Category Archives: Thai Culture

After a string of bad luck, the Thai government has decided that the best way to bring about national reconciliation in Thailand is to move around some furniture and potted plants at Government House. I don’t want to belittle the beliefs of the people in government, but wouldn’t it be better if they paid a little less attention to feng shui and more to the hard work of solving the problems that the country is and has been facing for the last four years or so?

Here is the news according to MCOT:

“The Thai government has readjusted its feng shui at Government House according to Chinese cosmological understandings to enhance luck and prosperity as well as to create peacefulness. Six potted plants of one species were placed on the lawn in front of the Thai Ku Fah Building, opposite its entrance, where Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva enters the Government House compound. The placement of plants there is believed to avoid and drive away bad luck. It is also believed the bright colours of the plants, yellow and green, are to enhance luck and prosperity and to create unity as well as bringing out the honest and boost charisma. The feng shui at Government House had previously been adjusted once, according to the government’s past problems. A Happy Buddha was invited on the rooftop above the prime minister’s office and round marbles were decorated at several spots of the Thai Ku Fah building to fend off bad luck and enhance good luck and prosperity.”

I know a lot of Thai people believe in feng shui. I have had first hand experience of some of them paying a lot of money to an expert who gave advice on how to improve their life and well-being and also how to drive out any bad luck. I remember once coming back to my school office after the summer holidays to find that all of the tables in our computer office had been ripped away from the partition. This was done so that we could all sit at our computers facing north. Apparently we would be more productive workers. I am not sure about that but our office certainly looks a mess now. The partitions had hidden compartments that had the electricity sockets and wiring for the networks. Now all our wires run across the floor. Another teacher gets leg ache because he is no longer facing head-in to his cubicle. He has to sit from left to right with his chair up against the partition. But, this is Thailand and no-one dared complain about this to the school admin. They just had to suffer in silence. Actually, this particular teacher no longer spends so much time working at his computer.

Last year one of the 6th Grade students committed suicide by jumping from the 6th floor of the school building. Apparently when he had arrived in the morning, he had calmly gone up to his classroom on the 5th floor and put his bag on his chair. He then went up to the computer center on the 6th floor and jumped from the balcony. He actually survived the fall and one of the teachers on duty in the playground picked him up, put him on the back of a samlor (three-wheeled bicycle) and took him to the hospital. Sadly he died in intensive care later. The speculation at the time was that he killed himself after having an argument with his father about video games. Naturally, his teachers also felt a bit guilty as he could have been reacting to any one of them if they had scolded him the day before. I think if this had happened in the West the school probably would have put up higher barriers to stop the students climbing out to the balcony. In Thailand, the normal solution to problems like this is to remove any potted plants that are deemed unlucky. The feng shui expert also told the admin that we needed to have some large shiny marbles around the school in order to ward off any further bad luck.

I know I sound cynical but I feel that other methods are needed in order to keep away any bad luck. Like practical methods. But, I guess I have turned Thai myself and no longer fuss so much about safety. I remember when I first came here to Thailand I kept going on about the need to have fire extinguishers and a real evacuation plan in case of emergency at the school. No-one wanted to talk about it. Do you know why? If we did, then it would invite this bad luck to the school. So, if there was a fire in the future, I would then be blamed for the bad luck that brought it about. I guess I should be thankful that I didn’t mention anything about my worry of the balconies on each floor in the school building. But then again, maybe if I had said something and kicked up a fuss, maybe that student wouldn’t have been able to jump to his death. Sometimes just moving plants around in a certain order is not enough. We need to look at the underlying causes of these problems and then take practical steps to prevent any catastrophe before it happens.

It would seem that the longer I stay in Thailand, the higher the frequency that I attend funerals. In fact, I have two sets of funeral clothes now. I thought today I would give a brief overview of a cremation in order to help any foreigners who might find themselves attending a funeral while in Thailand. Normally, a funeral will go on for three, five or seven days with the actual cremation taking place on the last day. It is possible that you might be invited to attend the chanting during the week. You would do this if it was a close friend or a relative of a close friend. However, most people would only attend the actual cremation on the last day.

For this cremation, most people were invited to turn up at 5 p.m. By the way, cremations never take place on a Friday. During the afternoon, the coffin was transferred from the main hall where the daily chanting took place and was taken in a parade to the crematorium. Before it was taken up the steps, it was taken around the crematorium three times. Normally, we would do this in a clockwise direction. But, for funerals, this is always done in an anti-clockwise direction. The coffin is then put on a stand in front of the crematorium and the photo of the deceased placed to one side.

At some cremations I have attended, there were performances such as traditional Thai dancing and also music. However, as this all costs a lot of money, most funerals keep it simple. After the history of the deceased person has been read out, distinguished guests and close family members then present monk’s robes in front of the coffin. Notice on the right a piece of cloth that goes up and into the coffin where it is attached to a piece of string that leads to the deceased person. What happens is a monk will then take the robe from the tray as if the deceased person had presented it themselves.

The monks in attendance, distinguished guests and close family members will then place sandalwood flowers underneath the coffin. This is symbolic and is as if each person is helping light the fire. Then everyone else, including you if you attend a funeral, go up the steps of the crematorium to place the flower too. What most people do is tap the coffin a couple of times, place the flower in a tray under the coffin and then give a quick “wai”. You are also supposed to say a short prayer telling the deceased person that you forgive them for any wrong doings in the past. On your way down, you will be given a kind of souvenir of the funeral to take home. Sometimes this a book about the life of the deceased person. Notice in this picture how people are dressed. You should wear black or white or combination of both.

At this stage, most people would go home. They have paid their respects. For this particular cremation, it was over within twenty minutes. Others I have attended took about an hour as there were performances too. It is mainly family members that stay for the actual cremation. What happens first is that the ornaments decorating the coffin are removed. The coffin is then lifted off its base and then carried towards the crematorium oven. The lid is then taken off. A coconut is cut open and the juice poured over the deceased person. The coffin is then pushed inside the chamber. This is the last chance for family members to pay their respects. Some even threw more sandalwood flowers into the coffin.

Everyone then went down to the bottom of the steps where they gathered around to watch the cremation. At some funerals I have attended, rockets were fired into the sky. However, this is banned in residential areas. They don’t wait for the fire to finish. They will come back the next day to collect the ashes. There will then be more chanting before the ashes are scattered on the Chao Phraya River. This is where I went today and I will share my pictures with you later in the week.