To mark Chinese New Year (Jan 28), let's take a look at the different sides of being Thai nationals of Chinese descent.
1. You aren't just simply Chinese. It gets more specific than that based on where your ancestors came from. You can be either Teochew, Hakka, Hainanese, Hokkien, Peranakan and more. So, I'm a Bangkokian Thai national of pure-blood Teochew Chinese descent. My my, aren't I fancy?
2. On top of your Thai name and nickname, you also have your Chinese name. If later on in life you become a high-ranking officer or a celeb, it's likely you'll acquire another moniker too. It's cool for one person to go by several names, eh?
3. You have two ages. One that counts from the date of your birth and the Chinese age that counts from the date you were conceived in relation to the Chinese calendar. So, technically, you're probably a pi to friends of the same Thai age.
4. Some of your happiest and earliest childhood memories include loud firecrackers, decorating your ancestors' tombs with ribbons and glitter and burning paper offerings.
5. You've seen the evolution of paper offerings that you've burnt at funerals and Qing Ming festivals over the years. Some of the most notable, besides iPhones, include banknotes with twenty digits (severe inflation rate much?), a jewellery set (because ama still needs to look her best), a condo with a built-in maid (because the land price in the afterlife rivals that of Hong Kong), and a treadmill (apparently no one opened a fitness centre yet). This makes me want to compile my posthumous wishlist now.
6. You start to question some aspects of Chinese traditions you grew up with, i.e. the negative impact of burning paper offerings on the environment.
7. You have more causes for celebration, thanks to the Chinese New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Vegetarian Festival and the Ghost Festival.
8. On top of the lion dance, a family reunion and a lot of food, the other thing you look forward to during Chinese New Year is that money in a red envelope.
9. Your house is a bit more holy than the average Thai one. On top of a Buddha shrine and a possible spirit house in the garden, there is likely to be a red shrine for the Chinese guardian spirit that lives with you.
10. It's possible that you may be related to famous people who are in the same Chinese clan as you. So if you're of Teochew descent, Aed Carabao may be your long lost uncle.
11. Speaking of relatives, you'll have to learn another intricate set of kinship terms for your Chinese family. For me, "lung (uncle)" can be "ajeck (if younger than pa)" or "apae" (if older) and "pi chai" (older brother) is "ahia". However, within the Thai-Chinese population, they use different dialects for kinship terms as well. Someone of Hainanese descent calls their older brother "go", for example. And you have to remember these terms on top of the already long family tree. How fun.
12. You may have a long-a** multiple-syllable surname as if to compensate for your Chinese ancestry. Even though your "Thai" surname mostly contains Pali and Sanskrit words, i.e. Sereemongkonpol.
13. You probably have been mistaken for an East Asian tourist by shop assistants or taxi drivers in Thailand and abroad. Well, can you really blame them?
14. You look at your life now and feel thankful for your ancestors who immigrated to Thailand with practically nothing and somehow made a life for themselves here. The current generation of Thai-Chinese people may not be aware of the times in recent history when the Chinese in Thailand were discriminated against and the integration of Chinese people in Thailand throughout history. Shouldn't these be included in school textbooks and history lessons?
15. You're likely to have consumed oranges more than your average Thai.
16. It irks you sometimes when your ma or pa speaks Chinese. You feel like they may be talking about you in front of you.