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That’d be Happy Loi Krathong for those of you in Thailand and those of you who wish they were. As with many things Thai the date of Loi Krathong is not finite though the entire country seems to celebrate their version at sometime during this week. The holiday may be a month early, but otherwise fits the traditional winter solstice celebrations practiced elsewhere in the world. While there is a debate over the holiday’s beginnings and original purpose, today most Thais see it as a celebration of renewal, the opportunity of letting go of negativity and of hoping for an upcoming year filled with good luck. So it fits with the other High Holidays headed our way. At least with their original purposes.
I have some shopping that needs to be done today and briefly considered wishing store clerks a Happy Loi Krathong just to confuse them. We are now in the midst of the busy Xmas shopping season and it is de rigueur to wish customers a Merry Christmas. Or maybe that’s Happy Holidays. You no longer know which phrase is correct. Use either and someone will object and correct you. Maybe it’d be safer to adopt Happy Loi Krathong as your holiday greeting and just keep using it until it is safe to switch over to Happy New Year!
For several years now the accepted greeting was Happy Holidays. It was a nice noncommittal phrase that expressed the appropriate sentiment while being inclusive of other faith and races’ winter holidays such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. I’m not particularly PC, but do on the occasion try to act as though I care and used Happy Holidays figuring that even if you don’t really mean it you should at least be polite enough to make room for whatever holiday it is that the person you are greeting celebrates. Except while in Hawaii. Then I used Mele Kalikimaka. Especially to tourists who felt obligated to say that phrase back and would screw it up so badly they’d just end up slinking away in shame. It’s important to take joy in whatever holiday you celebrate, regardless of how you go about doing so. With both Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas on the hot list these days, maybe the best choice would be using the Thai version of Melly Clitmas! It may end up having the same affect that using Mele Kalikimaka had in Hawaii. So at least I’d be having a happy holiday season.
Seasons Greeting might be an acceptable phrase to use as a fall back. But seriously, that greeting works better on a Christmas card than it does spoken. And who even knows what a Christmas card is anymore?
I used Happy Holidays the other day and got an instant and quite stern reply of, “You mean Merry Christmas!” as a thanks for my trouble. In the spirit of the holidays I kept my Christmas retort of “Fuck you and the reindeer you rode in on,” to myself. Okay, I get the Christian backlash against not using the name of their lord god and savior in a holiday greeting, but it just doesn’t seem to me to be a very Christian thing to do. At least not if Christ is part of your Christian religion. Which is suspect in how many of the faithful practice their religion in America these days. I just can’t imagine Jesus running around during the month of December singing out, “Say my name, Say my name!”
I just read that some Christian hate group hated the fact that The Gap failed to use Merry Christmas in its holiday advertising campaign this year and is calling for a boycott by all right-thinking right-wing nutters. Right. Because that worked so well in getting JC Penny to stop using gay people in theirs. I have no problem with Christians wanting to put Christ back in Christmas, though as in all things you should take care of your own house first. And I don’t think if Jesus came back this holiday season his focus would be on an international corporation’s advertising scheme. Know what I mean Vern?
President Obama will undoubtedly turn the lights on the White Houses’s Holiday Tree this year, and will undoubtedly pose with his family for the cover shot of their Holiday card too, and FOX will go apeshit over his attempt at being politically correct and all inclusive. Because that too is a holiday tradition these days. Most of us recognize that whichever greeting is used, it’s only a matter of someone being polite and they don’t really mean it any more than when they say, “Have a nice day.” Neither Happy Holidays nor Merry Christmas is a political slogan. Nor are either a religious one either. Maybe I’ll go back to the greeting I used in my younger days, “Have A Cool Yule!” – that works well in California.
Since the only people who seem to take offense over using any other greeting than Merry Christmas are those whose hearts have no room for people of other faiths, I’ll just use Happy Kwanzaa! this year. Anyone who takes issue with the PC greeting of Happy Holidays is probably a racist to boot – though they know better than to admit it – so using Happy Kwanzaa forces them to behave, smile, and offer a polite Merry Christmas back. I think Jesus would approve.
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Alex said:
Right, this whole PC crap sucks, so as far as work is concerned, I’m happy that we can just send a rather neutral Seasons Greetings card to everyone and be done with it. When I’m at the receiving end, I’m very tolerant. After all, the only thing that really matters is that someone thought of you and cared enough to send you their good wishes. Whatever it is that they choose to celebrate.
Unfortunately, Loy Krathong isn’t a public holiday in Thailand, so it can be quite challenging for families to celebrate together. Unlike Songkran, but I guess even Thailand couldn’t afford two festivals of that scale per year. Some of my Thai friends were quite frustrated last night because they had to work till late.
Have a look at IKEA Thailand’s Christmas commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs_Cfc2vFcg
I think it’s a great example for the fact that you can throw pretty much any festival at the Thais and they’ll find their own way to celebrate it, Thai style. While this commercial is naturally an exaggeration, there’s more than just a grain of truth in it.
Bangkokbois said:
Thanks Alex – loved the clip, hated to see Thais dressing up their pets like Americans do.
jeffreymonsoon said:
I’ve been hoping that since the right wing bigots got trounced in the election that they would crawl back under the rock they belong under and not start the yearly “war on Christmas.” I hope one of them has a comment to make to me, hopefully on my way home from work when I’m tired and grouchy. I’ll send them back to Kentucky crying the whole way.
Bangkokbois said:
Now that’s the holiday spirit!
🙂
I do wish FOX would come up with a new holiday tradition though. I’m thinking they should start embracing Feliz Navidad.
Boz said:
My favorite holiday greeting card reads “Happy winter holiday, as you worship him, her, them, or none, as you see fit”. Inside it says “if you still find this card offensive, fuck off”. I use it most years , but get to skip it this year here in the kingdom. Another reason to love Thailand!
Bangkokbois said:
Ha!
I had several boxes of a card that had Santa and the Merry Christmas! greeting on the cover. When you opened the card it said ‘unless you are not giving me a present, then turn the card over’. Upside down the graphic was a less happy fat guy in red and the script at the top of the card now read Fuck Off.
John said:
I just missed the big Loi Krathong celebration, but people were sending up lanterns in Chiang Mai when I was there last week.
Anyway, I’m just back from my very first trip to Thailand, and I can report that I had an awesome time. Bangkok struck me as a city of food and sex, both of which are freely available at pretty much all hours. I did the tourist sites, hit Soi 4, offed a muscleman from Tawan, and discovered the joys of Babylon. And I wouldn’t have known about half of it if it weren’t for this blog. So thanks again!
Bangkokbois said:
Then you did have a happy holiday!
Glad to hear your trip was a success John. And thanks for reporting back.
So you book your next flight yet?
🙂
John said:
LOL! You know, I’m thinking about it already. I had more sex in a few days in Bangkok than I’ve had in a year here in San Francisco. I benefitted greatly from the fact that most of the fareng in Thailand are old, fat, and out of shape, and since I actually work out regularly, I looked like Adonis in comparison.
The guy I offed from Tawan told me he’d never had a customer like me. As he said, “Customer come. Old, fat. But you . . .” He was really buff, but he ended up asking *me* what kind of ab exercises I did. He and I both got a laugh out of that, but it illustrated the sad fact that the Thai appear to think all fareng are overweight and ugly. And honestly, from what I saw in Bangkok, I have to forgive them for having that impression.
Anyway, I hooked up with some beautiful men at Babylon, which has got to be the nicest sex club on the planet. There were a few Thais, a Vietnamese guy, and a very cute young man from Taiwan. I didn’t consider myself a rice queen before I went, but I might have to rethink that now. Since I got back from Bangkok, all the Asian guys at the gym are giving me a hard on.
Since I’ve probably “overshared” already, I’ll stop. But seriously, thanks so much for all the info on the bar boy culture. Tawan would have seemed much more mysterious without it. BTW, their offing fee is now 800 baht. Not that I minded given the quality of what was on offer, but that did seem a bit steep. Still, I’d pay it again gladly.
Bangkokbois said:
Wow, you did have a great trip!
Nice for your off from Tawan too – it’s when you form some sort of connection with the guy like that that the fun really kicks in.
I think Thailand is greatly responisble for changing farang attitude toward rice. “I don;t” so often turns into not only “I do” but “I can’t wait to again.”
John said:
The Tawan guy (either Ken or Kin by name) was a lot of fun. He could tell I wasn’t messing around, so he didn’t fuck with me. Each of us knew the other had something of value to offer, and we agreed upon the terms of a respectful exchange. After that, it was all pleasure on my end, and I think it was pretty pleasant for him too. He joked that I had better abs than he did, and he seemed to appreciate the fact that I was obviously having a hell of a lot of fun. The experience was so satisfying that I couldn’t keep myself from laughing afterwards. He liked that too. But then, who doesn’t appreciate recognition for a job well done?
I’ve never had a problem with Asian guys. If I saw an attractive one, I’d go for him just like any other hot dude. But Bangkok has taken things up a notch, and now I see Asian men in a much more sexual light. Probably because I just spent two weeks having sex with hot Asian men. I’ll be going back, and next time I think I’ll off two guys from Tawan. At once. 😉
Bangkokbois said:
Whoa there John: baby steps dude, baby steps.
🙂
Out of all the crap I’ve heard about what bar boys like, the only bit of advice that ever held true is that like most Thais they enjoy having fun. Yours did. And then so did you. Seems a pretty simple equation to me so I can’t figure out why so many miss that!
Um, you do know that Ken/Kin will come running the next tiome you set foot in Tawan don’t ya?
(And if you are going for a twofer, whether he is one or not, it’s best to pick one, make sure he’s up for a double header, and then let him choose who he’ll be comfortable with.)
John said:
Well, Ken/Kin actually suggested a two-fer himself. It was a slow night, and I think his co-workers were hoping for some business. And I certainly won’t mind if he comes running the next time. I can think of worse things than having a huge Thai muscleman seeking my attention (and money). 😛
Bangkokbois said:
and you are not already on a returning flight??????????
🙂
ndro said:
I just can’t imagine Jesus running around during the month of December singing out, “Say my name, Say my name!”
—
I am sooooo stealing this!
Bangkokbois said:
🙂
Thanks ndro – I thought it was a good line myself!
Al said:
I remember receiving a Christmas (gasp, did I say that) Card once which read..
Jesus loves you….everyone else thinks your a cunt!
Made my day that did !
Bangkokbois said:
Hallmark is missing out on big business by not offering rude Xmas cards!