A Thai Christmas

After a long weekend in Chanthaburi (attending John's wedding), it was back to work today. Which of course meant, my first time ever working on Christmas day. Christmas carols at SIIT

The religious aspect of Christmas is not a big deal for me, but it is a great day (and in general, time of year) for eating, drinking and receiving prezzies (oh yeah, and spending time with family and friends). So, although I've been away from the family twice before for Xmas, I still do miss it.

In Thailand, with the majority of the population Buddhists, Christmas is obviously not that big. Of course there are some of the commercial aspects in shops and a few small activities, but no public holiday. New years is a much bigger celebration, and includes spending time with families and giving presents.

So this year Xmas was just another day at work - except for three things:

  1. I got a present in the mail from Mum and Dad - thanks!
  2. On the way home from SIIT Bangkadi I stopped off at the SIIT building at Rangsit to meet some students. I managed to catch 20 minutes of some of the Thai students singing Christmas carols, which was nice.
  3. Santa Claus made a surprise visit at work, delivering a few presents to staff and students! I'm not sure how well that was taken ... there were a few puzzled looks.