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Thai Ways »
Authors: Denis Segaller
ISBN-13: 9789749575734, ISBN-10: 9749575733
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Silkworm Books
Date Published: January 2005
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Author Biography: Denis Segaller
Book Synopsis
Thai Ways is a delightful collection of nearly everything you've ever wanted to know about Thai customs and beliefs, engagingly explained in a grandfatherly way by a long-time English resident of Thailand. Compiled from a series of articles published in the popular weekly column "Thai Ways" from the 1970s, the selections remain as current and informative today as when the author first wrote them. They demystify constructs like the system of royal ranks and the Thai musical scale, and customs like the Loi Krathong festival and the Wai Khru ceremony.
If you are stumped by any of these, this book is for you. Both tourists and residents alike will find Thai Ways to be an enlightening and friendly guide through the perplexities of Thai culture.
Table of Contents
| 1 | Royalty and Nobility | 1 |
| Ranks and Titles in Thailand | 1 | |
| King Mongkut of Siam | 4 | |
| Rachasap - The Royal Language | 10 | |
| 2 | Festivals | 15 |
| Loi Krathong | 15 | |
| Songkran | 18 | |
| 3 | Ceremonies | 21 |
| The Thai Wedding Ceremony | 21 | |
| Calling Blessings on a New House | 24 | |
| Cutting the Topknot | 33 | |
| After Someone Dies | 36 | |
| "Placing the Bones" | 44 | |
| Tham Bun at Home | 46 | |
| Wai Khru - Paying Respect to Teachers | 49 | |
| Buat Nak - Entering the Monkhood | 52 | |
| Phansa - The Buddhist Lent | 55 | |
| Making Temple Donations | 58 | |
| 4 | Customs | 65 |
| Some Social "Do's and Don'ts" in Thailand | 65 | |
| Khun: An Everyday, but Deep, Word | 68 | |
| Some Other Social Norms | 70 | |
| The Wai | 72 | |
| More Elaborate Forms of the Wai | 75 | |
| Music - Classical and Western | 77 | |
| Worshipping Brahma and Other Deities | 80 | |
| Lak Mueang - The Log that Helped to Found a City | 89 | |
| Traditional Thai Medicine | 92 | |
| Preserving Thailand's Traditional Arts of Self-Defense | 99 | |
| Telling the Time | 103 | |
| Lunar Months | 106 | |
| The Twelve-Year Cycle | 111 | |
| When a Child is Born | 116 | |
| When Traditions Intermingle | 120 | |
| Some Like It Hot | 123 | |
| 5 | Beliefs and Superstitions | 129 |
| The Spirit in the Banyan Tree | 129 | |
| Curing a Sick Child | 131 | |
| The Friendly Little Jing-jok | 134 | |
| Believe It or Not ... | 138 | |
| 6 | Legends | 145 |
| The Ramakian | 145 | |
| Chao Mae Sammuk | 151 | |
| The Buddha's Footprint | 154 | |
| The Story of Manora | 158 | |
| The Dog Star and the Chick Star | 163 | |
| More Local Legends | 165 | |
| 7 | Families | 169 |
| How Family Relationships Are Expressed in Thai | 169 | |
| Family Life | 172 | |
| Laddawan | 174 | |
| 8 | Thai Fortune-Telling | 179 |
| It's in the Cards | 179 | |
| Your Future is in Your Hands! | 182 | |
| Will Your Dreams Come True? | 187 | |
| Thai Astrology | 195 | |
| 9 | Names, Words, and Language | 205 |
| What's in a (Thai) Name? | 205 | |
| Surnames | 212 | |
| The World's Longest Place-Name | 216 | |
| Some Sayings and Proverbs | 219 | |
| The Versatile Thai "Child" | 226 | |
| Words Ancient and Modern | 229 | |
| 10 | Miscellaneous | 237 |
| Phra Pathom Chedi | 237 | |
| An Unexpected English Lesson | 241 |
Subjects
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