Christmas in Thailand
Whenever this time of year swings round, keep an eye out for these tinsel Christmas trees, of which a large quantity can be found popping up all around town.
Walk through various shopping malls and department stores, and you will be able to hear a variety of Christmas tunes blaring through the speakers, ranging from Mariah Carey’s breathy Merry Christmas album to Hilary Duff’s whiny Santa Claus Lane. All this goes on while the weather outside remains staunchly tropical, though the temperature does manage to dip into the mid 70s for a week or so, if we’re lucky. Come Christmas day and you can find the majority of the city’s Buddhist teens and young adults exchanging gifts, probably without the faintest idea as to what the tradition and history of Christmas entails. But heck, if it’s a chance to receive (and give, of course) presents, who am I to complain?
The funny thing is that, as a westerner, being in Thailand gives me / us a chance to escape the whole Christmas thing!
Lucky you. I still have to go to Christmas Eve mass with my dad and aunts every year. =/
You’ve GOT to be kidding me, Him. Bangkok is one of the most Christmas-y places in which I’ve I ever lived. The lengths to which the shopping centers and hotels and commerical establishments go to to lather their buildings with the lights and snowmen and other x-mas themed knick-knacks is breath-taking, which is almost comical given that 95% of this country is Buddhist =D
Although it is commercially everywhere, escaping Christmas is not just about shops. I don’t have to deal with family, everywhere doesn’t shut down for days on end and you can have the 25th as just another day quite easily. In fact, my point is that I can have christmas on my terms out here, not on everyone elses terms.
I remember that the first christmas here was so amazing for me because Thai people go waaay overboard for christmas – much more than Australia.