As the main part of Christmas is over it's time to reflect, it's not a holiday here in Thailand so that in itself makes it a bit wierd. To be honest Christmas is not something Thailand does well, in many parts of the country it's the high season with plenty of sunshine and tourists; it's more like summer in Europe (but hotter).
This year in Chiang Mai it's been a bit different, the week before Christmas the temperature plummeted and for the first for me it was cold, with temperatures below 10°C at night and only warming up to about 20°C during the day. Higher areas experienced temperature approaching freezing. I'm sure many of you think these temperatures are warm but you need to remember Thailand is a tropical country and no one is prepared for cold weather, houses don't have heating people don't possess warm clothing etc.
Back to my point although the cold has been quite serious it has also made it feel like Christmas for us northern people, although I'm not happy because I've just moved to a sub-division that has a communal pool and it's too cold to use it.
For many of us Christmas is really for children, and for me I have 3, although Jessica is still only a baby, in Thailand of course no one believes in Santa Claus, so it quite difficult for us to get our children to believe when everyone at school tells them otherwise. The argument of course is a simple one - if you don't believe in him you don't get anything! Harry and Sarina are now firm followers of the fat bloke in the red suit.
We actually got some presents ourselves this year my wife got a Thai Silk Kimono and I got some Thai Silk Boxer Shorts, I believe Santa sourced them from those lovely people at Fashion Chiang Mai.
Well that's it for now, we are looking forward to New Year which is a bigger celebration here in Thailand.
