Why do Thais celebrate Christmas? Is it just greed? Most Thais are Buddhists why celebrate Christmas? No other religion does. So I wonder why that is.

Rank	Religion	Population (%)
1	Buddhism	93.58
2	Islam	4.94
3	Christianity	1.20
4	Other	0.11
5	Irreligious	0.07
6	Hinduism	0.06
7	Sikhism	0.02
8	Confucianism	0.02

12 minutes ago, still kicking said:

Why do Thais celebrate Christmas? Is it just greed? Most Thais are Buddhists why celebrate Christmas? No other religion does. So I wonder why that is.

Rank	Religion	Population (%)
1	Buddhism	93.58
2	Islam	4.94
3	Christianity	1.20
4	Other	0.11
5	Irreligious	0.07
6	Hinduism	0.06
7	Sikhism	0.02
8	Confucianism	0.02

Most Thais don't.

But yeah, just greed. Yawn.

If you mean commercially, it is common everywhere. Indonesia, UAE, Christmas is all the rage in the department stores. Damn Indonesian and UAE greed....

17 hours ago, still kicking said:

Why do Thais celebrate Christmas? Is it just greed?

 

It is not greed.

 

It is commerce, just like Valentine's Day, Halloween, Chinese New Year, etc.

17 hours ago, still kicking said:

Why do Thais celebrate Christmas? Is it just greed? Most Thais are Buddhists why celebrate Christmas? No other religion does. So I wonder why that is.

Rank	Religion	Population (%)
1	Buddhism	93.58
2	Islam	4.94
3	Christianity	1.20
4	Other	0.11
5	Irreligious	0.07
6	Hinduism	0.06
7	Sikhism	0.02
8	Confucianism	0.02

Never miss a chance of a prezzie 

17 hours ago, still kicking said:

Why do Thais

They just do. There is no Why. Don't search for Why.

16 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Never miss a chance of a prezzie 

 

I had to look that up.

 

prezzie: a variant of pressie 

 

pressie: an informal word for present 

 

Thanks for making me learn a new word.

 

10 hours ago, Puccini said:

 

It is not greed.

 

It is commerce, just like Valentine's Day, Halloween, Chinese New Year, etc.

Back in the 1980s a Japanese fellow told me they started promoting Valentine's Day in Japan in a big way,  every girl wants chocolates and of course the guys have to comply.

Xmas is about retail, especially in the US where they have even have (unofficially) designated shopping holidays.  People are coming up with all these statements about the history of Black Friday but I can tell you that I first heard that term in the 1990s.  And no, the day after Thanksgiving WAS NOT the start of the xmas season, that began around the 8th of December (a Catholic day of observation) and the first Sunday of Advent.  Xmas has evolved from a Christian holiday into something else.

Most Jews I know celebrate xmas by going to a Chinese restaurant and a movie.

 

Theirs is not to question why , theirs is but to do and buy.

Why do non-religious westerners celebrate Xmas?

Are you telling me that all those folks believe that a virgin had a baby?

The whole story doesn't ring true, I can't believe that grown people would try and go to Bethlehem in December without a hotel reservation.

 

But I love Christmas. Santa etc. not the religious part.

I don't even get a tree for many years but I love giving presents, not out of obligation, cuz I want to.

I also like Christmas music, the other day I was outside Starbucks and they played "Gee Whiz It's Christmas" which is 

a goofy song but I really like it. I like The Pretenders version of "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" and "Merry Christmas Baby" by Otis Redding. 

I like Christmas movies, "Jingle all the way", the Griswold's Christmas movie, "Diehard" LOL.

 

I think Xmas is a blast.

It's about giving as well as getting, it's about generosity.

 

Remember you give gifts as well as receive them and for some human types giving gifts is fun as well.

 

Of course the commercial side promotes it massively, doesn't spoil it for me.

If Thais want to join in the fun that's great too, why would it bother me?

 

Haha, as they say, don't get me started, but I like Christmas and as far as being religious, I went to 12 years of Catholic school so I figure I get "time off for time served" and I'm not religious at all and I like Christmas.

1 hour ago, bendejo said:

Back in the 1980s a Japanese fellow told me they started promoting Valentine's Day in Japan in a big way,  every girl wants chocolates and of course the guys have to comply.

Xmas is about retail, especially in the US where they have even have (unofficially) designated shopping holidays.  People are coming up with all these statements about the history of Black Friday but I can tell you that I first heard that term in the 1990s.  And no, the day after Thanksgiving WAS NOT the start of the xmas season, that began around the 8th of December (a Catholic day of observation) and the first Sunday of Advent.  Xmas has evolved from a Christian holiday into something else.

Most Jews I know celebrate xmas by going to a Chinese restaurant and a movie.

 

"Xmas has evolved from a Christian holiday into something else."

 

Exactly, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing.

Christmas is more of an aesthetic thing here, an excuse for decorating a doing the selfie thing. None of the Thai folks I know celebrate Christmas in exchanging gifts or have Christmas dinner.

52 minutes ago, novacova said:

Christmas is more of an aesthetic thing here, an excuse for decorating a doing the selfie thing. None of the Thai folks I know celebrate Christmas in exchanging gifts or have Christmas dinner.

Exactly - it's a fun festival and Thais like having fun!  Merry Christmas everyone.

On 12/21/2024 at 1:23 AM, still kicking said:

Why do Thais celebrate Christmas? Is it just greed? Most Thais are Buddhists why celebrate Christmas? No other religion does. So I wonder why that is.

Rank	Religion	Population (%)
1	Buddhism	93.58
2	Islam	4.94
3	Christianity	1.20
4	Other	0.11
5	Irreligious	0.07
6	Hinduism	0.06
7	Sikhism	0.02
8	Confucianism	0.02

Since the legalisation last year, I would have thought that more Rastafarians would be in this list! 555

I put a Christmas tree up for the kids next door. As soon as they see Christmas stuff in the shops (usually late November) they think it's that time. 

 

I'm an atheist and I celebrate the holiday as a time of family and sharing and I give them all a little Christmas box on 24th.

 

For them Christmas is Santa Claus and I doubt they'll ever know who Jesus was.

15 minutes ago, Baht Simpson said:

I put a Christmas tree up for the kids next door. As soon as they see Christmas stuff in the shops (usually late November) they think it's that time. 

 

I'm an atheist and I celebrate the holiday as a time of family and sharing and I give them all a little Christmas box on 24th.

 

For them Christmas is Santa Claus and I doubt they'll ever know who Jesus was.

 "I celebrate the holiday as a time of family and sharing "

 

That is a beautiful view of the Christmas holiday.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

On 12/20/2024 at 7:23 PM, still kicking said:

Why do Thais celebrate Christmas? Is it just greed? Most Thais are Buddhists why celebrate Christmas? No other religion does. So I wonder why that is.

Rank	Religion	Population (%)
1	Buddhism	93.58
2	Islam	4.94
3	Christianity	1.20
4	Other	0.11
5	Irreligious	0.07
6	Hinduism	0.06
7	Sikhism	0.02
8	Confucianism	0.02

Every opportunity for celebration must be taken advantage of...

 

According to Visa, Thais spend more money on Xmas than any other holiday...

 

On 12/21/2024 at 1:23 AM, still kicking said:

Why do Thais celebrate Christmas? Is it just greed? Most Thais are Buddhists why celebrate Christmas? No other religion does. So I wonder why that is.

 

Why not ?  Halloween, Valentines Day etc is also celebrated....

 

In the Malls etc commercialism has nudged the awareness of these 'festivities' on their way and its been taken on in the fun spirit of the holidays. 

 

 

How many of us can say we are religious at all ?...   We celebrate Christmas because its fun to do so, and its still fun to do so without any religious ties to the origins (which can also be debated).

 

 

Many non-Christian countries, all over the world, recognize Christmas one way or another, not only In Buddhist Thailand.

On 12/22/2024 at 12:58 PM, Baht Simpson said:

For them Christmas is Santa Claus and I doubt they'll ever know who Jesus was.

Very odd that an "atheist" should seem to suggest that Jesus existed.

On 12/22/2024 at 1:14 PM, cdemundo said:

"I celebrate the holiday as a time of family and sharing "

I do that every day with my Mrs and family. I share my Pension with them ! 555

On 12/21/2024 at 1:23 AM, still kicking said:

Why do Thais celebrate Christmas?

 

They don't.  No more than they "celebrate" Valentine's Day.

 

Basically, it's become a highly commercialised holiday in the West, with the religious element removed, and Thais enjoy that part of it.

 

It has nothing to do with greed.  Why would it?

38 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Very odd that an "atheist" should seem to suggest that Jesus existed.

Jesus yes, the Christ, no. There's scholarly evidence that Jesus existed but none that he was the Son of God or evidence of a creator god. They could understand that. 

Yes, it was asked many times, every year and also answered many times, every year.🥱🥱🥱

On 12/21/2024 at 1:23 AM, still kicking said:

Why do Thais celebrate Christmas? Is it just greed? Most Thais are Buddhists why celebrate Christmas? No other religion does. So I wonder why that is.

Rank	Religion	Population (%)
1	Buddhism	93.58
2	Islam	4.94
3	Christianity	1.20
4	Other	0.11
5	Irreligious	0.07
6	Hinduism	0.06
7	Sikhism	0.02
8	Confucianism	0.02

 

That's 100% of the population who were asked ---

they didn't find one person who was an agnostic or an Atheists -- strange.....

17 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

 

They don't.  No more than they "celebrate" Valentine's Day.

 

Basically, it's become a highly commercialised holiday in the West, with the religious element removed, and Thais enjoy that part of it.

 

It has nothing to do with greed.  Why would it?

Christmas and New Year, is it not an excuse for hotels, air fares etc to raise their prices? and not just in Thailand.

It is just pure capitalism.

47 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

Christmas and New Year, is it not an excuse for hotels, air fares etc to raise their prices? and not just in Thailand.

It is just pure capitalism.

 

Sure, it's part of many hotels peak time, but that isn't Thai people celebrating Christmas.

 

In terms of greed, where does it stop? Most companies want to maximise profit, and that means charging the highest amount that people pay.

 

Do they increase rates during peak time, or do they reduce rates during off-peak time?

 

I wouldn't complain too much about greed or capitalism. Without it, you wouldn't have food to eat.

17 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

 

Sure, it's part of many hotels peak time, but that isn't Thai people celebrating Christmas.

 

In terms of greed, where does it stop? Most companies want to maximise profit, and that means charging the highest amount that people pay.

 

Do they increase rates during peak time, or do they reduce rates during off-peak time?

 

I wouldn't complain too much about greed or capitalism. Without it, you wouldn't have food to eat.

After child abuse and rapists, capitalism is the scourge of the UK, ie old people dying right now of cold related illnesses and have to choose between heating or eating due to very high power bills which make the power companies very extreme profits. Capitalism is and has been for years killing off a lot of old people in the UK.

I would say there is a lot to complain about.

On 12/21/2024 at 1:23 AM, still kicking said:

Why do Thais celebrate Christmas? Is it just greed? Most Thais are Buddhists why celebrate Christmas? No other religion does. So I wonder why that is.

Rank	Religion	Population (%)
1	Buddhism	93.58
2	Islam	4.94
3	Christianity	1.20
4	Other	0.11
5	Irreligious	0.07
6	Hinduism	0.06
7	Sikhism	0.02
8	Confucianism	0.02

Have you been to Dubai, Doha, and KL during Christmas? 

12 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

After child abuse and rapists, capitalism is the scourge of the UK, ie old people dying right now of cold related illnesses and have to choose between heating or eating due to very high power bills which make the power companies very extreme profits. Capitalism is and has been for years killing off a lot of old people in the UK.

I would say there is a lot to complain about.

 

That isn't capitalism, that's the failure of the UK to protect and care for their vulnerable people.

 

If not for capitalism, those old people, like most other people, probably wouldn't be alive to die.

On 12/22/2024 at 8:33 AM, brewsterbudgen said:

Exactly - it's a fun festival and Thais like having fun!  Merry Christmas everyone.

agree..thais love little more than, eat drink and be merry...twinkling lights as a bonus....love to believe in fantasy stuff like santa and flying reindeers?.....and if somebody gives you a gift out of the clear blue even better.

 

  I think they do a good job of celebrating christmas without all the "christ/savior "you going to heaven/hell stuff....in usa it is all about shopping eating getting drunk being shamed into pretending you are a real christian and being almost forced into  buying a bunch of gifts for a lot of people you don't even like and having to pretend to like a lot of gifts that you secretly think are just awful.