year, however, pigs’ heads are in short supply.
Locals said the price of a pig’s…
