A total of over 171,000 local and foreign pilgrims visited Kyaiktiyo Pagoda in Kyaikto Township, Mon State from January to September this year, according to the pagoda board of trustees.

From January to September this year, there were 164,586 local pilgrims and 6,886 foreign pilgrims visited.

Although it is the rainy season, donors provide food to the monks who stay along the mountain ridge in the Kyaiktiyo area during Buddhist Lent period. There are constant pilgrimages as many people come to donate, said a board of trustees of the pagoda.

He continued, “Of the foreign pilgrims, the largest number of pilgrims come from Thailand. Visitors from other countries also come. Thailand has the most.”

Due to the current political situation in Myanmar, the porters and shops that depend on the pilgrims and travellers for their food are also experiencing various difficulties in the Kyaiktiyo area as the number of tourists has significantly decreased.

"Due to the rainy season, there are fewer pilgrims. In the meantime, because of the political situation, the pilgrims rarely came, so they have no job. They have to work randomly," said a porter from Yathedaung.

After the Buddha Pujaniya Festival of the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda was held on October 9, 2022, on the full moon day of Thadinkyut, on the morning of October 12, three female pilgrims were killed and 19 pilgrims were injured in the shooting incident at the Kyaiktiyo Mountaineering Vehicle Terminal in Kinmoon Camp at the foothills of Kyaiktiyo Mountain.

In addition, on the afternoon of July 6 in this year, the local name Layphataw Bridge on the Kyaiktiyo mountain road was mined and destroyed. It was reported that the bridge was repaired only on July 25, and normal traffic can resume in the mountain road.

According to the pagoda board of trustees, about 3 million domestic and foreign pilgrims visit the Buddha Pujaniya Festival of the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, which is held every year from the full moon day of Thadinkyut to the full day of the full moon of Kason.