13

[Stan42]

Why do most Thai's believe that 13 is a bad luck number? There is no floor 13 in most buildings, no room 13 in hospitals or hotels, no seat 13 in cinemas... As far as I know this is a Christian belief, the only source I've found even contradicts this: Tibetans regard 13 as a holy number (http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php/The_Mysterious_Figures_9_and_13).

[sabaijai]

It may stem from the fact that 1+3 = 4, and four is considered bad luck among Chinese Thais because the number 4, in spoken Chinese, sounds like the Chinese word for 'death' .

[sabaijai]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Chinese_culture#Four

[nidieunimaitre]

Maybe the explanation is very simple: copy cat behavior.

After all, Thais also celebrate Valentine day, 1 January, X mas,...

In Europe, these days people celebrate Haloween and acquired a liking for Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.

Some call it globalization, others would call it imbecilisation.

[Suradit69]

Why do most Thai's believe that 13 is a bad luck number?

"most" implies at least a bit more than 33 million Thais. How could you possibly know what that many people believe? Extrapolating from a few examples to "most" is a big stretch. I've never encountered any particular aversion to 13 among the few Thai people I know fairly well, but based on that small sample I wouldn't want to generalize any universal truth about what Thais do or do not believe.

It's the same sort of thing when some farang has an unpleasant experience with a Thai individual and then starts a rant about ALL Thais don't like ALL farang.

[nidieunimaitre]

Why do most Thai's believe that 13 is a bad luck number?

"most" implies at least a bit more than 33 million Thais. How could you possibly know what that many people believe? Extrapolating from a few examples to "most" is a big stretch. I've never encountered any particular aversion to 13 among the few Thai people I know fairly well, but based on that small sample I wouldn't want to generalize any universal truth about what Thais do or do not believe.

It's the same sort of thing when some farang has an unpleasant experience with a Thai individual and then starts a rant about ALL Thais don't like ALL farang.

I AGREE, BUT ALSO:

It's the same sort of thing when some farang has a pleasant experience with a Thai individual and then starts a rant about ALL Thais like ALL farang.

Selective whining is what ALL posters are good at, or am I now generalizing too?