Today is Father’s Day here in Thailand, with much of the honor and regard being directed towards the king, the father of the country. In honor of the monarch, Thais are wearing yellow, his color in honor of the day he was born on, a Monday. But today is not the only time that Thai people dress the same.
Earlier this year, I posted about the different festivals in Thailand that I was looking forward to attending. After this weekend, I can gladly say that I made it to all five of the festivals I was excited about this year, which was topped off with a trip to Lopburi for the Monkey Festival.
The Monkey Festival is held annually on the last Sunday of November in the city of Lopburi, a province in central Thailand a couple hours north of Bangkok. The festival falls right around the same time as people in the States are celebrating Thanksgiving, which is convenient as the festival itself is a bit of its own kind of thanks giving feast.
In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
I love Thai festivals and I’ve made it a point to go to as many as I could this year, like the Rocket Festival, the Candle Festival and Phi Ta Khon. Recently, I made it to Lopburi to go to the annual Monkey Festival. There are Khmer ruins in the middle of Lopburi, and they have been overrun by macaques. Considering the macaques as agents of the Hindu god Hanuman, they are left alone. Each year, the city holds a festival for the macaques and provides them with a veritable feast. Check it out!
Today is the U.N. designated International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, a scourge that is a worldwide problem that needs to be addressed and a noble cause to bring awareness to.
This is also a topic that has been on my mind a lot recently with some of the stories that have been garnering headlines here in Thailand: a video clip of a Thai rock star beating his wife, the romanticization of rape in Thai soap operas and the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl on a train.
Couple these incidents with recent comments by the junta-appointed Prime Minister, former General Prayuth, that women in bikinis are not safe – that is unless they are ugly – and it’s clear that what is referred to as rape culture is very much alive and well here in Thailand.
In Thailand, a bpai tiao is a trip of any length. I’ve written about some of my more significant bpai tiaos to tourist destinations here, to be used as travel ideas and tips.
The last time I was in Ubon Ratchathani, it was for another festival, the Candle Festival. Recently, I was there during my favorite Thai holiday, Loi Krathong. Last year, I was in Sukhothai for Loi Krathong, so I was interested to see how other cities participate. Check it out!
Recently, my parents came to visit and we went to visit some awesome places here in Thailand and I got to tell and show them all about Thai culture. There were a couple of times that they had some misconceptions about Thailand and Thai people, just like many Peace Corps volunteers did before they arrived and many people around the world do. This is not uncommon and I thought I’d share some of the common misconceptions about Thailand and Thai people.
more “I Thought in Thailand…: Misconceptions About Thailand”
Thailand has a lot of holidays. Maka Bucha Day. Visakha Bucha Day. Mother’s Day. Father’s Day. Constitution Day. Ploughing Day.
Yesterday was another one of Thailand’s many holidays: Chulalongkorn Day, which commemorates and honors King Chulalongkorn, also known Rama V, on the day of his death.
Walk into a spa in the U.S. and a look at the massage menu will likely be one of the more common ways that Americans are exposed to Thai culture, in the form of Thai massage. (Other ways include a Thai restaurant and electronic items that are stamped with “Made in Thailand.”)
Massage is a significant part of the culture here. Maybe it’s because generally people sit cross-legged on the ground, sleep on a bamboo mat on the ground and if they do leave their village, its for long trips. But what is Thai massage like and where did it come from?
In the United States each year we have a national poet laureate and the National Endowment for the Arts as a way for the government to support and recognize artists and the work that they create.
Since 1985, the Ministry of Culture has annually, on February 24 or “National Artist Day”, named a list of artists in Thailand as the National Artist of Thailand. The artists receive a 12,000 baht monthly salary (about $375, and more than I make), health expenses paid for, 15,000 baht towards funeral expenses and 120,000 baht for a memorial biography.
H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej was named “Supreme Artist” in 1986, for his accomplishments as a composer, photographer and painter. But who are some of the other National Artists of Thailand and what kind of works have they produced?
Like the religious paintings at wats, any trip to Thailand is sure to include innumerable sightings of Buddhist sculptures. This is one area of visual arts that has been well documented, described and preserved.
There are a handful of significant periods of Buddhist sculpture, and if you know what to look for on the Buddha icons, they become much less monotonous and more interesting as you try to figure out which period’s style is having the most influence on the sculpture you happen to be viewing. Here’s a breakdown of the various periods and their characteristics.