THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT holy days of the year for Thai Buddhists all include the word "Bucha", which means to pay homage. Asahara Bucha commemorates the day the Lord Buddha preached his first sermon. Makha Bucha marks both the occasion when 1,350 of the Buddha146;s disciples gathered without prior notice and listened to the Buddha elaborate some of his most important teachings in a sermon, as well as the day he foresaw his own death and attainment of Nibbana (Nirvana). But the most auspicious of the three is Visakha Bucha, which simultaneously commemorates three important anniversaries in the life of Siddharta Gautama, the Lord Buddha: his birth, his enlightenment, and his death.