Earlier this month, our intern interviewed artist Nakrob Moonmanas. One of his quotes particularly resonated with me. "Look at us, we celebrate everything -- Songkran, Valentine's Day, New Year's, Christmas and Chinese New Year."
I couldn't agree more. Thais really celebrate everything. We are fun-loving people who never turn down a chance to make an ordinary day special. Oktoberfest? Let's grab some beer even though we have no idea what the festival is about. Diwali? Let's get some Indian food. Did you know that International Pancake Day was last month? Not too late to celebrate it now, if you ask me. In fact, we should be celebrating pancakes every month.
While I'm all for celebrations, there's one here that makes no sense -- the way we celebrate summer.
Yes, suddenly the heat we're experiencing every day becomes a cause for celebration just because it's March.
I suppose we have been so influenced by Western values that we forget our own seasons and how they really make us feel. Thailand has about 360 days of summer a year and the real summer is nothing short of hell. Think 40C weather. Think scorching sun. Think body odour. Are we really celebrating this?
Now that March is here, shopping malls in Thailand are all excited about this excruciating season as though it's something rare. Swimsuit brands talk about swimwear as if this is the only season of the year it's warm enough to go for a swim. Guess what, I went swimming in January and believe me, it's pretty doable.
What summer reminds me of is school break. When I was little, I looked forward to summer because it meant no school. I was never excited about the warmth of summer and I don't recall anyone who was. Summer, in my books, did not refer to a rise in temperature, but the end of a school year. And now Thai people are thankful summer is here so they can go swim? Really?
Have we become so focused on what the international calendar tells us that we don't see the reality? I can guarantee you, come November and you'll see "warm items for cold winter days" plastered all over Thai fashion magazines, even if the weather has not dropped at all.
I think every country has its own practical calendar that does not necessarily look the same as other countries and seasons mean different things in various cultures. Winter in Finland and winter in Bangkok, for example, are nothing similar. Thailand should really stop talking about seasons in the weather-related sense, because we don't have real seasons anymore, what with all the unpredictable rainfall and year-round heat.
We should instead focus on the real reasons why our "summer" matters -- mango and sticky rice. I can't think of a bigger cause for celebration.