Halloween in India. Thanksgiving in Tanzania. Christmas in Thailand. The holidays in the first two countries were completely foreign to the people there. In Thailand, however, Christmas is just catching on. Kids don’t search the sky for Santa, stockings aren’t hung over the fireplace, it never snows, no eggnog, and decorations are only found in malls and nice hotels, but they’re making an effort. The Thai people love any excuse to have a party.

In addition to my family, two other LA families were traveling around Thailand, and joined us for the festivities. When they arrived to the house in Udon Thani, a “laap-off” commenced. Laap is a dish consisting of ground pork and other spices, and a favorite of my dad and the other two dads as well – the three judges. David had four chefs from town come prepare their best laap, and ultimately it was called a tie. A Thai tie. They all got cash prizes that amounted to around ten times their daily wages.

The day progressed from laap tasting to monks praying to a band playing, ladies dancing, ladyboys cooking, feast dining, and finally – present opening. There were at least three hundred presents stacked under the fake tree, brought by the various families, and bought by David to ensure that all of Dum’s family and the crowd of spectators would have something to open. From a cow for the grandmother to slippers for baby Ginger. I was more than happy to hand over the gifts I’d lugged around the world in my backpack.

While the word of Christmas is spreading through the villages, a “Happy Hanukah!” would get a puzzled smile. The kids would probably play catch with the dreidel and cherish gelt as gold. But for all of us Jews in Thailand, we’ve still got eight days of celebration…

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 25th, 2005 at 11:28 pm in I. Thailand. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.