Chinese New Years
Posted by Stuart at 01:57 PM on February 01, 2003Gung Hay Fat Choy!
Today is the start of the Lunar year -- this one is the Year of the Ram (or if you choose: sheep or goat). From what I can tell, even though there are many Thai-Chinese in Bangkok, this is a fairly mellow holiday. The only thing I have personally witnessed is a lot of Chinese decorations going up in stores and shops (round red lanterns and red banners) for the past week or so, and today's Skytrain was full of ladies in red silk blouses with gold trim and embroidered Chinese characters.
I still, however, love the fact that Thai people celebrate New Year's three times: Western in January, Chinese in February, and Thai in April.
I know I am mixing metaphors (err, holidays) here, but I have a Chinese New Year's resolution: More posts to my website. Can I do a post a day for the month of February?
Valentines in Bangrak
Posted by Stuart at 09:18 AM on February 14, 2003I don't know why I am surprised by this, but yes, Thai people celebrate Valentine's Day. As soon as the Chinese New Year decorations came down, the pink and red hearts and balloons went up.
Why should this be no surprise? First of all, as I have mentioned several times, Thai people love holidays. Secondly, it has been my experience in my friendships, in my classroom, and what I see on TV and hear on the radio, Thai people are very emotional -- inside and out. So it makes sense that a holiday dedicated to LOVE would be very popular.
Today is a special day where I live -- a part of Bangkok called Bangrak. There are many parts of Bangkok that start with Bang (meaning "area"): Bangrak, Bangna, Bangpo, Banglumphu, and Bangkapi, to name a few. But, as I found out last week, Bangrak translates to "Love Area". (To say "I love you" in Thai, say Pom rak khun). So today, many Thai couples will go to Bangrak to register their marriages on Valentine's Day in "Love Area".
Makha Bucha
Posted by Stuart at 07:58 PM on February 16, 2003Today is one of the holiest Buddhist holidays. It is called Makha Bucha (litterally, "worship in the third month") and is celebrated on the 3rd lunar cycle. Thai Buddhists visit the temples to light candles and remember two separate events that happened on this day.
The first event occurred nine months after Buddha reached Enlightenment, when 1250 of his disciples showed up to hear him preach, unannounced and unplanned. His sermon gave the disciples the "Monk Way": give up evil, cultivate good, and cleanse one's mind.
The second event took place 44 years later, when Buddha announced that he would be entering Nirvana three months from that date. That holy day (three months from now) is called Visakha Bucha
