Father's Day in Thailand - a Day for Great Celebration

December 5^th is Father's Day in Thailand. This is the day the present King of Thailand was born and, as the Thais think of him as the 'Father of the Nation', it's appropriate to celebrate all fathers on this day.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great was born on Monday, December 5^th, 1927 in the USA. He is the only monarch ever to have been born in America. King Bhumibol is also the world's longest reigning monarch. This year will be his 80^th birthday and, as such, will be a day of enormous celebration for all Thais. Yellow is the King's birth color because yellow is the color of a Monday birth according to traditional Thai beliefs. So every Monday throughout the year most Thais wear a special yellow shirt to honor the King.

Thais also celebrate their own fathers on this day. At schools throughout the country, there will be special festivities. When I was teaching in Thailand, the school usually had a morning show that all the children's families came to. The little kids would perform songs or nursery rhymes, and the older kids would dance traditional Thai dances in honor of their fathers. At the end of the performance, all the fathers in the audience were asked to come up on stage and were presented with flowers. Male teachers would often be called up to represent a father for a child who didn't have one present. As teachers are highly respected in Thailand, this was always a nice addition to the festivities and you'd often see an otherwise macho teacher wiping away a little tear.

The King's 80^th birthday on December 5^th, 2007, will be one of the largest celebrations in Thailand for years. His majesty has recently spent almost a month in hospital and the Thai people have been very concerned for his health. He was released from the hospital a few days ago, so now the Thais are very happy to be celebrating his birthday.

Father's Day celebration at my school in 2005. Notice almost everybody is wearing the yellow shirts in honor of the Thai King.

Credit: Fabletoo

Copyright: Fabletoo