Thailand's Rich Cultural Tapestry: Religion, Cuisine, and Festivals

The essay about thailand culture. Thai culture has greatly evolved over time from the era of Sukhothai to its contemporary era of Ayutthaya. The origin of Thai culture can be traced to the reign of Chulalongkorn in the 19th century. King Chulalongkorn incorporated nationalism and centralization following the European trend. He took some actions to promote civic religion. This promotion of civic religion faced some setbacks in the 1930s and few years after the Second World War. The promotion of civic cultured was renewed after the Second World War with the rise of Rama IX. Government suppressed regional Thai cultures like Launa, Isan etc.In the present day, Thai civic culture defines Thailand as Land of Central Thai or Siamese with only Theravada Buddhism religion, under the Chakri dynasty. If we want to know more about Thai culture, we have to know about their religion, language, food habits and most importantly about their festivals.

Thai Religion

The religion is a major part of the culture. Thai main religion is Theravada Buddhism. Various observations show that it draws influences from both Animism and Hinduism. Their official Calendar is based on Eastern version of Buddhist era which is 543 years ahead of the western calendar. Around 94% of people of Thailand are Buddhist, around 4.5% are Muslim and less than 1% people are Christian. There are also small minorities of Hindus and Sikhs in Thailand.

Thailand Culture Food

Thailand’s food habits and cuisine is mostly influenced from the neighbouring countries like Burma and Cambodia. Thai cuisine is very popular around the world. Rice, Pad Thai and green curry are considered as staple foods of Thailand. Thai soup, noodles and rice dishes are very much popular and they are available in many countries.

Thai Culture Festivals

Thailand culture is very rich in festivals and religious traditions. There are plenty of festivals in the Thai calendar. Some of the popular festivals described as follows

Songkran or the Water Festival

This festival is celebrated every year in the month of April. The devotees perform ritual cleansing statues of Buddha with water in the Temples. People of all age head out in the streets and they soak one another with water pistols, water balloons and buckets. This festival is the Thai New Year's national holiday. Songkran is celebrated every year on 13th April, but the holiday period is from 14 to 15 April.

The ‘Festival of Floating Light’ or Loi Krathong

Loi Krathong or festival of Floating Lights is another popular festival in Thailand. This festival is celebrated on the night of a full moon of the 12th month of their calendar annually. Candles are floated down rivers across the country. The Festival is also celebrated in some parts of Laos and Shan State of Myanmar where it is known as Tazaungdaing.

Yi Peng/Lantern Festival:

Yi Peng is another festival which is celebrated on the same day of Loy Krathog in the Northern part of Thailand. Lights are placed into the sky lanterns, decorated with prayers and wishes are released in the sky. Most probably in 2019 this festival will be observed on November 2019.

Cultural Differences

Thai culture is very much diverse than that of ours. There are some diverse practices that we think normal but offensive in Thailand and vice versa. 

In Thailand talking loudly is taken as a sign of disrespect and offensive. Talking very loud is taken as losing self control and it is not acceptable in the country. But talking loud is very common in our country. So if any one visit Thailand he/she might keep this in mind. In Thai culture head is taken to be the most sacred part of the body. No one dares to touch someone’s head unless explicit permission of the person is taken. But touching head, slapping in the head is very common between friends in our country. If someone has a thai friend he/she must avoid doing this as long as he/she is in Thailand. We (Bangladeshi) usually joke around and point on someone without any intentions. It is very much offensive to Thai people. It is highly requested not to point at monks or at pictures of the Royal Family if someone visits Thailand.

Conclusion

Thailand culture is much different from other Asian cultures. Nevertheless, in Thai culture and tradition, strong Indian, Burmese, Chinese and other Asian cultures are still evident. Westernization, Animism and Buddhism played a vital role in melding the Thai culture.