XMas in Siam

So Christmas is in the air here, or more appropriately, Xmas. This year will mark my second Christmas that I've spent in Thailand - I was here for the 2002 edition as well, when I was living in Japan. Came down for the long holiday then. Of course, since this is a predominately Buddhist country (with Muslims being the largest religious minority), all Christmas celebration is of a purely secular nature (other than a few isolated places, like the Roman Catholic university I work at). So what is Chrismas like in Bangkok? Well, it's very festive. You hear annoying popped-out covers of songs like "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph" everywhere you go, and all of the hookers are wearing Santa hats. Of course, as many of you know, I am not a fan of this holiday - if I had my druthers, I'd be in someplace like Iran or Saudi Arabia for the month of December, where there is no semblance of Christmas whatsoever. The Marxist in me cannot tolerate the ridiculous consumerist pressure that goes with this holiday. Bah Humbug!
That being said, it is better here than it was in Japan, although only marginally. In Japan, "Last Christmas" by Wham, the 1980's pop outfit that gave George Michael his start, seemed to be the only Christmas song one could hear anywhere. My girlfriend during that time told me that "Last Christmas" was the first English song she ever learned. If I didn't have a shaven head right now, I'd be ripping out my hair just thinking about it...
In other news, the King (see the last post) gave his annual birthday speech this past Sunday. Much like other constitutional monarchies such as England or Japan, the King of Thailand officially has no political power and is purely the head of State. However, unlike in other countries, the King here has real moral gravitas, and his extolling or denoucing of something will likely alter the course of future events. In an earlier post I spoke of the cigarette packages here in Thailand (see below). This is a direct result the King's birthday speech from last year, when he urged the Thai people to quit smoking.
In this year's speech, the King said that he welcomed constructive criticism. This doesn't seem like that big of a deal at first glance, but it is a not so subtle message to Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's prime minister with a very large head (see the picture.) Mr. Thaksin, who is in his second term as P.M., has many similarities to GW Bush. They supposedly ran together when they went to Yale back in the 1970's, both are very very wealthy (Thaksin is Thailand's richest man,) and both of them often blame the media for their own shortcomings and have real issues with criticism or admission of their own mistakes. Thaksin has even sued a few reporters for slander, which is ridiculous. The whole event shows yet again that in Thai politics, the King is by far the most sensible and wise man in the whole system, even though he's officially above politics and not really in the system.
May progress be hailed!