Teachers’ Day is a national holiday in Thailand. It takes place on January 16th every year. Since 1957, Thailand has been celebrating this day in honor of educators. It’s a day to remember their importance in the lives of children. In Thailand, teachers are seen to have a position of high honor. Schools are closed so they can have the day off and so that children can show respect for them.
Teacher Appreciation Day (วันครู) is another way Thai people show their respect for educators. This takes place at the beginning of the new school year, in June or July, on a Thursday. Children perform the “Wai Kru Ceremony”. They bow before their teachers and offer them flowers with candles and incense in a gold container.
The bouquets given to the teachers have three specific flowers in them: one symbolizing wit, one for respect, and the other for perseverance. In performing the ceremony, the students are thanking the teachers for having been taught well in the past, while hoping to gain merit, and good luck for the future.
This article was posted on Tuesday, January 16th, 2007 at 6:23 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Holidays Around the World, Languages, Teachers Day, Teaching, Thai, Thailand, Wai Kru Ceremony. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
One Response to “Teachers’ Day and Teacher Appreciation Day (วันครู) in Thailand”
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January 18th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Wai Kru was definitely the most interesting thing I experienced when I taught in Thailand. It was a beautiful ceremony, with monk chants playing, incense, flowers everywhere. The children crawled up to the teachers on their knees, heads down, almost like the Thai people do when approaching members of the royal family, and presented them with flowers. It was a surreal experience, and even felt a bit solemn in some ways. Thai children have so much respect for their teachers. I was very impressed by the education system there. In many ways it is so far ahead of the education in system in Japan, yet the ecomomy and standard of living is so far behind. At a time when Japan is strugling to fix a broken education system, maybe Japan could take a few lessons from Thailand!