The Ministry of Education plans to propose that UNESCO includes the Thai ceremony for paying respect to teachers, known as the “Wai Khru” ceremony, in the intangible cultural heritage list.

 

Education Minister Permpoon Chidchob said today that the ministry will take about six months to work out all the details to support the proposal, before its submission to UNESCO.

 

The “Wai Khru” ceremony has been held in Thailand since ancient times for students to show their gratitude and respect for their teachers. It is held annually on the second Thursday of June, which marks the opening of the first semester of the academic year.

 

Full story: Thai PBS 2024-03-14

 

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Children kowtowing to their teachers. Pitiful. All part of the indoctration process of never questioning and always respecting authority. 

Thailand wants everything on the Unesco heritage list.... Afraid of changing things and Wai Kru is so outdated....Respect the teachers, while the teachers will hit you when you are not quiet or sit still.. Seen it many times in many schools

Next thing they want will be the pre fight ritual in Muay Thai to be on the Unesco Heritage list. 

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Ministry of Education plans to propose that UNESCO includes the Thai ceremony for paying respect to teachers, known as the “Wai Khru” ceremony, in the intangible cultural heritage list.

What?

13 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Children kowtowing to their teachers. Pitiful. All part of the indoctration process of never questioning and always respecting authority. 

Yup, exactly. Always kept the kids home those days. So happy when they got out of Thai schools. Last 4 years at Harrow and none of that BS at all. 

16 minutes ago, marin said:

Yup, exactly. Always kept the kids home those days. So happy when they got out of Thai schools. Last 4 years at Harrow and none of that BS at all. 

 

How do you teach your kids to show appreciation to their teachers then?

This is a terrible idea. What century are the authorities living in? Wai kru should be condemned as an outdated ceremony that has no place in a modern education system. 

I propose the "Flipping the Bird" ritual as a global intangible cultural heritage. It is recognized in pretty much every country on earth and is used by every social class, and usually receives a response in kind. It is in fact so pervasive that in the future it may very well replace all gestures of greeting and respect, from the casual "tip of the hat" to military salutes.

It will take me about six months to work out all the details to support the proposal, before its submission to UNESCO.

57 minutes ago, FruitPudding said:

How do you teach your kids to show appreciation to their teachers then?

I dont teach that, nor should any parent. You teach your kid to recognize a good teacher and thank or compliment them. You dont crawl on your knees to someone you learned nothing from. Respect is earned not taught. I simply cant believe  you dont know this.

5 minutes ago, marin said:

I dont teach that, nor should any parent. You teach your kid to recognize a good teacher and thank or compliment them. You dont crawl on your knees to someone you learned nothing from. Respect is earned not taught. I simply cant believe  you dont know this.

 

The kids generally get to choose which teachers they show gratefulness to.

 

Good (popular) teachers will have a long line of students waiting to give flowers and show respect, others won't.

 

Seems fair enough. 

 

The fact that some cultures choose to bow their heads lower to show respect or position themselves lower when sitting is not really important. 

 

9 minutes ago, FruitPudding said:

The fact that some cultures choose to bow their heads lower to show respect or position themselves lower when sitting is not really important. 

We have to agree to disagree. I dont believe anyone should have to crawl to address another human. I hate it when I see the royalists crawling to present something to a member of the Royal family. On your knees to open a car door? Not for me. My kids went P1 to M2 in Thai schools, getting out changed their lives. 

Much bigger fish to fry to Thai educational system. If they put as much money and effort into improving the education system here...tech for kids....books....teacher training....teacher pay......instead of pouring money into all the 'shows' they do at schools, we  may actually get somewhere!! 

 

I teach some very bright kids inspite of all the hoo haa that holds them back. Do better!

1 hour ago, FruitPudding said:

 

How do you teach your kids to show appreciation to their teachers then?

How about a simple thing like being good in the classroom? The whole kowtowing thing isn't about teacher appreciation. It's about forced subserviance which one must have throughout one's life.

1 hour ago, marin said:

We have to agree to disagree. I dont believe anyone should have to crawl to address another human. I hate it when I see the royalists crawling to present something to a member of the Royal family. On your knees to open a car door? Not for me. My kids went P1 to M2 in Thai schools, getting out changed their lives. 

 

In what way did it change their lives?

Wai Kru is the first step of the sexual harassment: train the children to shut up.

48 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

How about a simple thing like being good in the classroom? The whole kowtowing thing isn't about teacher appreciation. It's about forced subserviance which one must have throughout one's life.

 

It's really no different to Father's Day, Mother's Day, or religious celebrations. 

 

I don't think one day a year to appreciate your teacher is too much.

 

Teacher's really aren't rewarded enough for the benefit they offer to their students and society 🙄 

 

Being good in the classroom shouldn't be considered anything special. It's just basic self control and respect for others in the classroom who are trying to learn.

 

 

7 minutes ago, FruitPudding said:

 

It's really no different to Father's Day, Mother's Day, or religious celebrations. 

 

I don't think one day a year to appreciate your teacher is too much.

 

Teacher's really aren't rewarded enough for the benefit they offer to their students and society 🙄 

 

Being good in the classroom shouldn't be considered anything special. It's just basic self control and respect for others in the classroom who are trying to learn.

 

 

Kowtowing should be banned in schools. It goes hand in hand with not questioning teachers and one must respect and not challenge authority. As for your comment that being good in a classroom isn't anything special to me this says you've never been in a Thai classroom. As for teachers not being rewarded enough you are spot on with this one.

How about the bum gun being listed for UNESCO cultural heritage? Far more use than the grovelling and de basing yourself ceremonies, not just done for education teachers but at muay Thai and done by singers as well.

1 hour ago, FruitPudding said:

 

The kids generally get to choose which teachers they show gratefulness to.

 

Good (popular) teachers will have a long line of students waiting to give flowers and show respect, others won't.

 

Seems fair enough. 

 

The fact that some cultures choose to bow their heads lower to show respect or position themselves lower when sitting is not really important. 

 

On an individual basis yes but not during the ceremony. Kids on on their knees crawling and kowtowing to infont of lines of teachers. I've done 19 of these so I have some experience in this regards you might say.

17 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Children kowtowing to their teachers. Pitiful. All part of the indoctration process of never questioning and always respecting authority. 

Seen many over the years. Completely agree the above statement.

Should be abolished not observed as cultural heritage.

37 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

As for your comment that being good in a classroom isn't anything special to me this says you've never been in a Thai classroom. 

 

Indeed I have, and most of my students are perfectly behaved, but I am at an incredibly strict school.