Christmas season in Thailand is just so much fun! Thailand, in Southeast Asia, has many tourist attractions. Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket are some of the must-see tourist towns while in Thailand. Nearly 95% of Thailand’s population is Buddhist so Christmas is not a national holiday. But do not worry, if you come to Thailand at Christmas time you will find that Christmas is widely celebrated. In Thailand, Santa Claus is identical with elephants wearing Santa Claus costumes. Santa Claus Elephants visit children in every school in Thailand and distribute gifts, such as toys, dolls and candy.
Although Thailand is known for its many temples, Christmas decorations are usually up by the end of November. The large shopping centers and malls, such as Ratchadamri Road and The Peninsula Plaza, have beautiful decorations. Some malls even have gingerbread houses. Central World Square Mall in Bangkok has a giant Christmas tree. This same mall is also known for its Christmas and year-end sales.
Christian communities in Thailand worship together on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, they go caroling at people’s homes that celebrate Christmas.
In every culture, certain dishes are eaten on holidays. Below are some Thai foods that must be part of Christmas dinner:
- Thai Jicama Christmas Salad
This salad is a typical Thai salad that is usually served on holidays in Thailand, including Christmas. This salad contains jicama, cucumber, peppers along with other vegetables.
- Thai Green Chicken Curry and Panang Curry
Curry must be part of the Christmas dinner! This dish has chicken with a typical Thai curry sauce.
- Tom Yum
This is a soup with shrimp or chicken (or sometimes both). The broth is flavored with lemon grass, chili, kaffir lime leaves and galangal. This dish is usually served as an appetizer for large celebrations in Thailand.
Christmas celebrations in Thailand are also associated with New Year’s celebrations. If you are going to be in Thailand for Christmas and New Year’s, you celebrate with dinner on the roof of a restaurant in Bangkok while watching fireworks, such as Red Sky at Centara Grand, Vertigo at the Banyan Tree Bangkok, or Sirocco at State Tower.
If you are traveling during this winter season, call us for your travel medical insurance. One of our professional international insurance agents, https://www.gninsurance.com/meet-team-good-neighbor-insurance/, will be glad to serve you. Or call us at 480-633-9500 or our toll free number at 866-636-9100. We have an email of in case you want to email us your request. Many of our agents and staff have lived overseas for many years. In fact the founder of Good Neighbor Insurance (GNI) lived overseas for 32 years in Indonesia. His sons were born and raised in Indonesia for 19 years until he graduated from high school in Jakarta (Jakarta International School), Indonesia.