tradition and customs

Thai Tradition Game

Thailand is a modern country firmly established in the 21st century. Thai children are always have the warm family and the tradition game for children was appear for long time ago. The meaning of Thai traditional game is original Thai children playing. They do it for entertainment, sometime they playing with rules or sometime they not. Thai traditional game have music to make it more fun and enjoyable. The elements of nature are what he uses for his “raw material.” Sand castles, mud balls, rocks, stones, seeds, pods, grass and straw are, with their imagination, used in the making of these games. Thai traditional game was appeared since Sukhothai era. During the reign of Rama VI, Phraya Anumam Rajadhon, a court official chronicler and historian, wrote of the games played during his childhood. “In those days,” he wrote, we did not play with guns, toy cars, trains or leather balls as children do today. In that period Thai people is very like to play games with their children and make a good relationship between adult and young people.
There are 3 kinds of Thai Traditional Games

1.games in daily lives
2.games in Thai festival
3.games in state ceremony
The important of game, every country have game for children. Game make people feel more relax and people can exercise to make themselves more healthy. Sometime games make people think to develop their ideas, make their feel confident and develop their intelligence also. The type of Thai traditional game are too many more than 1,200 types of games. But there are 2 big type of game such as outdoor games and indoor games.

The worth of tradition Thai game, Thai games is one of Thai’s old style culture. There is reflect the way of life, ideas, belief of people in the community since the pass until nowadays. But there are many benefits of traditional Thai games.
Benefit for children (healthy)
Because traditional Thai games has indoor activity and outdoor activity. So Thai people can use their ability to play and this way can make people exercise with the games also.
Benefit for children (intelligence)
Many games can be tough, so people need to use their sagacity and think follow the games. Sometime you have to protect your team and try to lure the opposite team to be the winner.
Benefit for children (honest)
Hide and seek, this game is popular for children around the world. So the rules is easy and simple. Because when the seeker closed their eye children will go to find the place to hide. So the seeker need to be honest (don’t open your eye until the time finished) to their friend.
Benefit for children (responsibility)
Thai children will play follow the rules whatever the game is. Which mean Thai’s children will show their responsibility to play and respect to the rules.
Benefit for children(The way of life)
Some kind of games is about agriculture that show the way of life with Thai people.
Benefit for children (Belief)
Some kind of games show about accultism or black magic that people in Thai social is believe. In the North East of Thailand many Thai people believe in black magic, ghost, angel. So they use and apply their believe to make a games also.
Benefit for children (to be patient)
When riding horse game started, one children will be the rider and another one will be the horse. This game will make children who play be the horse to be patient. Because sometime the rider weight is very heavy and the horse have to take the rider run to be the winner.
Benefit for children (unity)
Many games play as a team so everybody in team needed to be unity and play together. Because if someone in team lost the team will lost also.

tradition and customs

Thai music

Accompanying classical Thai dance is a traditional orchestra, using unique instruments such as the ranad (a wooden, floor level xylophone), sa-law (a bow-shaped instrument played with a violin-like bow), and two bamboo flutes, the phin pia and the khlui. The "pii-phaat" ensemble consists of between five and seven instruments and produces a pleasant mid-tempo melody to a steady metronomic rhythm. It is a charming and pleasant experience, played out with patience and repeating measures, perfect background music for your dining. Northern Thai music has a subtle difference (to the unfamiliar), and employs different instruments, excluding the sa law and phin pia. It features a slightly aggressive "nasal sounding" flute, rather like an Indian snake charmer.

Mention should also be given to contemporary music, for the Thai are gifted singers and modern Thailand boasts a very active music industry which has produced many pop stars over the years. Although most of them sing in Thai, the music is non-the-less excellent, particularly the ballades and professional song writing and production ability. The grassroots music of the Northeast (Isaan) has been fused into a modern rock style and enjoys wide support.

tradition and customs

Thai dance

Thai traditional dance is one of the truly graceful aspects of the country and is quite symbolic of the Thai character itself. To see these beautifully costumed ladies and men patiently miming the ancient stories, which were originally developed and performed as entertainment for the royal court, is a treat that makes even modern audiences feel privileged.

The form is very strict, employing 108 basic movements and keeping the body upright from the neck to the hips, moving up and down using only the knees, and stretching to the rhythm of the music. A great deal of symbolism and importance is displayed in complex and beautifully executed finger and hand movements. Sometimes six-inch, specially designed, finger nails add to the effect and complement the splendour of the spectacularly ornate costumes. All of it combines to produce a hypnotic and memorable experience of Thailand. The best place to witness authentic Thai dance is at the popular Khantoke evenings, which are a display of Northern culture, including dance, music, and food. It all takes place in a magnificent teak pavillion with everyone seat the traditonal way - on the floor. Your hotel concierge or nearest travel agent can arrange for you to be picked up and escorted to one of the venues that host this unique northern event.

tradition and customs

Thai art

Thai art and antiques are a good investment

Originating strictly as a religious form, traditional Thai art is often associated with Buddhism and the sangha - the community. There are some good books on sale, such as William Warren and Ping Amranand's Lanna Style: Art & Design of Northern Thailand, which is a well illustrated coffee table book introducing the complexities of the form. Simply put, the art commonly told stories of the era involving every day village scenes and survives mostly in mural form, with a distinctive style for characters and use of colours. These charming displays of ancient Lanna life can be best seen at Wat Chiang Man, and Wats Lai Kham and Prasat - both near Wat Phra Sing.
Another distinctive art form in Thailand is the relief, intricately carved from wood to produce impressive three-dimensional detail. The Thai are exceptionally gifted at this and pieces, large and small, are seen in abundance at Baan Tawai craft village. The area is famous for its wooden carvings, furniture, filligree work and more.

traditions and d

tradition and customs

Thai Traditional Massage

In the life of any human being, no one can avoid sickness and how people of each nation deal with their symptioms and diseases depend on their culture, tradition, and values. Of all diseases, approximaterly 30% are severe and thus require modern medicine and health care specialists. The other 70% are not serious and common diseases that are preventable and can be treated by self-care using traditional or folk medicines. In Thailand, Thai traditional massage has been the national arts and science of healing and remedy to relieve muscle fatigue, ache and pain, reduce stress, relieve back and neck pain, as well as a means to treat paresthesia, hemiplegia and paralysis. As mentioned in the dispatch of Lalubaire, the French envoy to Siam during 1656 – 1688, “In Siam, when someone gets sick, not much is done except for giving body massage or acupressure and most are healed.”

Nowadays the ancient wisdom of Thai traditional massage has been developed into a part of the body of knowledge of Thai traditional medicine, a holistic medicine. Thai traditional massage can be divided into two main categories, namely “Royal massage” and “Folk massage”. Royal massage was originally the type of massage for the royal family or aristocracy; hence, it is given to the patients in a very polite nature using only hands and fingers, while folk massage refers to the type of massage applying among the family members and the general public. The masseur uses different parts of his body, i.e. hands, elbows, knees, to bend, pull, press or tread.
To gain acceptance by the general public, the institute of Thai traditional Medicine (ITTM), Ministry of Public Health has revived and conducted research on the body of knowledge of Thai traditional massage in order to develop, integrate and apply Thai traditional massage into a form of self-reliant health care system. The arts and science of Thai traditional massage is now well accepted by Thais and foreigners alike.

Currently there are about 6,000 masseurs/masseuses who finished different levels of Thai traditional massage training courses from various institutes in Thailand. The ITTM has developed standard of training curricula on Thai traditional massage and has offered many training courses covering both theory and practice and has produced many well-trained Thai masseurs/masseuses to the labor market. Thai traditional massage service is now becoming very popular both in Thailand and abroad; thus there is currently a great demand for Thai masseurs/masseuses. The ITTM in cooperation with the Department of Skill Development. Ministry of Labor has set up and categorized the National Occupational Skill Standards of Thai Traditional Massage into 3 levels based on the knowledge, hours of practice, and experience. Those who pass the skill tests can then receive Certificate issued by both offices.
For more information, please contact the Institute of Thai Traditional Medicine, Department for Development of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, Ministry of Public Health, Tiwanon Road, Nonthaburi 11000. Thailand

Tradition and customs.

Holidays.

Important holidays in Thai culture include Thai New Year, or Songkran, which officially observed from April 13 to 15 each year. Falling at the end of the dry season and during the hot season in Thailand, the celebrations notoriously feature boisterous water throwing. The water throwing stemmed from washing Buddha images and lightly sprinkling scented water on the hands of elderly people. Small amounts of scented talcum powder were also used in the annual cleansing rite. But in recent decades the use of water has intensified with the use of hoses, barrels, squirt guns, high-pressure tubes and copious amounts of powder.
Another holiday is Loy Krathong, which is held on the 12 full moon of the Thai lunar calendar. While not a government-observed holiday, it is nonetheless an auspicious day in Thai culture, in which Thai people "loi", meaning "to float" a "krathong", a small raft traditionally made from a section of banana tree, decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles, incense sticks etc. The act of floating away the candle raft is symbolic of letting go of all one's grudges, anger and defilements, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot.