Thailand does not follow the western calendar and as such January 1 is not the beginning of the new year to them (their’s is in mid-April). Culturally, they’re more inclined to celebrate the Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year to the non pc back home) sometime between late January and early February each year. In Thailand you get to celebrate New years not once, but three times. I love Thailand! As a Buddhist country, Christmas too is not part of their cultural celebration calendar. Except for the fact that touri celebrate this holiday and the Thai people always want you to feel at home (especially when that means making a buck off of you). They don’t quite get the Christmas thing and tend to view it as our version of the Lunar New Year, which means gift getting (getting, not giving . . . you are in Thailand!)

So a visit to Thailand in December and January means 90 degree weather and shops and mall festooned with Christmas Trees and the trappings of our capitalistic holiday season. Now to those of us coming from a Christian country, Christmas is a major gift giving time of the year. While the theory of buying of Christmas gifts has sunk into the Thai consciousness (meaning you, the western touri, should be spending money on gifts) the gift giving part just doesn’t make sense as it is associated with some odd religious angle about some dead guy’s birthday. (Yes, those western touri have many strange ideas and customs). So, don’t expect Christmas gifts from Thai friends, and if you feel you need to give a Christmas gift to a Thai, don’t expect the usual response . . . instead you’ll get a rather dubious and confused look (as they take the package from you anyway).

But, the idea of getting something as a gift is hard to pass so the Thai people have amended our customs to better fit their way of life and understanding of the world. Hence the ‘Happy New Year’ Thai version of gift giving has been born.

‘Happy New Year’ said with much enthusiasm, is a mantra you’ll hear from mid-December thru, oh, sometime toward the end of February. Translated from Thai into English it has a new meaning. And that meaning is, “Give me a gift!” More precisely, it means, “Give Me Money!” Cash being every Thai’s favorite form of gift.

Happy New Year! from a taxi driver means, “Give me a big tip”. From a store clerk or stall vendor, “Give me a big tip”. You get the picture. If you actually have spent more than ten minutes knowing your new friend (and gift recipient) an actual gift may be more to your liking. Booze, perfume, food, clothes, and jewelry are all acceptable gifts. As is cash. Wrapping the booze, perfume, food, clothes, and jewelry in cash is even better.

This ‘gift’ giving is based on Thai social structure which means if you are on a higher rung of that structure, you ‘owe’ a gift to those on lower rungs. So you’ll note it is gift giving and not gift exchanging that rules this holiday. And if you missed our previous description of the Thai social structure, the basics to understanding it is if you have more money than the person in question, you are on a higher rung and as such have a duty and obligation to the person on a lower rung. So 90% of those you meet in Thailand qualify as someone you owe a duty and obligation to: Happy New Year!

And in that spirit I’m really tempted to post a link to my Paypal account here so that you can properly wish me a Happy New Year. But I’ll be good . . .