Thailand Stories

I mentioned to you before that I wanted to buy some flowers for the house which are meant to bring you good luck. There is supposed to be a certain kind of flower that Thai people believe will bring prosperity to your household. It sounded like a good idea. The only problem is that I couldn’t remember the name. …

Next week sees the celebration for the start of the traditional Thai new year. From the 13th-15th April, Thai people will be dressing up in new clothes and visiting the local temple to make merit and to their grandparents in order to receive blessings. Afterwards, the youngsters will be out on the street taking part in the world’s biggest water fight. * If you go out during Songkran, then you …

Can you remember your first day at school? Can you remember how you felt when you first stepped in to your new classroom? If you can, you will know how I felt when I started my new life at BBC or Bangkok Business College. I remembered that day very well. It is the day that I started to grown up a little more and be…

Thai people often consult fortune tellers and astrological charts before doing anything important. There are certain days which you shouldn’t do things on. In Thailand, there are some calendars that you can buy that tell you the unlucky and lucky days for each month. In March, there seems to be many days which are not…

41. Even though he was the 13th Prime Minister of Thailand, M.R. Kukrit Pramoj is more famous for his artistic skills; not only was he an established writer, he also wrote the legendary novel ‘The Four Reigns’, was once named ‘National Artist’ for literature and even founded The Siam Rath newspaper. On top of all that, M.R. Kukrit, 12 …

You know, my mum asked me to do something I really hate. She asked me to shave all my hair and eye browns off. She said I have to put on an orange robe and not wear any underwear too. Do you want to know why? She wanted me to become a novice monk for my great grandmother (on my father‘s side) who died recently. My great…

Three Kingdoms Park in Pattaya Thai people often consult fortune tellers and astrological charts before doing anything important. There are certain days which you shouldn’t do things on. In Thailand, there are some calendars that you can buy that tell you the unlucky and lucky days for each month. In February, there seems to be many days which are not good for buying a new car. …

Sunthorn Phu was born in 1786. He is largely regarded as Thailand’s greatest poet. Every Thai student knows his stories and poems very well. I will talk for sure about him in more detail later. In the meantime, I want to show you this poem called “Sawasdi Raksa”. It is a poem written in a kind of verse of eight syllables…

I told you the other week about the Thai belief that it is unlucky to get a haircut on Wednesdays (see Which days are unlucky? ). Did you know, that you should also pay close attention to which day you wash your hair?! Wash your hair on Sunday - you will live long Wash your hair on Monday - you will be lucky and have a lot of money Wash your hair on Tuesday…

Today is National Teacher’s Day in Thailand and I thought I would take this opportunity to show you how well respected teachers are in Thailand. It is a pleasure teaching here and I wouldn’t dream of teaching anywhere else. Certainly not in America! Every January 16th is a holiday for us and we get the day off work. Then, at the …

QUESTION: A colleague is getting married soon. At the moment, I don’t think I can attend. Do I “have to” give a present? She’s not a close friend. Someone told me that I should give something small, or some money, but I find it weird as I’m not planning to go. ANSWER: Did she give you an invitation? If so, then put 500 baht or so …

The other day, I was showing some people around the school. They were visiting from Australia. They made a good point that some of the teachers were a bit slow taking down the “Happy New Year” banners from the classrooms. I said that well may be true from their point of view. But you could look at it …

Here are some more interesting facts about Thailand that you might not have known before. I will post some more next week. 11. Prior to 1913, most Thais did not have surnames. 12. Thailand’s most expensive pure-breed of dog is the beautiful ‘Bangkaew’. Half-wolf/half-house dog, the Bangkaew has it’s origins in Phitsanulok province. Premium Bangkaew…

Everyone must have something which they dream about. For me, it is a motorcycle. I have been dreaming about it since I was about 13 years old. The only problem is that my parents don’t have much money. I sometimes thought about buying a stolen one like one of my friends. Now I am happy I didn’t do anything stupid, because my dream is gonna …

On the second Saturday of January every year, the Thai people celebrate National Children’s Day. This has been going on for about 50 years now. Children are seen not only as the national treasure, but they are also seen as the future of the country. It is important that they are protected and that they are guided into becoming responsible citizens. In the West, we are …

Here are some interesting facts about Thailand that you might not have known before. I will post some more next week. 1. The Thai greeting “sawatdee” was invented during the Second World War. Before that, people greeted each other by asking if they had eaten yet. 2. According to the World Meteorological Organization, Bangkok is the hottest capital city in the world. 3. HRH The Crown Prince, an avid collector of classic cars, has …

What would you say is the symbol of your country? One of my students came up to me the other day and asked “What is the symbol of England?”. I couldn’t really think of any one symbol. Certainly not an official one. My student suggested Big Ben which is partly true but that is really a national icon. Something that represents the country. In the American movies, if they want to…

Although the Thai Zodiac is similar to what we use in the West, you will see from the following chart that the Thai version is off by about 23 days. According to “Thai Ways” (Denis Segaller p.205), this is because the Western version takes the sun as its reference point. While in the…

Thai people often consult fortune tellers and astrological charts before doing anything important. There are certain days which you shouldn’t do things on. In Thailand, there are some calendars that you can buy that tell you the unlucky and lucky days for each month. Here is a translation I did for January 2009: (1) …

Did you know that in Thailand that each day of the week is assigned a different colour for clothes that you wear? When I first came to Thailand, I didn’t really know about this. But after a few years I was starting to get curious as to why people were giving me a different coloured shirt for my birthdays. They were also telling me which day …