Forty per cent of young Thais don't go to temple on significant Buddhist occasions because they say they are too busy.

I thought it would take an hour at the most to make the U-turn in front of the Buddhamonthon park and pull up in its parking lot on Visakha Bucha Day.

But then I saw the three lanes of cars all trying to squeeze towards the entrance on Monday evening.

In 10 seconds I had made up my mind that I wouldn't be visiting Buddhamonthon this year.

A moment later the three senior citizens I had as passengers had all agreed with the decision.

The temple we ended up at was 20 kilometres from the main road. Around 50 locals observing merit-making activities were crammed in to the small space.

One young woman dressed in a tight tank-top and super-short shorts walked shoulder to shoulder with me in the candlelit procession (wien tien).

I immediately reprimanded her (quietly in mind, of course) for her improper dress.

But the next moment I thought to myself, 'Oh well, at least she wasn't too busy!'