Tamboon in Thai language means to make merits, you can do Tamboon by offering something to monks or to a temple. It can also mean doing something for other people or for animals. There are various ways to do it. Giving food to monks is a type of Dana, which means “giving”. This is another way to follow the Buddha’s teachings and to show care for others. Monks and nuns are not employed or paid officially in any way, but every morning the monks will walk along the street or through the village so that people can come and give an offering to them. The monks will take it back to the temple to share with the other monks and the people who live in the temple. We have saying in Thailand that if you have nowhere to sleep or nowhere to eat the temple is the place to go. People also give food to monks to make good luck for themselves or to make a positive start to the day on their birthday or any other special day. We have more than 30,000 temples in Thailand. This shows how the temple is the most important place for Thai people. In the past, before we had public schools, all the children were taught in the temple by the monks. The first public schools to be established were located in temples and a lot of schools are now based in areas that were once part of the temple grounds.
At primary school we need to learn to read and write in Thai. We have many localised dialects but everyone is taught the formal version of the Thai language. From when I was seven years old until I was ten years old, I also attended the temple every Sunday to get a religious education. Religion is also taught in schools as well, It is similar to Sunday school in England, but we also have lunch and stay there from 8.30 – 3.00 o’clock in the afternoon.
This picture shows people in country side offering food to the monk.
We use the Buddhist calendar.
Another important thing is that we are use the Buddhist calendar in Thailand, not the Gregorian calendar used in Western countries. To calculate the year in the Buddhist calendar (BE) you add 543 years to the Gregorian calendar (AD) year. For example, the year 2015 in the Gregorian calendar is 2558 in the Buddhist calendar (2015+543=2558). When you see a year in the Thai calendar (Buddhist calendar) you just minus 543 from it. So the year 2558 in the Buddhist calendar is the year 2015 in AD calendar (2558-543=2015).
We also have our own Thai numbers as well. I used them at school for write the date when I was a little. Here is a picture that compares our Thai number to Latin number and also gives you a guide for pronunciation.
Comments