Commercialization Of Christmas

[fxm88]

I was in Big-C today and noticed that they've already got the Christ-mas trees up for sale. Have they no shame? Here it is, not even Thanksgiving yet, it's barely past Halloween even! A few years ago they'd wait until after Thanksgiving. I can even remember a time when you'd be hard pressed to find anything Christ-massy in the shops. If anyone ever goes looking for the roots of Thailand's social ills I think they should find no better place to start than with the loss of the Spirit of Christ-mas.

Edited November 2, 2005 by fxm88

[meom]

Care to explain what is the Spirit of x-mas exactly?

For me it means no work, boozing and whoring

[daleyboy]

Make the most of it cause i reckon in 5 years in the uk we wont be allowed to celebrate xmas at all in case it offends another religion.

[skylar]

I was in Big-C today and noticed that they've already got the Christ-mas trees up for sale. Have they no shame?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are they starting later than usual these days? I remember the days when all the department stores and malls had all the decorations in place and Christmas jingles blaring by mid-September... ah jingun-ben, jingun-ben, jingun all de weyyyy.... oh what fun it is to lide on a wun hoss open sreighhhhh...

The weirdest thing is that Bangkok's wide variety of Christmas paraphenalia puts the selection available in England and Australia to shame.

[opothai]

Make the most of it cause i reckon in 5 years in the uk we wont be allowed to celebrate xmas at all in case it offends another religion.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

daley i laughed at that first and then thought again

father xmas will become xmas person

reindeers will become golf buggies [green no emitions and non exploitation of animals]

all xmass trees to be plastic

and xmas person wearing a turban

then we will all have to go to thailand to celebrate a real xmas

[WhiteShiva]

I was in Big-C today and noticed that they've already got the Christ-mas trees up for sale. Have they no shame? Here it is, not even Thanksgiving yet, it's barely past Halloween even! A few years ago they'd wait until after Thanksgiving. I can even remember a time when you'd be hard pressed to find anything Christ-massy in the shops. If anyone ever goes looking for the roots of Thailand's social ills I think they should find no better place to start than with the loss of the Spirit of Christ-mas.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What is Thanksgiving, and why do we have to wait for that to pass before preparing for Xmas?

But I do agree with you on the roots of Thailands social ills, though! Personally I think the Thais should go back to celebrating Xmas with the same spirit as they did back in the Ayudhaya period........

Can't even go out and cut a good old fasioned Xmas tree anymore - the forests are all gone. And reindeers are a think of the past as well - at least here in Bangkok.......

[mrbojangles]

Make the most of it cause i reckon in 5 years in the uk we wont be allowed to celebrate xmas at all in case it offends another religion.

daley i laughed at that first and then thought again

I did the same. Then again, it would be the only good thing that the PC lot would have done. Ban christmas, it's a load of &lt;deleted&gt;. Baaa Humbug

[lorilei.lee]

>What is Thanksgiving, and why do we have to wait for that to pass before >preparing for Xmas?

Thanksgiving is an american holiday that occurs on the last thursday of November to express/celebrate the thanks the Pilgrims had for the Native Americans that helped them out. Traditionally x-mas decorations, goodies, and especially marketing didn't start until after Thanksgiving. Now, stuff was out well before Halloween (I'm in Michigan, USA).

[WhiteShiva]

>What is Thanksgiving, and why do we have to wait for that to pass before >preparing for Xmas?

Thanksgiving is an american holiday that occurs on the last thursday of November to express/celebrate the thanks the Pilgrims had for the Native Americans that helped them out.  Traditionally x-mas decorations, goodies, and especially marketing didn't start until after Thanksgiving.  Now, stuff was out well before Halloween (I'm in Michigan, USA).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Appreceiate that feedback Lee - I guessed it might be an all-American thingie.

[rio666uk]

Make the most of it cause i reckon in 5 years in the uk we wont be allowed to celebrate xmas at all in case it offends another religion.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

daley i laughed at that first and then thought again

father xmas will become xmas person

reindeers will become golf buggies [green no emitions and non exploitation of animals]

all xmass trees to be plastic

and xmas person wearing a turban

then we will all have to go to thailand to celebrate a real xmas

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Seconded!

[sbk]

>What is Thanksgiving, and why do we have to wait for that to pass before >preparing for Xmas?

Thanksgiving is an american holiday that occurs on the last thursday of November to express/celebrate the thanks the Pilgrims had for the Native Americans that helped them out.  Traditionally x-mas decorations, goodies, and especially marketing didn't start until after Thanksgiving.  Now, stuff was out well before Halloween (I'm in Michigan, USA).

Wow, well before Halloween? That is just ridiculous! Haven't been back in the US for Xmas since 1992. I miss Xmas at home with my family but don't miss the blatant commercialization of it, as celebrated in the US. But at least, before, it didn't start until after Thanksgiving.

Here people just put up their Xmas/NY decorations and leave them up year round. Saves trouble having to get them down I guess

[Fast Eddie]

Thanksgiving is an american holiday that occurs on the last thursday of November to express/celebrate the thanks the Pilgrims had for the Native Americans that helped them out. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is that what it's all about? Not being from the USA i wasn't aware. Do American Indians celebrate this as well, seeing as how it pretty much sounded the death knell for them?

I'm not trying to have a dig, it just seems like a case of tragic irony to celebrate the help and welcome a nation (however fledgeling) received from a race of people, before they killed them and robbed them of their land.

Maybe there's something i'm missing here.

[Clip_My_Wings]

Thanksgiving is an american holiday that occurs on the last thursday of November to express/celebrate the thanks the Pilgrims had for the Native Americans that helped them out. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is that what it's all about? Not being from the USA i wasn't aware. Do American Indians celebrate this as well, seeing as how it pretty much sounded the death knell for them?

I'm not trying to have a dig, it just seems like a case of tragic irony to celebrate the help and welcome a nation (however fledgeling) received from a race of people, before they killed them and robbed them of their land.

Maybe there's something i'm missing here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

seems like a perfectly valid point ... i was not aware of the reason behind thanks giving before reading this post. I bet most American aren't aware either as they tuck into there pumpkin pies and cranberry sauce.

[fxm88]

I bet most American aren't aware either as they tuck into there pumpkin pies and cranberry sauce.

No, I would expect pretty much anyone raised in America to be familiar with the story of Thanksgiving: Plymouth Rock, the Indians helping the Pilgrims, buckle shoes and hats (Pilgrims were all about the buckles), "Indian" corn, etc. Now, whether a given phrase appears in the U.S. Declaration of Independence or in the Communist Manifesto -- that'll stump an American every time. And when I say helping I mean saving. I don't want to call them Pilgrims stupid, but if showing up at the start of winter with a sack of Bibles and no food (and no animals) is clever then I want to re-sit my University entrance exams.

Anyway, it wasn't the Pilgrims that killed off most of the American Indians. That all started with Columbus about 100 years earlier. G*d d @mn you Amerigo Vespucci! And speaking of Italians, how many of them do you think know the origin of Spaghetti?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Do you mean predating the time of Marco Polo ?

[buadhai]

For as long as I can remember, and I'm age 56, Christmas has been a secular holiday driven by retailers. After all, most retailers in the West don't begin to see a profit until Christmas sales have begun. No wonder they want to start early.

As for me, I'm determined to refrain from playing Christmas Carols 24/7 until Thanksgiving is past. And, heck, I'm not even a Christian!

But, I do love Christmas.

[Jai Dee]

But, I do love Christmas.

So do I... and the Thais love any occasion that can be used to party.

Christmas is sanook... it's about family and friends... and I find that it's the one time of the year that draws everyone together again.

[sbk]

Thanksgiving is an american holiday that occurs on the last thursday of November to express/celebrate the thanks the Pilgrims had for the Native Americans that helped them out. 

Is that what it's all about? Not being from the USA i wasn't aware. Do American Indians celebrate this as well, seeing as how it pretty much sounded the death knell for them?

I'm not trying to have a dig, it just seems like a case of tragic irony to celebrate the help and welcome a nation (however fledgeling) received from a race of people, before they killed them and robbed them of their land.

Maybe there's something i'm missing here.

I agree, most every American knows the origins of Thanksgiving.

And to be honest, white man's diseases killed off far more natives than guns ever did. There are reports from the middle 1600's of entire villages of native Americans dying from smallpox. The natives had no immunity to European diseases like smallpox and numerous other diseases. So, what made a white person very ill, killed them off by the thousands.

[corkscrew]

I was in Big-C today and noticed that they've already got the Christ-mas trees up for sale. Have they no shame? Here it is, not even Thanksgiving yet, it's barely past Halloween even! A few years ago they'd wait until after Thanksgiving. I can even remember a time when you'd be hard pressed to find anything Christ-massy in the shops. If anyone ever goes looking for the roots of Thailand's social ills I think they should find no better place to start than with the loss of the Spirit of Christ-mas.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What is Thanksgiving, and why do we have to wait for that to pass before preparing for Xmas?

But I do agree with you on the roots of Thailands social ills, though! Personally I think the Thais should go back to celebrating Xmas with the same spirit as they did back in the Ayudhaya period........

Can't even go out and cut a good old fasioned Xmas tree anymore - the forests are all gone. And reindeers are a think of the past as well - at least here in Bangkok.......

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If we can just keep the Commercial part of christmas....

[mr hippo]

I like Christmas but have noticed that the Christians are hi-jacking it and trying to make it into a religious festival!!!

[OlRedEyes]

Here people just put up their Xmas/NY decorations and leave them up year round. Saves trouble having to get them down I guess

In the West, Xmas is an excuse to inflate prices, waste money, get motherless drunk and have a continuous party. In Thailand, Xmas is year round. So the decorations stay up

[Axel]

The Christmas season is over, at least for those in export- or shipping business.

All the gift items, decorations, christmas trees (artif.) arrive around now in Europe and the States. Lots of stuuff from Thailand, more of course from China.

[lomatopo]

Excerpted from http://wilstar.com/holidays/thankstr.htm...

in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date was changed a couple of times, most recently by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season. Public uproar against this decision caused the president to move Thanksgiving back to its original date two years later. And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.

[Guest endure]

And speaking of Italians, how many of them do you think know the origin of Spaghetti?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Everyone knows that spaghetti is grown on trees:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/s...000/2819261.stm

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I like Christmas but have noticed that the Christians are hi-jacking it and trying to make it into a religious festival!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[mijan24]

But, I do love Christmas.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So do I... and the Thais love any occasion that can be used to party.

Christmas is sanook... it's about family and friends... and I find that it's the one time of the year that draws everyone together again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Jai Dee yes that is what Christmas used to be about in Aust until commercialism overtook all the things family and friends do together drink & be merry and exchange gifts and pleasantries.

I have noticed what was the old christmas spirit in Aust is what we now experience here in LOS - lets not spoil it keep the parties keep the eatings of all things supposedly not good for you - keep the exchange of small gifts - keep the exchange of pleasantries -DON'T COMMERCIALISE AS PER THE SUPPOSEDLY MORE MODERN COUNTRIES - Shopping malls decorating is nice - the staff wearing chrissy hats is nice - playing of chrissy tunes is nice - lets encourage Thailand to keep it nice and to forget about "keeping up with the Jonesss".

There are of course those that thirst for the typical "Farang"commercial Chrissy - no probs that is their right and so it should be - introduce Chrissy flights to Commercial Chrissy destinations let them enjoy and then return to the backwater (LOS) where all things good are still retained.

From a Santa who would like someone to come sit on his knee

Edited November 9, 2005 by mijan24

[bina]

for once i can say thank god i'm in a non christian country....

the only chris decorations we use are for succot... hanukah is not much of a big deal either... but we get a lot more days off from school then the average american...

and we have two new years, just like thailand... the cultural one and the gregorian one...

ho ho ho.... merry xmess............

[lomatopo]

playing of chrissy tunes is nice - lets encourage Thailand to keep it nice and to forget about "keeping up with the Jonesss".

I did hear "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" playing in a shop today so perhaps all will remain nice. (One thing I will never, ever miss is shovelling snow. Skiing, sledding, tubing, ice skating, making a snowman, having a snowball fight, and even driving in it, ok, but shovelling I hate. Especially that bit at the end of the driveway, 1.5 m deep, nowhere to put it and just as you finish the sadistic snowplow driver comes around to plow you in again. [/rant])

I'm honestly not sure what constitutes an over-commercialization of Christmas for me. It's been commercial for my lifetime, and of course global retail spending is good for everyone, especially Asian economies. I guess some people get annoyed when Christmas becomes apparent before some arbirtrary date on the calendar? In America that date is usually the Friday after Thanksgiving. So showing "It's a Wonderful Life" on TV before December 1 is a big turn-off.

[Bangkok Hound]

Below is Pres. George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789. Could it be that thanks was being given to God rather than Indians?!? I wonder why school children aren't taught that?

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor -- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be -- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks -- for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation -- for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed -- for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted -- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions -- to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually -- to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed -- to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness onto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord -- To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us -- and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York

the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

George Washington

Edited November 10, 2005 by Bangkok Hound

[Narachon]

Given under my hand at the City of New York

the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

George Washington

Yeah, before Washington's DC was ever built, My City was America's capital for a time!

Anyway...

I can't wait for Thanksgiving!

And Christmas!