Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas in Pattaya
My Christmas lights were nailed to the roof on Pearl Harbor Day. I bought a blue plastic Xmas tree two days later and explained to my 3 year-old daughter that the Christian holiday was lifted from the pagan celebration of the winter solstice.
Angie only speaks Thai and said, “Fi suay.”
Yes, the lights are beautiful and Santa Claus is a good thing, especially since he’s based on St Nicolas of Smyrna, the original St. Nick, who is also the patron saint of beer, which is why my friends and I celebrate Beermas rather than Xmas, however I don’t play Scrooge during any holiday and neither do the Thais.
Christmas lights decorated Pattaya’s shopping mall to lure western consumers and curious Thais. Buy Buy Buy. Tis the season. Go-go bars were splashed out in red. Dancers wore cute caps and nothing else. Jingle Bells played everywhere. Whiskey bottles were cracked open by my friends and gifts were exchanged amongst the neighbors on my soi.
All this despite there being no chance of a White Christmas.
Neither were people fighting over nativity scenes, because the War on Christmas doesn’t exist anywhere but the UK and the USA. Religious fanatics are a buzzkill everywhere in the world, yet everyone should be able to say ‘Merry Christmas’ as much as ‘Happy Holidays’ or nothing at all.
Santa will sort out who’s good or bad. God gave up that job a long time ago.
Christmas in Pattaya is lights, fireworks, red caps, and a good time. Friends, family, and a good laugh. It even got cold at night. 15 Celsius. And atop Doi InThanon, Thailand’s highest peak, there were reports of frost. Maybe next year a White Christmas.
If only in a fog.
Peace on earth and good will to men. Women too.
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