Thai Mother's Day 101 (วันแม่แห่งชาติ)
After the events of last week have slowly smoothed over, I have been thrown into Mother's Day madness this past week, as tomorrow, Thailand celebrates its Mother's Day. So, for your culture lesson of the day, here we go:
Date:
August 12th (every year, the same, no matter what.)
Why?
Well, it's Her Majesty the Queen's Birthday.
What's her name?
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara
What does she look like?
More or less like this
(for some reason, she doesn't want to move to this side of the page.)
But hey, I have seen many pictures that don't really look like that.
Well, yes. In Thailand they mostly post photos of her from a long time ago, in order to keep her youthful. Maybe you have seen some like this:
Is Mother's Day the same in Thailand as in the west?
Well, no. It is more about celebrating mothers than buying cards and chocolates. It is about showing love and respect and is quite beautiful.
Does the Queen have her own flag?
Funny you should ask. She does. Let me show you.
Why it is blue?
In Thailand it is very important to know what day of the week you were born. Dig out an old calendar and find out when that was. Each day of the week has a day associated with it. The King of Thailand was born on Monday, and the colour for Monday is yellow, sparking the yellow shirt craze as the King celebrated his 60th year on the throne this year. The Queen was born on a Friday, and the colour for Friday is blue. (Really, more of a baby blue, but I couldn't find an accurate flag.)
What are the colours for the days of the week?
Well, here they are:
Does the Queen have specific flower?
Indeed. The "Mali" flower (jasmine flower) is associated with the Queen.
Why?
(According to The Bangkok post) " There is a saying that white jasmine represents the selfless virtue of a mother who thinks more about the needs, happiness and likes of other people rather than about her own."
What does it look like?
That's all folks. What does it mean for me? I have an excuse for forgetting the Western Mother's Day, which usually gives me an extra few months to remember to get a card in the mail (which I haven't done quite yet...). It also means I have Monday off, and I had no classes this week, as I spent all day every day making plaster of paris handprints for my students to give to their mothers. Now, for my last class of the week, we will watch cartoons.
Happy mothers day!
Date:
August 12th (every year, the same, no matter what.)
Why?
Well, it's Her Majesty the Queen's Birthday.
What's her name?
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit Kitiyakara
What does she look like?
More or less like this
(for some reason, she doesn't want to move to this side of the page.)
But hey, I have seen many pictures that don't really look like that.
Well, yes. In Thailand they mostly post photos of her from a long time ago, in order to keep her youthful. Maybe you have seen some like this:
Is Mother's Day the same in Thailand as in the west?
Well, no. It is more about celebrating mothers than buying cards and chocolates. It is about showing love and respect and is quite beautiful.
Does the Queen have her own flag?
Funny you should ask. She does. Let me show you.
Why it is blue?
In Thailand it is very important to know what day of the week you were born. Dig out an old calendar and find out when that was. Each day of the week has a day associated with it. The King of Thailand was born on Monday, and the colour for Monday is yellow, sparking the yellow shirt craze as the King celebrated his 60th year on the throne this year. The Queen was born on a Friday, and the colour for Friday is blue. (Really, more of a baby blue, but I couldn't find an accurate flag.)
What are the colours for the days of the week?
Well, here they are:
Does the Queen have specific flower?
Indeed. The "Mali" flower (jasmine flower) is associated with the Queen.
Why?
(According to The Bangkok post) " There is a saying that white jasmine represents the selfless virtue of a mother who thinks more about the needs, happiness and likes of other people rather than about her own."
What does it look like?
That's all folks. What does it mean for me? I have an excuse for forgetting the Western Mother's Day, which usually gives me an extra few months to remember to get a card in the mail (which I haven't done quite yet...). It also means I have Monday off, and I had no classes this week, as I spent all day every day making plaster of paris handprints for my students to give to their mothers. Now, for my last class of the week, we will watch cartoons.
Happy mothers day!
posted by isobella at 1:20 PM
1 Comments:
Thank you so much for the info. I am traveling in Bangkok and I was nicknamed Mali, because it was hard to say Merit. How is Bkk for you? I am traveling alone and could use some tips.
Thank you, take care.
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