Some festivals of Thailand are really interesting where you will get something unique about the city it is celebrated. This would be really good if you get a chance to visit the city during any one of this celebration time. Some are mentioned below:
Songkran: This festival brings some light wave to the Thai people. This is mainly celebrated during Thai New Year i.e. in April. Generally April 13th, 14th and 15th are the days but it also varies sometimes. In this festival people throw water on each other. The main thought behind this action is that Thai people think this will wash off their sin from the past years. You will get water pistols and super soakers everywhere in the city. You can feel the actual enjoyment in Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Khao San Road area in Bangkok, Ko Samui and also Phuket. But if you don’t like to get wet, this is not the right time for you to come to Thailand. Sometimes people even splash iced water on each other. After three long days the whole city becomes drenched in water. It is advisable to wear dark colored clothes as light colors can become transparent after splashing water.
Coronation Day: This is celebrated on May 5th. This records the crowning of the current King in 1950.
Loy Krathong: This one falls on the first full moon day in the twelfth month in Lunar calendar. The month is usually November. At this time people float candle laden banana leaf, flower and other auspicious things in the water of sea and also in swimming pools of hotels. They believe that in this way they float away their bad luck and welcome the new things. Many Thai people float some strands of hair and nail clippings in the karthong i.e. banana leaf boat. They say that if you wish something and the karthong floats out of sight before the candle burns out, your wish will be fulfilled. This is a traditional festival of Thailand which is celebrated with a holy heart.
A typical Thai Bathroom…
In Thailand you will get bathrooms in unique style. You need to have proper knowledge about using Thai bathrooms. A venture in the Thai bathroom is really exciting. Don’t try to be smart while you are going to a Thai bathroom. You may not know how the hot water and flush really works there. Thai toilet is also known as squatter. This is like a hole in the ground and this can create a great confusion for the westerners. Sometimes the Thai people make fun of the western people because of this reason. Many people become nervous after seeing the style of Thai toilet.
You won’t find any toilet paper in Thai toilet. Don’t be scared, a bucket of water will be there to serve your purpose. Your left hand and water will be used for the purpose. Don’t feel nervous if you need to shake left hand of a person in Thailand. For your convenience you can carry toilet paper along with you but where would you dispose it that’s a question. Flushing in Thai toilets is not like western toilets and it can create some clogging if you dispose it in the toilet.
Usually Thai people take shower thrice a day. In Thailand the weather is very hot and humidity is also high. So people take bath as much times as possible. The Thai people who are not taking bath thrice are considered as dirty. But this behaviour is only common when the Thais live in Thailand. When a Thai person comes to America, he behaves like any other common man in America and takes bath once or at best twice. The water is also very cold in Thailand. While traveling in Thailand it’s always better to carry a few baht for using public bathrooms. All the public bathrooms are pay bathrooms and that’s why very clean.
Thailand Holidays
In Thailand you can enjoy some exciting festivals. The festivals are really colorful and spread liveliness everywhere. Sometimes visitors specially come to Thailand to be a part of its festivals. But one thing should be kept in mind that at these times the hotel accommodation can be little costly. So, in this case you can take the help of the websites and do your booking in advance. Various festivals are there out of which some are randomly selected and mentioned below:
Wat Phra Si Sanphet: This festival is celebrated in Ayutthaya. In Thailand most of the festivals are related to Buddhism and the monarchy. This is one of them. Except for some banks nobody celebrates all of them.
Chinese New Year: This Chinese New Year is celebrated by Chinese Thais. They are numerous in Bangkok. They celebrate this festival by cleaning their houses. They also offer food to their ancestors during this festival. Feasts take an important part in this festival. Everywhere you will see merrymaking. If you are visiting Bangkok’s Chinatown or Yaowarat, you can have the idea of real festivity.
Makha Bucha: This festival in Thailand falls on the full moon of the fourth Lunar month. Usually this falls in February or March. During this festival nearly 1250 followers venerate in front of the Buddha. This eventually leads to their ordination and subsequent nirvana i.e. enlightenment. Buddhists carry candles at temples in Bangkok and throughout Thailand. They also walk around the main shrine three times in a clockwise direction. People in Thailand are very religious and they show this nature during this festival.
The King’s Birthday: King’s Birthday is celebrated on December fifth. This is known as Thailand’s National Day which is also celebrated as Father’s Day. During this time you will find all the buildings and homes are properly decorated with the king’s flag. Around the Royal palace in old Bangkok, you can see some lighting on trees, roads and buildings. You will see happy faces everywhere in the city at this time. The Queen’s Birthday i.e. Mother’s Day is celebrated on August 12 in the same way with great pomp.
Thai Cloth washing & Sunbathed skin
Thai people are usually very clean in their clothing as well as their character. You cannot see any couples holding hands in a public place. They usually give enough respect to the elders of the society. They always maintain cleanliness. Thai people usually wash their top clothes separately from their bottom clothes. As for example jumpers, shirts are washed together while trousers and underwear are washed separately. This is done so as according to Buddhists ideology, the lower part of the body is unclean while the upper part is sanctified. A Thai who is a Buddhist never takes out the skirts over their heads and this is also done because of the same reason.
While hanging out the clothes for drying, the same process is maintained as clothes of upper part of the boy are placed separated from the clothes of the lower part of the body. The same should be applied when drying one's self after bathing. While taking a shower one thing should be kept in mind that one single towel cannot be used for the whole body. The ideal is one towel should be kept for head and second one for the lower part. Thai people don’t like the suntanned skin. According to them this type of skin shows teh poor living conditions of a person.
If someone has dark or heavily tanned skin that means he or she is working outside. So, they believe that the status of a person can be anticipated from the whiteness of their complexion. In this respect Thai people are different than westerners. Westerners want to have tanned skin and that’s why they enjoy sunning thmselves while Thai people want to escape from it. It is a common scene in Thailand that people carrying umbrella in sun. Don’t be surprised if you see a motorcyclist carrying an umbrella in one hand and driving with other hand.
Process of making Nielloware artifacts in Thailand
In Thailand each of the Nielloware artists has his own formula of making the Niello amalgam. The process starts when the desired quantity of copper, silver and lead melt in a crucible at 300 degree Celsius and the heating should continue till four hours. Then sulpher should be mixed but the sulpher should not continue any bubbles. Afterwards the amalgam should pour in a flat container. After drying the amalgam should be black colored with luster of light blue color. The amalgam has low melting point with solid hardness. It comes in the shape of a rod and also in small pieces. The whole process takes twelve long hours.
Later the metal is given the desired shape. This is done by hammering or by casting. Then the desired pattern can be drawn on the object. This is done either directly on the object or by screens. The design can be craved by hand into the metal. This is also done by stamping machines or acids. After that Niello amalgam should be mixed with soldering flux and then the carved out design is filled properly with the mix. Then heat should be applied with blowpipe. The Niello amalgam on the object and silver level should be properly matched. When the amalgam is applied on the object, it is set to dry and then cool. This step is very important where the craftsmen become very careful so that no minute hole can remain in the object. Then it should be filed and any overflow of amalgam should be removed.
Then comes the process of polishing. Fine sanding paper is used in it. Afterwards the object should be rubbed with charcoal and should make it smooth. It should be further polished by using hand and cotton and also metal polishing substance. This should be followed by washing and drying. Some touch-ups can be done later and your Nielloware object is ready for the market.
Thailand and Nielloware
Nielloware in Thailand is a very common term. The name is derived from the word niello, the plural of which is nielli. The Italian form of this Latin word is known as nigellum. This is actually a tiny word of niger i.e. black. The word nigellum actually referred as the amalgamation of black color that is used in ‘nielloing’ somewhere in the Middle Ages. In Renaissance time the term ‘niello’ comes in place of nigellum.
The official meaning or definition of Nielloware is mentioned in Royal Dictionary in Thailand. In 1950 version the definition comes like this, “The manner of making receptacles by means of the application of a lead amalgam, superimposed upon or poured into incised designs. This type of container is referred to as ‘Nielloware’”
There are different terms which are related to this art form. As a matter of fact Niello is the black inlay which chiefly consists of the sulphides of copper, silver and also lead. The amount of the ingredients obviously varies according to the mode of application. It also varies according to the application of the amalgam and the composition of the objective on which Niello is used.
It is a known fact in Thailand that every Niello artist inherits a secret making process for his own Niello liquid. Nielloware is a term that is usually use to describe any man made object that has used Niello amalgam. Most of the Niello objects are made of gold and silver. Some are also made of bronze, copper and brass. Thai people think that Nielloware object should made of pure silver with 92.5% purity.
Some of the famous Nielloware artist in Thailand can be named as Mr. Songwut Khongwan, Mrs. Butsabakorn Khongwan, Mr. Adison Chantarangsee, Professor Wichian Na Nakon, etc.
Traditional dances in Thailand
Thai dances are very interesting where you will see lots of colors and enthusiasm. In Thailand there are various occasions where you can enjoy a lot. Thai people love enjoyment. They want to find happiness in every possible way. There are some types of traditional Thai dances which are very popular among the local people. Some of the names are randomly selected:
Khon: This is a conventionalized variety of Thai dance. In this type of Thai dances the performer mimes the whole action while the story is being sung by other singers in background. The dancers of the show usually wear intricate dresses and also masks to depict different characters. Some of characters can be mentioned as humans, monkeys, demons and also celestial organisms. Muscular exertion is necessary in this Khon dance. The Khon dancers find their story from Ramakien. This is the Thai version of Ramayana i.e. the Indian epic.
Fawn Thai: This is a form of folk dance where you can also enjoy the use of folk music. There are five classic style in this fawn Thai and these are Fawn Leb i.e. fingernails dance from the place Chiang Mai. The second one can be named as Fawn Ngiew which is scarf dance from Chiang Rai. Third one is Fawn Marn Gumm Ber i.e. butterfly dance. Fourth one is Fawn Marn Mong Kol i.e. happy dance and the fifth one is Fawn Tian i.e. candle dance.
Lakhan: This is less formal dance and here the dancers do not wear masks. Lakhan dance movements where the hands and upper torso moves are really graceful and also sensual. All the dancers are female and they perform as a group rather than performing as an individual dancer. In Lakhan also, they take the story ideas from Ramakien and the Jatakas. These are all folk stories and some are taken from the lives of Gautam Buddha.
Manohra Dance: This type of traditional Thai dance is unique to the south. This is mainly a dance drama where we can see the love story between Kinnari Manohra and Prince Suthon. Kinnari Manohra was a half bird and half woman kind. The story is very pathetic where the unprincipled court members of prince advised him to sacrifice Manhra into fire to save his own life when he is at war.
Khon: This is a conventionalized variety of Thai dance. In this type of Thai dances the performer mimes the whole action while the story is being sung by other singers in background. The dancers of the show usually wear intricate dresses and also masks to depict different characters. Some of characters can be mentioned as humans, monkeys, demons and also celestial organisms. Muscular exertion is necessary in this Khon dance. The Khon dancers find their story from Ramakien. This is the Thai version of Ramayana i.e. the Indian epic.
Fawn Thai: This is a form of folk dance where you can also enjoy the use of folk music. There are five classic style in this fawn Thai and these are Fawn Leb i.e. fingernails dance from the place Chiang Mai. The second one can be named as Fawn Ngiew which is scarf dance from Chiang Rai. Third one is Fawn Marn Gumm Ber i.e. butterfly dance. Fourth one is Fawn Marn Mong Kol i.e. happy dance and the fifth one is Fawn Tian i.e. candle dance.
Lakhan: This is less formal dance and here the dancers do not wear masks. Lakhan dance movements where the hands and upper torso moves are really graceful and also sensual. All the dancers are female and they perform as a group rather than performing as an individual dancer. In Lakhan also, they take the story ideas from Ramakien and the Jatakas. These are all folk stories and some are taken from the lives of Gautam Buddha.
Manohra Dance: This type of traditional Thai dance is unique to the south. This is mainly a dance drama where we can see the love story between Kinnari Manohra and Prince Suthon. Kinnari Manohra was a half bird and half woman kind. The story is very pathetic where the unprincipled court members of prince advised him to sacrifice Manhra into fire to save his own life when he is at war.
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