Birthdays in Thailand are a bit different.
Many years ago I was an elementary school teacher in this country and this is where I first noticed the difference between how birthdays are celebrated in over here as opposed to the in N. America. A girl had a birthday in our class and she actually brought snacks and small gifts for all the other students. I asked the class about it and they actually got to teach me something. In Thailand it is tradition for the birthday boy or girl to do what they can for their classmates. I told them about how it is the opposite in the USA and for the most part they were already aware of this.
They do however still generally receive some sort of gifts from their families but normally they don't have big parties organized where all the other kids are expected to turn up with gifts for the person whose birthday it is. I would imagine that this has a lot to do with the fact that generally speaking, Thais are considerably poorer than people in Europe and America - and expecting people to spend money on gifts would result in poorer families being forced to "lose face" and this is a big no no. By the way this is my interpretation of the situation and is in no way an official stance.
Last night I went to a birthday party of the owner of one of the first pubs I ever attended in Chiang Mai.
This is what was waiting at the door. The birthday girl paid for all of this herself and even hired people to cook it all night long.
Two different musicians were also hired to keep the party going. I was surprised that both of them played entirely western music despite the fact that a vast majority of the crowd were Thai people. Very few of the party goers turned up with gifts. There was only a few and it was not frowned upon to turn up empty handed (like me.)
The husband of the birthday girl turned up with an elaborate floral arrangement, which was a nice touch but for the most part everyone just arrived only with their presence and it seemed genuinely appreciated by the host. I suppose that she was selling a lot more drinks than she normally would but I honestly don't believe that this is the intent. I thought it was a nice display and I kind of enjoy birthdays being this way.
I have done the same thing at my own birthday parties when I lived in the south of Thailand and actually knew people. I also had a policy of "don't bring any gifts, because I am not going to reciprocate later!"
I do recall in the past that getting someone a gift can actually be a pretty stressful situation and many times you end up getting them something they have to pretend to like or maybe it is something that doesn't fit them etc. I think I kind of like the idea of going to a party and just having fun with the birthday person better.
I remember when I was in grade school we used to bring in treats for all of the other kids. A lot of the times it would just be cupcakes or something like that. These days, it is much less common. My wife and I both work in public education and with all of the food allergies and things like that which many kids have they have pretty much stopped kids from bringing in outside treats like that. My wife and I also just celebrated a couple of "milestone" birthday's a year or so ago and for each of our parties, we made sure to specify that we didn't want any gifts.
Mostly here in philippines like that even they have nothing they spend money from loan in one occasion
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In my opinion, this is a sign that the noble values which taught by our ancestors are being shed. At this time we will feel proud if people are praised and praised so that we will do everything to keep "good name" Doing birthday celebrations or other things with excitement certainly requires a lot of funds. for those who are capable of course it is not a problem, but for others, of course, they must be lost, trying to get funds from the loan.
whereas, when I was little there was no fancy celebration like the birthday now. It used to only cook side dishes as long as possible and then invite the neighbors to pray for safety. Now birthday celebrations are someone's hegemony. A characteristic of hedonism that can have a negative impact on all.
However, can we reflect on ourselves?
Can't believe the birthday girl paid for all of that herself. Here in Venezuela, we normally take birthday people for dinner but they don't pay anything. Btw I do like that policy of "don't bring any gifts, because I am not going to reciprocate later". Good post, thanks for sharing.