rasathesis2012
TRANSCRIPT
平成２３年 千葉大学大学院工学研究科
修士論文
タイ・バンコク市における伝統的な花の文化
―花が地域社会に果たす役割―
デザイン科学研究科
デザイン文化計画研究室
10TM1170 Salakij Rasa
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Index目次
0 序章 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 4 0.1 Background背景 ............................................................................................................................................................ 5 0.2 Research Objectives 目的 ............................................................................................................................................ 6 0.3 Previous studies 先行研究 .......................................................................................................................................... 7 0.4 Thai brief history and evidence about the usage of flower タイの 歴史 .................................................... 9 0.5 Thai Social Background タイの社会背景 .......................................................................................................... 12 Unit1: Literature review of myth and evidence about flower in Thai history第一章：神話、遺構等にみられるタイの花～文献調査より ..................................................................................................................... 14
1.2 Mural painting壁画 ..................................................................................................................................................... 17 1.3 Traditional Song and Thai dance歌 ....................................................................................................................... 18 1.4 Literature文学 .............................................................................................................................................................. 19 1.5 Textile布 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 20 1.6 Thai pattern of flower in Thai art ............................................................................................................................ 22 Unit2: literature review and field survey on the flower culture in daily life第二章：日常生活における花の文化～文献調査と聞き取り調査より .................................................................................................. 24
2.1 Flower used as a gift .................................................................................................................................................... 25 2.2 Flower types and how to pick ................................................................................................................................... 26 2.3 The floral arts (process and how to use) ............................................................................................................... 34 2.3.1 A bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle ................................................................................................ 35 2.3.2 Malai (Floral garland) .............................................................................................................................................. 37 2.4 leftovers of flowers after the arrangement ............................................................................................................ 42 2.4.1 Small flower work or toy for children ................................................................................................................ 43 2.4.2 Used to decorate food or drink ............................................................................................................................. 43 2.4.3 Making flower sachet .............................................................................................................................................. 43 2.4.4 Dried up flower that was used to worship divinity ........................................................................................ 44 2.5 Flower medication ........................................................................................................................................................ 44 2.6 Flower in food ................................................................................................................................................................ 44 2.7 Thai traditional Fragrance from flower ................................................................................................................. 45 2.7.1 Liquid perfume .......................................................................................................................................................... 45 2.7.2 Solid perfume ............................................................................................................................................................. 46 2.8 The meanings of using flower in Thai daily life ................................................................................................ 46 2.8.1 Flower and family ..................................................................................................................................................... 46 2.8.1.1 Family activities ................................................................................................................................................... 46 2.8.1.2 Flexible way of life due to flower availability ......................................................................................... 47 2.8.1.3 Transmission of knowledge in a family ..................................................................................................... 47 2.8.1.4 Specific scent reflects good quality of life ................................................................................................. 47 2.8.1.5 Teaching each family member’s responsibility for their role .......................................................... 48 2.8.2 Flower and community ........................................................................................................................................ 48 2.8.2.1 Encouragement of networking in a community .................................................................................... 48 2.8.2.2 Flowers as an emotional symbol .................................................................................................................. 48 2.8.3 Flower and nature .................................................................................................................................................. 48 2.8.3.1 Natural resource utilization ............................................................................................................................ 48 2.8.4 Flower and religious belief (divinity) ................................................................................................................. 50 2.9 Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................................................... 51 2.9.1 Thai people use floral arts for religion purposes ............................................................................................ 51 2.9.2 Materials of floral arts depend on availability of natural resources ......................................................... 51 2.9.3 Thais utilize plants to their full potential .......................................................................................................... 51 Unit3: literature review and field survey on the flower culture in special occasion第三章：非日常生活における花の文化～文献調査と聞き取り調査より .............................................................................. 52
3.1 Flower used as a gift .................................................................................................................................................... 53 3.2 Flower type ..................................................................................................................................................................... 53
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3.3 The floral arts (process and how to use) ............................................................................................................... 55 3.3.1 Yearly events .............................................................................................................................................................. 55 3.3.1.1 malai (floral Malai) ............................................................................................................................................... 55 3.3.1.2 Floating flowers over water ............................................................................................................................... 57 3.3.1.3 Phanphum (Floral arts on pedestal tray) ........................................................................................................ 58 3.3.1.4 A bouquet of flower, incense sticks and candle .......................................................................................... 60 3.3.1.5 Krathong (Floating flower raft) ........................................................................................................................ 61 3.3.2 Event through life span ........................................................................................................................................... 64 3.3.2.1 malai (Floral garland) ........................................................................................................................................... 64 3.3.2.1.1Marriage malai ..................................................................................................................................................... 64 3.3.2.2 Phan dokmai/ phan phum (floral arts or pedestral tray) ........................................................................... 65 3.3.2.3 Baisri (Offering to divinity) ............................................................................................................................... 66 3.3.2.3.1 Usage of Baisri in a birth celebration ceremony ..................................................................................... 68 3.3.2.3.2 Usage of Baisri in a new resident celebration ceremony ...................................................................... 69 3.3.2.3.3 Usage of Baisri in other Brahman rituals ................................................................................................... 70 3.3.2.4 A bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle ............................................................................................ 70 3.3.2.5 Flower cone ............................................................................................................................................................. 70 3.3.2.6 Flower arranged to decorate coffin .................................................................................................................. 71 3.3.2.7 Dok Mai chan (Chan flower) ............................................................................................................................. 71 3.4 The leftover flower ....................................................................................................................................................... 72 3.4.1 Leftover flower will be dried and used as an element to make sacred talisman .................................. 72 3.5Flower in food ................................................................................................................................................................. 72 3.6 The meaning ................................................................................................................................................................... 73 3.6.1 Flower and religious ................................................................................................................................................. 73 3.6.1.1 Blessing and purification of mind, and body ............................................................................................... 74 3.6.2 Flower and community ........................................................................................................................................... 74 3.6.2.1 Yearly event ............................................................................................................................................................ 74 3.6.2.2 Events through life span ...................................................................................................................................... 74 3.6.3 Flower and nature ..................................................................................................................................................... 75 3.6.4 Flower scent as a cultural symbol ........................................................................................................................ 75 3.7 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................... 75 3.7.1 Brahmanism and Buddhism influence ceremony in people life and people value. ............................ 75 3.7.2 People use flower as a communication tool ..................................................................................................... 76 Unit4: Characteristic of flower culture in Thailand第四章：タイにおける花の文化の特質 .............. 77 4.1 Thai people utilize flower for both physical and mental aims. ..................................................................... 78 4.2 Scent and form of flowers can influence situational atmosphere ................................................................. 79 4.3 Floral arts activity strengthens the community bond and encouraging communication ....................... 79 4.4 Separation of roles in family ..................................................................................................................................... 79 Unit5: Analyses of Questionnaire from the Young and a Proposal of Design a Living Concept in
Bangkok第五章：若者への調査と文化継承の提案 .................................................................................... 81 5.1 Analyses of questionnaire .......................................................................................................................................... 82 5.2 Proposal for design a living in Bangkok ............................................................................................................... 99 Conclusion終章：まとめ ............................................................................................................................................ 103 Appendix A ......................................................................................................................................................................... 106 Reference ............................................................................................................................................................................. 106 Photography and Illustration写真 .............................................................................................................................. 109 Appendix B ......................................................................................................................................................................... 114 Interview Script聞き取りの内容 .............................................................................................................................. 114 Questionnaireアンケートの内容 ............................................................................................................................. 127
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Introduction 序章
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0.1 Background背景
In Thailand, there are varieties of flowers growing all year round due to tropical climate and
humidity (Natejinda, 2009). Accordingly, Thais’ way of life is intermingle with flowers.
Specifically, flowers are extensively employed in the form of floral arts among others, such as
medicine and cuisine. The benefits of floral arts to Thais are immensely as it gives rise to the
relationship between people and people as well as people and nature.
Floral arts bind Thai people with other people because every household practices and shares
the same value of floral arts. Thai people use products of floral arts at many occasions
together, starting from at a party for welcoming newborns to at a funeral. This collective
value contributes to the feel of belongingness to a family and a community.
Equally important, floral arts also bind Thais with nature. In the past, because flowers were
used in floral arts in everyday life, people grow their own garden or field. As a result, they
have acquired skills and knowledge about agriculture and have gradually passed them on
from generation to generation. This way folk knowledge about floral arts have transmitted
and preserved as an integral custom in Thai society.
Perhaps due to globalization and capitalization, floral arts have been declined quickly in
modern Thai society, especially in urban areas in the central part of Thailand. The fact that
people in this area live in a nuclear family, have small household area, emphasis on formal
education at school and are less involved with religion might be among a myriad of possible
factors contributing to the decline. Although many forms of flowers are still available through
merchandizes, it became less significant of a role in Thai urban areas. People not only use less
of traditional flowers, but they also have less chance to practice with floral arts themselves.
Therefore, children nowadays would not have much chance to experience a community tie
created by activities concerning flower and to learn the Thai wisdom of how to co-exist with
nature and other human beings embedded in floral arts.
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0.2 Research Objectives 目的
Flower plays significant roles in creating bonds within one’s family and making Thai people
realize the interdependency among human, society and the environment.
As a result, disappearing of this tradition could be one of most crucial social issues to Thai
society. So the main objective of this research is (1) to reconfirm the functions of traditional
activity concerning flower. This is for Thai people to recognize the traditional culture and
reconsider further decision to co-exist with beautiful and abundant nature once again.
(2) To investigate the characteristic of flower culture or/and culture about scent in Bangkok,
Thailand. (3) To create a guideline of living with nature in contemporary Thai lifestyle. This
guideline will suggest how we can transmit the meanings and beliefs underlying the
traditional customs about flowers to younger generations and how we can strengthen the bond
among community senior members and their children.
Together, the over-arching goal of this study is to document the floral arts custom and its
significance to Thai society. This is so that the wisdom of this tradition will not be lost, and
hopefully, will be transmitted to people in the future generation.
Research method
1. Literature review:
Existing document on traditional floral arts, especially on forms, purposes, and usages of each
type of arrangement will be reviewed.
2. Field survey:
The field survey will focus on gathering information as to the specific reasons whether and
why the tradition has been disappearing, and as to the counter measurements against it.
Specifically, traditional and current floral arts will be compared and contrasted in regard to
their forms, making methods, and purposes. Meaning and implicit values, such as forming the
family bonds, will also be another focal point of the survey. The possible impact to society
due to the change in this tradition, if any, will be documented. This survey will be done by:
2.1) Interviewing senior citizens in Thai Central region who used to make flower decorations
in some special occasions
2.2) Interviewing specialists in Thai floral arts school, and commercial shop
2.3) Conducting Questionnaire on the young about floral arts use in present daily life
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0.3 Previous studies 先行研究
It has been consistently shown that flower plays significant roles in Thai culture. In a study by
La-ongsri (2008), for instance, the researcher demonstrated the wide usage of flower in daily
life by using a sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn) as an example. Commonly revered by
Thai people as a representative flower of Buddha, the sacred lotus is commonly use in
religion-related ceremonies even in nowadays. More surprisingly, sacred lotus was found to
be used as many other secular objects, ranging from food, desserts, medicines and food
wrapper. This research shows how involved Thai people are with the flower culture.
The usage of flower is not restricted only in the central part of the country, where the capital
cities have been located for centuries and where culture seems to be most flourish. As an
example, Binson (2009) conducted an anthropological work studying traditional ceremonies
among Lanna People, a group whose culture has spread throughout the Northern part of
Thailand. She found that Lanna People use flower extensively in their rituals. Lanna People in
fact have complicated rules on the usage of flowers in each specific rituals. For instance,
many specific types of flowers are strictly used in Wai Kru --a ritual of which Lanna people
use for paying respect to teachers. This ritual, indeed, has been adapted by Thai people in
most of the regions in the country and has continued to be practiced up until now.
The wide usage of flower in Thai culture can not only be found in research papers, but also in
other forms of writing evidence. This point is demonstrated in the novel Four Reigns (Sri Pan
Din), one of the most classic and popular Thai novels, written by previous Thai prime
minister, Mom Rajawongse Kukrit Pramoj in 1954, and recognized by UNESCO as a historic
piece of evidence in Thai culture (Devakula, 2010). In this novel occurring between 1868 -
1946, royal ladies spread the culture of flower usage to the public. They offered strict, time-
consuming lessons of using flower to the young women in Bangkok, the capital city. At that
time, the skill of using flower was considered as highly desirable by the society. Therefore,
Thai ladies were highly motivated to acquire such a skill. Moreover, flowers at that era had
been used in many social and religious activities. To illustrate, Thai people spent significant
of time arranging traditional flower Malai for offering to Buddhist monks at the temple on
Buddhist holy days, where they met with others in the community. In addition, floral Malai
was offered to the divinity or guardian spirit at the house regularly as a family activity. From
this novel, we can see that, historically, flower has been used in Thai culture for a long period
of time, and it contributed to societal and family tie in Thai culture.
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From aforementioned written literature, the culture of flower usage in Thailand has been
found in many ceremonies and daily activities across regions in the country, and has been
historically important to the people. Nonetheless, studies on the traditional usage of flower in
Thailand are still limited. Only a few works have been done on many psychological roles that
flower may play in Thailand. Many important questions regarding the flower usage culture in
Thailand still remain. For instance, what are the meanings of using flowers? Why people
spend significant amount of time on making floral arts, a behavior of which seems to be
unproductive (as compared to food production)? What are the characteristics of flower culture
in Thailand? What are the criteria of choosing flower type? This type of questions should be
addressed by using systematic research methodology in order for us to design a living for
Thai culture; especially after the tradition of flower usage has rapidly declined in the recent
decades.
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0.4 Thai brief history and evidence about the usage of flower
Figure0.1 evidence of flower usage in history
In the history of Thailand, Thais have long been involved with flowers. Flower usage is
thought to be influenced by other ethnicities, such as Dvaravati and Mon (2nd-11th century)
and Khmer (8th-13th centaury), who resided in the area of current Thailand even before Thai
ethnic groups were formed (Pothinandha, 2000). More specifically, this influence is believed
to be in a form of religious activities of Theravada Buddhism and Brahman, which were
originated from people from Sri Lanka and India, respectively (Meekotgong, 2008).
Nonetheless, written evidence of specific usage of flower in these “classic” eras was scarce.
The details on how people used flowers during those periods were speculative at best
(Intakul, 2009).
It was not until the period of Sukhothai Kingdom (13th centaury -16th centaury) when Thai
ethnicity was firstly formed that the first concrete evidence about flower usage was found
(Intakul, 2009 Specifically, it was found along with other information regarding way of lives
in Sukhothai era in a chronicle, “NangNoppamas” (Punjawuthipatt. 2004). In this document
(cited in Intakul, 2009), there is a story of Nang Noppamas (also known as Lady Sri
Noppamas or Lady Sri Chulalaksana). She made a floating lantern by sewing together
multicolored fresh flower petals. This lantern, designed into a full-bloom lotus form, was used
for the full moon ceremony, called Loy Kratong, on the full-moon night in the 12th month of
the lunar calendar. Thanakit (2006) believed that the use of the lantern, called Kratong, has
two original purposes. The first purpose was to offer as a gift to Mae Khongkha, the Goddess
of Water. This purpose was based on the belief in Brahman Religion spread from India. The
second purpose was based on Buddhist belief. Kratong was supposed to be an offering to pay
homage to the footprint of Buddha in Saraburi. Regardless of which of the two theories is
true, this early evidence of the use of flowers in Thailand shows the influence of religion(s)
on this custom.
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In 1350, another Thai kingdom, Ayutthaya, was formed. It was so powerful that Sukhothai
became a vassal state of Ayutthaya in 1378, and became one of the most powerful kingdoms
in the area (Provincial interior of Sukhothai province, 1998). As a result, culture during this
period was extremely flourished, and in fact most of traditional Thai cultural practices can be
traced back to this era. However, written documents during this period were lost for the most
part, mainly due to the wars with Burma--the last one in 1766 of which ended up in a burned
down city of Ayutthaya.
Nonetheless, due to long peaceful periods of this Ayutthaya era (300-400 years) (Intakul,
2009), it is not too risky to assume that floral art was extensively exercised during this
thriving period in the nation’s cultural and commercial development. One remaining piece of
evidence confirms this notion. On the wall at one of the last few remaining Buddhist
monasteries in Ayutthaya, Wat Rachaburana, there are some mural paintings made in the
early Ayutthaya. Flower Malais, or “malai” were found in these paintings. It is a common
practice in Thailand art that artists painted life stories in monasteries and temples (Jaiser,
2009). Hence, we might then be able to assume from these paintings that arranging malai, as
well as other forms of floral arts, were commonly practiced in Ayutthaya period especially for
religious purposes.
After the war with Burma, the new dynasties were formed, and the capital city was moved
from Ayutthaya to Thonburi and then to Bangkok (Wyatt, 1984). In this new capital city of
Bangkok, Chakri dynasty has ruled the country since 1782 up until now in the period called
Ratanakosin. It was this time where Thai culture was restored and flourished again (Intakul,
2009). Unlike in the previous periods, abundant pieces of evidence on the use of flowers have
been found here in many forms, e.g. mural paintings and literatures. Moreover, many scholars
agreed that during the reign of King Rama V (aka King Chulalongkorn the Great) was the
golden age of Thai-style floral art (Intakul, 2009).
In the King Rama V era, the king showed great interest in floral art (Intakul, 2009). Royal
ladies were trained on this delicate craft of floral arts, and competed their skills with one
another. Old flower arranging techniques were revised, while new techniques were developed
for greater variety and complexity of the arranged flowers. Moreover, the flourish of floral art
was not limited to noble people; civilians also employed the use of flowers in their daily life.
For instance, Dokmai chan (Chan flower) a flower craft of which had only been used in royal
funeral was also found in civilians’. Despite of this popularity during Rama V reign, Thai
floral art has gradually declined afterward, perhaps due to bad economic crises and the
Worlds Wars (Intakul, 2009).
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In sum, evidence shows that the history of floral art in Thailand can be dated back to more
than 700 years as early as Sukhothai period. Thai people have continued practicing it
throughout the kingdoms history from Sukhothai to Ayutthaya and Ratanakosin. Moreover,
from historical evidence, its practice has been strongly influenced by religions and has usually
been found among Thai royal people. The floral art, nevertheless, is extended to other
domains of lives, beside religion, and to civilians, not just people in the royal court, as will be
seen in the next section.
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0.5 Thai Social Background タイの社会背景
To analyze any kind of customs in Thailand, it is hard to avoid discussing the role of two
factors: religion and gender role. There is no exception for such a custom as Thai floral art. In
this section, these two factors will be discussed in details on their contribution to the current
use of floral art.
The first factor is the role of religion on maintaining and transmitting Thai traditional customs.
This can obviously be seen in a form of a temple. In the past, a temple was the center of a
community in Thailand (Thai Health Promotion Foundation, 2010). A temple was an integral
part of every day life for Thai people. Monks in a temple were responsible for teaching and
uniting people in a community. Most importantly, monks provided education to the young.
Based on Buddhist sermons, monks guide what consider good or bad behaviors. As such, the
temple played an important role in shaping Thai society and its values. In addition, when a
new baby was born, it was taken to become one of the community members at a temple.
Likewise, a funeral was held at a temple. Temples hold many activities and acted as a town
hall assembles. As a result, people gathered at temples on every special occasion. All in all, a
temple in the past history of Thailand is a place for the young to learn and to grow, for the
community to meet and to network, and hence for customs to be transmitted. Because of this,
customs that are transmitted though a temple, including floral arts, seem to intermingle with
people’s way of life. Figure 0.2 shows an illustration of students use flower to pay respect to
Buddist altar at a temple.
The role of a temple, nonetheless, has become less dominant in Thai society. This perhaps
started with cultural reformation in late 1800s and early 1900s due to western colonization
threats. For example, in the reign of King Rama VI (1910-1925), there were several attempts
to establish western-style formal education to replace temple-based education (Bibliography
of King RamaIV,2009). Hence, the role of a temple has become less influential to Thai
generations after the reformation, especially to those who are accessible to formal education
such as citizens of Bangkok. These generations, then, have not had a chance to expose to Thai
traditional customs that are transmitted by means of a temple. Instead, they learn it through a
classroom, such as at a vocational school for women or as an elective class in a normal school
(Sorot, 2005). This new learning method, however, separates customs like floral arts from
way of life. As such, people might only regard the skill of floral arts as “commercialized or
educational knowledge,” that has nothing to do with their life style. For instance, if people in
the current generation do not use floral arts skill for a living by making commercialized
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products, they might not have a chance to practice the arts in their daily life after school years
as people in previous generations did at a temple.
We consider gender role as another important factor that play a role on transmitting and
keeping Thai traditional customs. This is especially applicable for such a high gender-specific
custom as floral arts. In the past, there was a sharp distinction between male and female’s
roles in Thai society. Women were mainly responsible for all housework and spent significant
time making crafts and artwork. However, in a modern day, gender role in Thailand has been
changed, especially in the capital city of Bangkok. Although the current gender role is not
perfectly equal, increasing number of women has entered workforce (National Statistical
Office, 2005; 2011). This creates the change in people’s way of life with regard to floral arts
in many ways. Firstly, women cannot afford time to make their own floral arts anymore.
Instead of making floral arts themselves, as a routine of family in the past, they purchase the
commercialized products, if necessary. Moreover, this behavioral tendency also reinforces
another change and vise versa. That is, making floral arts has become a job, and arranged
flowers become common goods. (see Figure 0.3 to see the picture of change in behavior) This
also has made materials for floral arts commercialized products in market, even though in the
past they are commonly found and grown everywhere. These changes might inhibit people to
appreciate the underlying meanings of the custom.
Figure 0.3 the lifestyle of making floral arts changed
Figure 0.2 Praying at temple
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Unit1: Literature review of myth and evidence about
flower in Thai history
第一章：神話、遺構等にみられるタイの花～文献調
査より
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Unit1: Literature review of myth and evidence about flower in Thai history.
第一章：神話、遺構等にみられるタイの花～文献調査より
Historical evidence from the previous unit has shown strong connection between flower and
religion. Now, in this unit, we will further analyze the use of floral arts in Thailand by
drawing from other types of evidences. Specifically, this unit will discuss the pervasiveness
of flowers to Thai society in the following categories: vocabulary, myths, mural painting,
traditional song and dance, literature, textile, and drawing pattern.
Flower in Thai language (Vocabulary and idiom)
Flower is called “ dok mai” in Thai language. dok means a part of plant, which later bears
fruits. In other words, dok, short form of dok Mai, means flower in English. Mai means
plant. However, dok mai is used in many contexts and has many meanings (The Royal
Institute Thailand, 2011). First, pasa dok mai, or flower language, refers to speaking in
polite way or using polite words in conversation. Furthermore, it is also refers to a polite
language that a well-trianed lady use. Second, keb dok mai ruam ton can be translated
into English as picking flower from the same plant. In Thai, this idiom means two people
who know each other very well before, such as spouse in former life. Picking flower
implies that they had offered floral arts to divinity before. Floral arts are crafts delicately
made from flowers which people use for offering to divinity. Third, Dok Fah or flower in
the sky refers to a woman with high social status. In fact, the meaning of flower in this
context means a woman. Furthermore, sky refers to unreachable place. In other words,
dok fah is a praising word for women and their family. Forth, dok mai rim tang, or flower
on the sideway, refers to a woman who is easily flirted by any man. In this case, dok mai
refers to a woman and sideway refers to anywhere with no owner. So at that kind of
place, people can pick the flower without reconsideration. Moreover, that flower seems to
have no protection and no value at all. This idiom is used to defy a bad behavior of a
woman.
In addition, women in the past often had flower name as their name. Therefore,
vocabulary and idiom about flower can be referred to politeness, religious belief as well
as obviously a sense of feminine.
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- 1.1 Myth神話
Roots of customs are often found in Myths. Therefore by analyzing myths, we might find the
reasons behind the custom of floral arts in Thailand. There are several Thai myths involving
flowers. Because most of Thai citizens are Buddhists (National Statistical Office, 2005), there
are several myths in Thailand concerning about Buddha. This section, hence, will review four
myths--three of which are relevant to Buddhism.
The first myth is about sacred lotus in Buddha’s life. Soon after his birth, the newborn
Buddha was believed to walk seven steps (Jaiser, 2009). Upon this walk, there was a miracle
of sacred lotus rising underneath to support his bare feet. Because sacred lotus is relevant to
Buddha’s life, it is often revered as a precious flower, and is used extensively for religious
purposes.
The second myth is also related to Budda’s life. Upon each of the four steps of his progress
toward the discovery of the Four Noble Truths, there was an enormous lotus blossoming
underneath him (Jaiser, 2009). These Four Noble Truths, including the nature of suffering or
Dukkha, suffering’s origin or Dukkha Samudaya, Suffering’s cessation or Dukkha Nirodha
and the path leading to the cessation of suffering or Dukkha Nirodha Gamini Patipada Magga,
represents laws of nature according to Buddhism’s belief. S Again, this may underlie the use
of sacred lotus in floral arts for religious purposes.
The third myth is relating to sacred lotus in one of the Buddhist’s teachings. In order to
understand the Buddhist’s concept of enlightenment, the Lord Buddha used lotus as an
analogous to four states of enlightenment (Ounayakawit, Punyasingh, 1972). The lotus grows
in muddy water, and yet the dirt and muddy water fall off its leaves and petals, keeping it
clean and pure. A connection is made that (1) the seed of the lotus blossom represents a
person at an early stage of the karmic cycle. As the person continues to walk their path and
rises higher in their spiritual evolution, they leave the murky water of samsara
(pain/suffering/attachment) behind. This is when (2) the lotus bud leaves muddy water and
later (3) emerges from under the water and reaches a purer state of consciousness. Over time
Figure 1.1 Four types of lotus in the myth from Buddhist teaching
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the bud blossoms as they move towards a state of nirvana. When a person has reached nirvana
(enlightenment/freedom from worldly attachments) they are representative of (4) a perfect
lotus bloom. The illustration describing this myth is shown in Figure1.1.
From these three myths, sacred lotus is highly relevant to Buddha’s life and teaching. As a
result, in Thai culture, it symbolizes chastity or purity of the Buddhist virtue. Hence,
religious-related floral arts in Thailand often involve this flower.
The forth myths is about a folk story about beauty and flowers (Meekotgong, 2008). Flowers
are thought to have relationship with beauty. To be more specific, Thai people believe that
when someone offer flowers to divinity, in return they will be beautiful in their next life. This
is linked to the Buddhist’s concept of karma. Karma is used for the consequence of one’s
actions in the current life to the next life, or in the previous life to the current life. For
example, the social status in one’s current life is the consequence of his/her previous actions
in his/her past life. From this logic of Karma, lower status people should try to make good
actions in order to be returned with good consequences in the next life. Likewise, with a
strong belief in karma in mind, a woman with an ugly husband might attribute the reason for
this by thinking that she offered withered flowers to Buddha in her previous life. Another
example from a folk story is that one of the Buddhist believers offered the Buddha a medicine
made from lotus and became very fortunate and healthy as a consequence. From recent
survey, Thai people hold strong belief in karma (National Statistical Office, 2005). For them,
Karma is used to explain many aspects of life (Jackson year, cited in Winter, 2006). These
might be another reason to reinforce the use of beautiful floral arts for religious purposes.
- 1.2 Mural painting壁画
Thai mural painting is a religious art, and its aim is therefore didactic. The painting was
supposed to lead the laity in the temple to a better understanding of Buddhist stories and to
put them into the right mood to better receive the Buddha’s preaching (Ringis, 1990).
Figure 1.2 Thai mural painting with lotus
18
Flowers are frequently found on mural paintings. They often depict an offering to the nature,
the virtue of Buddha or the pleasant atmosphere in utopia.
The vast majority of Thai murals concentrate on the life of Buddha life and his last ten
incarnations, the so-called thosachat (Jaiser, 2009). Blossom lotus can easily been found
related to Buddha life story as it is always underneath him to support his virtue. So flower is
worth offering to the Buddha and became one of the essential offerings to divinity.
Flowers are also used to symbolize the pleasant atmosphere in nirvana (Jaiser, 2009). Beside
the Buddha life, mural paintings in a temple show the environment of heaven, earth, and hell.
In heaven, flowers are often noticed as decorating patterns on background or as ornaments of
angels on foreground. See Figure 1.2 for an example of heaven in mural painting. We might
see, from moral painting, that flowers have long been represented the holiness or pleasant
atmosphere. Every time people visit a temple and see mural painting, they might associate
holiness with flowers.
- 1.3 Traditional Song and Thai dance歌
Thai traditional songs and dances are related to floral arts in many ways. They often reflect
the beautifulness of flowers in many domains. For instance, many songs aim to appreciate the
natural beauty of flowers. For example, in the song called “Rabam Dok Bua” or Lotus dance,
lotus is used as a symbol of beauty to attract audiences (Thai Dances, 2011). This song
describes the attractiveness of lotus when it blossoms.
Classical songs sometimes are also used for describing good behaviors. In a classical song
called “dokmai kong chart” or National flower, the word “flower” is used to represent women
(Thai dances, 2011). More specifically, this song uses flowers as a symbol to indicate that
there is a need for a nation to have women who have better manner and more patient than
men in order to support and unite the nation.
Similar to Thai traditional songs, flowers are extensively found in Thai traditional dance.
Flowers are used, for instance, in one of the most popular classical dances, called Khon. Khon
is the dance for Thai-version Ramayana, the classic India epic story. The story is about the
great battle among evil giants, heaven angles and humans. In the dance of Khon, floral arts
emphasizes how prominent the character is (Thai Dances, 2011). Specifically, audiences can
distinguish main characters from others by merely looking at floral arts and floral tassels at
19
the top part of an actor’s head ornament. See Figure 1.3 for Khon costume with flower arts on
head ornament. Khon also uses floral artss as a symbol to accent the great power the goddess
and human have. This way the flower used in Khon implies how righteous floral arts is.
In sum, flowers are extensively used in Thai traditional songs and dances. They often
symbolize beauty and righteousness. This is in line with other forms of arts, such as mural
paintings and literature.
1.4 Literature文学
It is commonly found flowers portraying in Thai literature. As mentioned before in the
previous unit, this can be dated back to Memoirs of Lady Sri Noppamas, the literature written
in Sukhothai period, around 700 years ago, to many contemporary works.
In many pieces of literature, flowers are included in various aspects of Thai people life. For
instance, flowers are used as ingredient in many products ranging from food, cloths,
cosmetics and medicine to precious floral arts (Thephahadhi, 1998). In addition, in religious-
related scenes of these works, it is fairly common to find actors in the literature use flowers to
pray for sacred items (Thephahadhi, 1998). This indicates that Thai literature portrays the use
of flowers not only for practical purposes but also for spiritual purposes.
It is also commonly found the use of flowers to symbolize expression for love, flirting and
heart-breaking scene (Thephahadhi, 1998). This indicates that Thai literature authors use
flower as a symbol. The flowers that once show love in the full bloom period can also mean
failure when it withered. These aforementioned characteristics are found in one of the most
popular contemporary Thai novels, Four Reigns (Pramoj, 1998).
Figure 1.3 flower used in Khon classical dance
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Four Reigns portrays the usages of flowers occurring between 1868-1946. Flowers at that era
had been used in many social and religious activities (See Figure 1.4 , for a scene from four
reigns series ) For example, Thai people spent significant of time arranging traditional flower
Malai for offering to Buddhist monks at the temple on Buddhist holy days, where they met
with others in the community. In addition, floral Malai was offered to the divinity or guardian
spirit at the house regularly as a family activity. The flower left was also used as an ingredient
for making traditional liquid and solid fragrance. Additionally, royal ladies spread the skill of
using flowers to the public. Even though the lesson is strict and time-consuming, it is
regarded as a highly desirable by the society. Therefore, lots of Thai women citizen were
motivated to acquire this skill.
From this novel, we can see that, historically, flowers have been intermingled with Thai
people life, and they contribute to society and nature.
- 1.5 Textile布
Figure 1.4 Grandmother teach her granddaughter to make traditional liquid fragrance, scene from Thai series “ Four reigns”
21
Making textile utilizes flowers in many ways, such as using flower as a fabric color dye and
an inspiration to create textile patterns. Traditionally, flowers can be used to dye silk or other
fabrics, such as red color from Marigold, blue from butterfly pea and yellow from Safflower
(Ketkhao, 1997). With community wisdom, people use many kinds of flowers to extract for
dying variety colors clothes.
Moreover, traditional textile patterns are believed to develop from the value of flowers in
Thai community. Natural flowers portrayed the beauty of nature. The textile patterns got an
inspiration from flowers , further binding it into organized pattern as in Figure 1.5. Thai
handicrafts are inspired by the flower's form and beauty (Ounayakawit, 1972). The textile
museum of Naraysuen University describes the reasons Thai got an inspiration from natural
flower as followed. First, the pattern from systematically arranged flower symbolized the
ideal peaceful and disciplinary life. Secondly, using Thai traditional flowers, used to offer for
sacred item and monks, symbolizes the tact of the citizen which holding the belief to the
Buddhism. For example, Bakul, Kaew, and Baan yen flower. Thirdly, the flowers of water
Figure 1.5 silk textile pattern, Bakul flower
Figure 1.6 pattern of systematically arranged flower
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plants symbolize people united and delicacy since it is a small flower that always grows fast
as a group. Lastly, the Bakul flower shape of elaborated square also symbolizes the essential
four natural elements: earth, water, wind, and fire. (Thai Textile Museum, 2008) This way,
textile pattern (see Figure 1.6) use flowers to show the delicacies of crafts along with the
customs and value of living in a group of Thai people.
- 1.6 Thai pattern of flower in Thai art
Thai Art was enormously influenced by nature, and develop into systematic pattern as in
Figure 1.7). The basic patterns are belief to get the inspiration from fire, water, flowers and
ideal creature. The patterns were widely used for gable decoration of Temple, or/and
Sanctuary. Somehow, they were also used for wooden sculpture or stucco artwork such as in
Figure 1.8.
Flower pattern was claimed to have related to religious belief. Patterns with flower that used
to offer to sacred item represent the homage to superstitious belief. For example, (Figure 1)
Figure 1.9 Jasmine in painting
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Lotus was used in many patterns of Thai ancient art. This is because Lotus is a main symbol
of Buddhism in Thailand. (Figure 1.9) From the ancient architectural element, lotus pattern
can obviously noticeable. The pattern is forced to connect in relatively geometric form.
Therefore Thai ancient pattern are sharing the characteristic of symmetry and orderly
arranged.
Apart from Lotus, There are some of the flower patterns existed such as Jasmine, Pudtarn
flower (inspired by “Bai faithet”leaves), and Prajamyarm pattern. Although Prajamyarm is
not a real flower in nature, it is a basic pattern of Thai traditional art (see Figure 1.10). It is
widely used as a main decorative pattern has applied to the pillar, door, and window of the
Temple or the Palace. The pattern is built in the square frame with a circle in the center and
divided the corner area into 4 parts like a petal flower. Figure 1.10 shows a characteristic of
symmetric and perfectly arranged can referred to a flower bloom in heaven.
In conclusion, literature review of myth and evidence about flower in Thai history indicate
high degree of engagement Thais have with flowers in various domains of arts. From this, we
can see 1) the influence of religion on floral arts, 2) the association between righteousness and
flowers and 3) preference toward rules of order in floral arts. These values explain how floral
arts are used.
Figure 1.10 prajamyarm, basic pattern resemble organized flower
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Unit2: literature review and field survey on the flower
culture in daily life
第二章：日常生活における花の文化～文献調査と聞
き取り調査より
25
Unit2: literature review and field survey on the flower culture in daily life
第二章：日常生活における花の文化～文献調査と聞き取り調査より
This unit focuses on floral arts and its underlying meanings, drawing from literature and field
survey in Bangkok, conducted from August to September, 2011. Varieties of purposes of
floral arts are listed here. From here, we can see that there is a strong connection between
flowers and Thai citizens. Flowers are used in daily life as they serve for religious purpose as
well as for other secular purposes, such as ingredients in food, medicine, or even fragrance.
Figure 2.1 A specialist making malai (floral garland)
- 2.1 Flower used as a gift
Flowers in Thailand are often used as a gift as an expression of love, gratitude, appreciation,
or even apology. Examples of such a usage are given here.
For an expression for love, in the past, Thai men used to use a Crown flower (Calotropis
gigantea R. Br.) to express their love to women. Because the Thai name of Crown flower is
pronounced the same as the word “love” in Thai language, Crown flower is a symbol of
affection.
26
Flowers are also used as a gift for giving respect and gratitude toward others. This is often
seen in the context of religion. Flowers are often used to offer to divinity. Specifically, Thai
people hold a strong belief in offering sacred items or Buddhist monks arranged flowers.
These arranged flowers are among the most delicate and take very high effort.
Lastly, according to Thai traditional life style, flowers can be used to show apology as well.
People give arranged flowers to show their regret when they do something wrong to the
person they respects.
- 2.2 Flower types and how to pick
Due to tropical climate in Thailand, various flowers are very easy to find, either in cultivated
or naturally grown fields. Nonetheless, some flowers are closer related to people life than
others. According to literature reviews and field survey, here are examples of 61 kinds of
commonly used flowers; including sacred lotus, jasmine, damask rose, and many others are
discussed in this chapter. Flowers used in food and medicine purposes are from literature
review such as Thaithong, O. (1999). Accordingly, flowers used for floral arts are reviewed
from both literature reviews and field survey results. We focus on their names and the
methods of picking of each flower. Details are given to more commonly used flowers than the
less common ones.
1.) Sacred Lotus (Bua Luang): Nelumbo nucifer
Bua means lotus, and Luang means royal in Thai language. Picking sacred lotus can be both
recreation and obligation. From the interview, picking the lotus can be a chance to meet and
communicate with other people in community. Since sacred lotus is grown in the mud under
water, picking the lotus requires riding a boat or walking in pool or swamp of public area.
Figure 2.2 Lotus picking in Thailand, 1868. The British Library
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Sacred lotus has many usages in Thai culture. All parts of the plant can be used in a
household routine. There is no specific rule about picking sacred lotus. However, Thai people
cut only the amount they are going to use. This is not only applied to sacred lotus but the
entire flower cutting. The time for picking lotus is in the morning because the weather is not
too hot.
Sacred lotus can be picked in 3 periods. The first period is when the flower is budding. To
pick the flower, the lotus flower should be cut above the mud level. The second period is
when sacred lotus is blooming. In this period, the fully bloom lotus flower should be cut.
Stamen of the bloom flower can be used as a food ingredient, and its petal is used as a
cigarette wrapper. The third period is after the flower withered. the pod and seed of sacred
lotus became food. Moreover, other part of Lotus has many benefits. Rhizome and stolen are
edible ingredients. The stalk of lotus flower can be used as a gas lamp mantle. Additionally,
the leaf can be used to pack the cooked food or keep the flower fresh.
2.) Jasmine (Mali): Jasminum sambac Ait.
In Thai language, Jasmine is called Mali. Jasmine flowers have white color and easy to find
all over the years especially in the summer and rainy seasons. There are up to three Jasmine
flowers in the same branch (see Figure 2.5 for an example of a Jasmine branch). People
usually pick jasmine in the morning for its flower buds and in the evening for its full-bloom
Lower stalk
Figure 2.5 Jasmine flower buds Figure 2.6 ready-to-use Jasmine flowers
Figure 2.4 Parts of sacred lotus (from left: stamen, rhizome, stolen, dried old seed, leaf)
Figure 2.3 different stages of sacred lotus flower
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flowers. Jasmine is picked by hands as an individual flower with a connected short stalk.
Lower stalk keeps the flower fresh. Later, the lower stalk will be taken off in the flower
preparation period. Removing the lower stalk will make the flowers bloom faster. Full-bloom
flowers are picked by hand in the same way.
3.) Damask rose (KularbMon): Rosa damascena Mill.
In Thai language, “Kularb” means rose, and “Mon” is refer to an ancient ethnic group in
Southeast Asia in 2-11th century. From its name, it can be infer that KularbMon is one
kind of roses that is originally related from an ancient ethnic group of Mon in the past.
Damask rose is valued by its scent and vivid color. Interestingly, picking the flowers of
damask rose can help their productivity of the plant. Usually it is advisable to pick in the
full-bloom period to get the best scent of damask rose. Damask rose grows as a shrub
with a slim stalk. It has different shades, ranging from pink to red. The first step of
picking damask rose is to cut the stalk off by scissors, about 2-3 inches from its flower.
This is believed to provide a chance for the plant to grow its flower again in a faster
manner.
The second step is to pick only the flower part without a stalk by hand. The stalk is
thrown away. Cutting and picking damask rose requires no time. However, damask rose
has sharp thorns, so the picker must be very careful of them. Damask rose is usually
prepared by splitting the petals of the flower apart and categorizing into different size.
See Figure2.8 for the pictures of common flowers that are used in Thai traditional floral
arts.
Figure 2.7 picking Jasmine part explanation
29
Figure 2.8 (above row from left): Damask rose, Ylang Ylang, Ixora, Marigold (below row from left): Crown flower, Globe Amaranth, Bakul, Orchid
4.) Ylang-Ylang (Kradangnga): Annonaceae Cananga odorata
Kradannga is a Thai name for Ylan-ylang tree. Ylang-Ylang is a yellow color flower with
world-renowned gentle and calming scent. Thai people use Ylang-ylang in many
purposes including cooking dessert, and making floral arts. Ylang-Ylang Flower was
plucked individually by hand without the stalk.
5.) Ixora (Dok Khem): Ixora chinensis lamk.
Dok means flower, and Khem means needle in Thai language. This indicates the physical
characteristic of this type of flower. Specifically, the form of Ixora flower is like a needle.
It symbolizes the sharpness or witty. To pick the flowers, one can do simply by picking as
a whole bunch by hand.
6.) Marigold (Dao rueng): Tagetes erecta L.
Dao rueng in Thai language means growth and wealth. This flower can be plucked only
one flower individually by hand. If the flower is withered without picking out, the branch
will die and produce no more flowers.
7.) Crown flower (Dok rak): Calotropis gigantea
Dok means flower and Rak means love in Thai language. As a result, this flower is used
in the many auspicious ceremonies. It is easy to pick the whole bunch of Crown flower by
hand. However, one needs to be careful about the toxic liquid that might harm his/her
hand. The next process is drying the flowers by laying them under sunlight. After the
liquid is dried, the flower will be separated into two parts: inner part and outer part.
8.) Globe amaranth (Ban Mairooroey): Gomphrena globosa L.
In Thai language, Mairooroey means everlasting, and Ban means bloom. It is used in
many auspicious events to value the meaning of forever exist of fortunate, love, or
knowledge. To pick it up, Globe amaranth flower should be pluck by hand by keeping its
short stem underneath the flower.
9.) Bakul tree (Pikul): SAPOTACEAE Mimusops elengi
Pikul in Thai language only refers to Bakul tree.
30
The flower of Bakul tree diffuses its smell strongly at night. Its smell lasts even long after
the flower was picked or dried. This tree is commonly grown at a temple or public
garden. Bakul trees are so tall that people can only pick fallen flowers on their trees. It is
a belief that this flower is worth to be offered to divinity, mainly because it has very
sweet and pleasant scent.
10.) Tuberose (Sornklin): Polianthes tuberose Linn.
Sorn means hidden, and Klin means smell. The smell of Sornklin flower is diffusing at
night but no smell at all at noon. As a result, people named it Sornklin. To pick the
flower, the first step is to cut the flower bunch at the soil level after dawn. This flower’s
smell is diffusing, and the flower is usually used for a funeral. This way, tuberose is not
usually grown in a household but rather at a temple or Public Park.
11.) Orchid (Kluaymai): Orchidaceae Dendrobium hybrids
Kluaymai refers to orchid.
The first step to pick this flower is to cut the whole branch when the flower at the bottom
of the branch blooms. The flower at the tip will bloom after a while even it is cut. Orchid
stays fresh for longer period than other flowers.
12.) Cape Gardenia (putt): Gardenia jasminoides
Putt has the same pronunciation as Buddhism in Thai language. The flower buds can stay
fresh longer than the full-bloom one. However, the full bloom flower smell is stronger
than the flower bud.
1. Flower buds: Pluck by hand only the flower buds with small stem.
2. Full-bloom flower: Pluck by hand only the flower and connected small stem
13.) Pandanus (Lumjiak): Pandanus odoratissimus
To pick pandanus, one should take the whole branch of both flower and stalk.
14.) Yellow berry nightshade (Makhuer): Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad. & Wendl.
To pick pandanus, one should pick only its bloom flowers by hand, and avoid its thorns.
15.) Little yellow star (kradoomthong): Camchaya spinulifera H.Koyama
Kradoom means button and Thong means gold in Thai language
Figure 2.9 (From left) White Champaka, Orange Champaka, Frngipani
16.) White Champaka (Champi): MAGNOLIACEAE Michelia alba
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Cham means remembering, and pi literally means year. There are two methods to pick
Champaka:1 picking only the medium bloom by hand and 2. picking the medium bloom
with connected stalk and a leaf.
17.) Orange Champaka: Michelia champaca
Cham means remembering, and pa means throwing away. Some people found the word
“throwing away” resembles throwing away of luck and happiness. They prefer to use the
Champi better than Champa. There are two methods of picking the flowers: 1. picking
only the medium bloom flowers by hand and 2. picking the medium bloom flowers with
connected stalk and one leaf.
18.) Frangipani (Lanthom): Plumeria acuminata Art.
Lanthom pronunciation is somewhat resembling Rathom that means melancholy.
Lanthom is not widely used because its inauspicious meaning. It was commonly grown
near cemetery. When picking this flower, one should be careful about white toxic liquid.
19.) Roselle (krachiap): MALVACEAE Hibiscus sabdariffa L.
To pick roselle, it should be done when the flower is at the full boom. After the flower
witheres, the left over is boiled and edible.
20.) Cowslip Creeper (kajorn): Telosma minor Craib
Kajorn means spreading in Thai language. It is also used to explain popularity as well.
People found this plant name is supporting their reputation and popularity. Picking young
buds in a whole branch by hand is a common method for picking this type of flower.
21.) Siamese Senna Cassod Tree (keelek): Cassia siamea (Lamk.)
For this type of flower, one should pick young buds by hand. Raw and fresh flower
contains toxic. However, it is edible after boiled.
22.) Vegetable Humming Bird (kae): Sesbania grandiflora L.
For this type of flower, one should pick young buds by hand. The yellow stamen is
reduced.
23.) Malay Apple (chompuu): Eugenia javanica Lam.
For this type of flower, one should pick only the stamen of the bloom flowers by hand.
24.) Sesbania (sano): Sesbania aculeata
For this type of flower, one should pick young buds in a whole branch by hand. People
also use Sesbania when it is in the middle bloom period to make Thai sweets.
25.) West Indian Jasmine (Soak): Polyalthia longifolia
Soak literally means grieve. For this type of flower, one should pick the bloom flower by
hand.
26.) Bougainvillea (Fuangfa): NYCTAGINACEAE Bougainvillea hybrid
Fuang means growth and Fa means sky. For this type of flower, one should cut the whole
branch of bloom flowers by scissors.
32
27.) Coral Vine (Puang cmompoo): Antigonon leptopus Hook
Puang means a group of something and Chompoo means pink color. For this type of
flower, one should pick bloom flowers in the whole branch.
28.) Butterfly Pea (Anchan): PAPILIONOIDEAE Clitoria ternatea L.
For this type of flower, one should pick only the bloom flower by hand.
29.) Pumpkin (Fak thong): Cucurbita moschata Decne.
For this type of flower, one should pick the tips together with the young buds by hand.
30.) Tamarind (Ma Kham): Tamarindus indica L.
For this type of flower, one should pick the young bud together with young leaf without
the stalk.
31.) Red silk cotton (ngue): Bombax ceiba L.
For this type of flower, one should pick the full bloom flower by hand.
32.) Water hyacinth (Paktopchawa) : Eichlornia crassipes Solms
Pak means vegetable and top means a kind of vegetable grows in water. Chawa, or Java,
means an area in Indonesia. For this type of flower, one should pick the full bloom
flower.
33.) Chinese chive (Kuichai): Allium tuberosum Rottl. ex Spreng
For this type of flower, one should cut the buds with long stalk.
34.) Chinese Cabbage (Kwang tung) : Brassica pekinensis
For this type of flower, one should cut the whole branch of buds and medium bloom
flower together with the leaf.
35.) Shallot (Hom): Alliumcepa var. aggregatum
Hom means smell.
36.) Cauliflower (kalum): Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis L.
For this type of flower, one should cut the whole young bud.
37.) Corn (Khao pot): Zea mays Linn.
38.) Mango (Mamuang): Mangifera indica Linn.
39.) Water Lily ( Bua Puen) : Nymphaea stellata Wild.
Bua means lotus and Puen is a type name. Water lilly is considered one kind of lotus in
Thailand. However, the stalk is not strong like the sacred lotus. Therefore, it is not as
popular to use as a decoration flower, but rather a food ingredient. There are many colors
available, and it blooms during daytime. For this type of flower, one should pull the
whole flowers by and to get the whole stalk, usually in the morning.
40.) White Popinac (Kratin kao): leguminosae fabaceae
For this type of flower, one should pick the full bloom branch of flowers.
41.) White Meranti (Payom): Shorea roxburghii G.
42.) Banana (Kluay): MUSACEAE Musa sapientum L.
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For this type of flower, one should cut the whole bloom flower after the separate branch
of banana fruit is all taken and stop growing. (Linglaew): Asipidistra sutepensis
43.) Glalangal (Khar): Alpinia nigra B.L.Burtt
For this type of flower, one should cut the flower bud and the stalk together.
44.) Hog Plum (Makok): Spondias pinnata Kurz.
45.) Snow Creeper (Laddawan): Porana volubilis Burm. F.
46.) flowers from vegetable grows in rice field
For this type of flower, one should pick the tip of the vegetable together with the flower
buds.
47.) Smilax (Somsiew): Bauhinia malabarica Roxb.
48.) Cosmos (Dao krajai): Cosmos sulphureus Cav.
Dao means star and Krajai means scattering
49.) Snowy Orchid Tree (Kalong): Bauhinia acuminata Linn.
50.) Night Blooming Jasmine (kannika): NYCTANTHACEAE Nyctanthes arbor-tristis L.
51.) Orange Jessamine (kaew): Murraya paniculata
Kaew mean glass in Thai language. For this type of flower, one should either 1) picking
by hand only the buds with small stem, or 2) picking by hand only the flower and
connected small stem.
52.) Eagle wood Agarwood flower (Kritsana): quilaria crassna Pierre.
53.) Sarapee: Mammea siamensis
For this type of flower, one should pick the full bloom by hand.
54.) Chrysanthemum (Benjamart): Chromolaena odorata
For this type of flower, one should pick the full bloom by hand.
55.) Chinese tinospora Scented star jasmine (wanchalee)
56.) Andaman satin wood (ta-suar): Aphanamixis polystachya
Ta means eye and suar means tiger.
57.) Four o`clock flower (Baanyen): NYCTAGINACEAE Mirabilis jalapa L.
Baan means bloom, and yen means evening. For this type of flower, one should pick the
full bloom flower by hand.
58.) Burma Conehead (Nang Yam): APOCYNACEAE Rauvolfia cambodiana
Nang means a word for calling a woman. And Yam means blossom.
59.) Safflower (Khamfoi): COMPOSITAE (ASTERACEAE) Carthamus tinctorius
For this type of flower, one should pick the full boom flower as a whole branch by hand
60.) Siamese randia flower (katkao)
For this type of flower, one should pick the full bloom flower by hand.
61.) False Daisy (kameng) Eclipta prostrate Linn.
There is no specific picking method for this type of flower.
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We categorized each of the aforementioned 61 kinds of flowers to types according to
purposes: floral arts, medicine and food (see Figure 2.10). Only Sacred Lotus, Jasmine,
Damask Rose, Ylang-Ylang and Ixora have all of the three purposes. Interestingly, these
flowers are found to be relevant to various aspects of Thais’ way of life according to the
literature reviews in the previous units.
Figure 2.10 Flower types category
- 2.3 The floral arts (process and how to use)
There are several methods of floral arts employed by Thais. Here we reviewed two of the
most common ones: bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle and Thai traditional floral
Malai.
Common floral arts used in daily life are a flower-candle-incense stick, as well as a Thai
traditional floral, Malai.
35
2.3.1 A bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle
This type of floral art consists of flowers with a candle and three incense sticks. The flowers
that are commonly used in this type of floral arts are: (1) Sacred lotus and (11) Orchid and (6)
Marigold. Figure 2.11 shows how a bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle is made from
sacred lotus.
Figure 1.12 Making floral arts by using Sacred Lotus
Making this type of floral arts requires only short period of time, comparing to other types,
and minimal effort. Basically, arranging flowers for this type of floral art is just folding the
petals of sacred lotus buds. By doing this, the petals of lotus bud will be folded in the way the
flower will expend as if it is blooming as in figure 2.12. Perhaps the reason that people use
lotus buds is because it can stay fresh longer than the full bloom one.
Thai Buddhists often use three of lotus flowers in a bouquet of flower, incense stick and
candle to pay homage to the image of the Buddha. Perhaps the reason behind this behavior is
because three lotus blooms are offered for the three gems or Rattanatrai (Ounayakawit, 1972).
Beside lotus, orchid and marigold are sometimes found in the flower-incense-stick-candle
bouquet.
Orchid and marigold are as durable as sacred lotus. However unlike sacred lotus, these
flowers did not have long record in Thai traditional art. Also using orchid and marigold in a
Figure 2.11 Sacred Lotus as floral arts
36
bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle does not require special arranging skills as other
flowers. For orchid, people often bind its branch with Pandan leaves in the bouquet. However,
marigold is often used as the only flower in the bouquet.
Figure 2.12 Praying with flower-candle-incense
Scene of use: To start with, people hold a bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle in the
most respective manner by putting their hands together in a praying gesture. Then a candle is
lighted up in front of the altars, and the bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle should be
placed in front of the Buddhist altar at a temple as in figure 2.13. After that, the incense stick
should then be lighted up and hold in connecting hands during the time of which people
attentively pray a common short mantra. Some Thais also consider this action a way of
meditation.
2.3.2 Malai (Floral garland) is widely used all over Thailand. Malai is the most common Thai
floral feature of Thai traditional floral arts (Intakul, 2009). Figure 2.14 shows a common
malai with jasmine, damask rose and crown flower. It is a rounded floral garland with two of
“uba”, or tassels (see Figure 2.15). Many types of flowers can be used in a combination to
make the round shape of the floral Malai and its components. Commonly used flowers
include Jasmine (2), Damask Rose (3), Crown Flower (7), Globe Amaranth (8), and Cape
Gardenia (12). Sometimes other flowers, including Sacred Lotus (1), Marigold (6), Crown
Figure 2.14 Malai (Floral garland)
37
flower (9), Orchid (11), Little yellow star (15), White Champaka (16),and Orange Champaka
(17), are also used depending on availability.
Malai components
Figure2.15 show different parts of malai. Rounded part of malai usually consists of white tiny
flower sewn together. In advance type, it is also include other flower petals such as damask
rose as shown in Figure 2.14. Uba or tassel is a line of flowers usually has dok kha, kha
flower, at one end. Combining uba and rounded organized sewn flower make a simple
garland (malai). There is no rule of how many uba is needed, but at least 2 of uba is
commonly used. The more uba added, the more time and effort is needed. Therefore, malai
with many uba lines is considered more precious than malai with few uba. The floral artists
use their skill to sew all the components together. Furthermore, they do many advanced types
of malai based on these rule of components as well as available types of flowers at the time.
Making of malai
The making of malai process is obviously the women responsibility due to its delicacy.
However, the men role for preparing materials for malai cannot be ignored. In the past, there
is no thread from factory, so men and boys are responsible to make a thread from a plant’s
bark. Likewise, the coconut bark can be divided in long fiber line. It is used as a thread or
even replace needle in making floral arts. Nowadays, people completely replace the used of
plant barks with long needles and factory threads.
38
Figure 2.15 Parts of malai: combination
39
Process of floral arts (from the observation in a field survey session with Mrs.Wanna
Kluaymai N. Ayuthaya-Maneenuch on Aug 30th, 2011) shows how Malai is made from little
pieces of flowers as in Figure 2.16.
Figure 2.16 Process of making malai
40
Unlike a bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle, making Malai requires time, effort, and
skills. As a result, it is considered to be the most suitable form of floral arts for an offering to
divinity. Consequently, malai is often used in every Buddhist holiday and other important
moments, such as father days and mother days.
People often pick flowers with a beautiful-meaning name or preferable scent and combine
them into organized symmetry pattern. However, the rule for selecting flowers is not very
strict. Arrangers can decide according to condition and availability. Therefore available
flowers are regarded as the best choices of flowers in each period of the year.
Women members in a household are responsible for arranging Malai for daily usages, for
instance, as an offering to Buddhist altar and spirit house. Some households replace each
malai after the current one is dried up. However, malai often lasts quite long, perhaps due to
the usage of chemical fertilizer nowadays.
Flower types used in a traditional malai have been changed according to the ease of use. For
example, the Malai was used to comprise of Damask rose petals, but now orchid petals are
used instead. This is because orchid can last longer than Damask rose, and its thicker petals
are easier to be sewed together. Additionally, new designs of the Malai have been developed
according to arrangers’ preference and the market needs. The more complicated malai design
is, the more expensive it become.
People nowadays start to buy an artificial malai instead of a fresh one. Artificial flowers are
made of plastic or variety of color cloths. The use of this artificial malais has been reinforced
by the facts they last a lot longer.
From this, it can be seen that many changes have been found in the use of Malai. These all
influence how Thai people continue to use malai nowadays (Mrs.Wanna Kluaymai N.
Ayuthaya Maneenuch. Interviewed on Aug 30th, 2011).
Scene of using malai in everyday life
Malai generally is used in the same way as a bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle.
Mainly it is used in religious purposes, such as offer to Buddhist altar and spirit houses.
However, malai is also considered a gift for senior people, mainly for showing respect to
these people. From the interview, nonetheless, we found that those senior citizens who
41
receive a malai as a gift often reuse it as an offering to Buddhist altar and spirit houses.
Hence, the ultimate purpose for a malai is usually for religion.
Scene of using floral arts in everyday life
Above we summarized the use of a malai and a bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle.
Here we extend this to general use of floral arts in daily life.
Three common usages of floral arts are (1) to offer to a Buddhist altar inside a house, (2) to
offer to guardian spirits at a spirit house, and (3) to offer to monks as part of alms giving
along with food and dessert in the morning (see Figure 2.17). Giving floral arts to monks is
often done in the morning when monks are wandering around a community to collect food
and donations. Alternatively, people also offer monks floral arts upon their visit at a temple.
Usually flowers are picked in the early morning, so the arrangement of these flowers is
usually done before noon. Then the head of the family take the responsibility to use floral arts
to pray toward divinity on the behalf of all family members. In other cases, female family
members can take responsibility instead of the head of the family when they are allowed.
Alternatively, all of the members might offer the flower together at the same time.
Thai people believe that by offering floral arts to a Buddha statue at home, they will be
blessed by the Buddha. These floral arts can be either malais, bouquets of flower, incense
stick and candle or both. Some Thais feel that this offering is a token of appreciation to the
Buddha for the teachings he gave to the world. This behavioral tendency is so strong for some
people that they cannot even start their day without praying at their home-based Buddha altar.
Essentially then, for these people, floral arts are used on daily basis.
The same belief can also apply to the usage of floral arts at a spirit house. Around a spirit
house, there is a small balcony where daily offerings of food, water, flowers, candles and
incense may be placed as offerings. There is a belief that routine offering to spirit house will
Figure 2.17 Daily making merit
42
make the family member protect by the area god or spirits. Hence the offerings require
replacement of food everyday, but for new floral arts, they should be replaced every 3 or 4
days.
Not only on daily basis, but floral arts are also used extensively on special occasions. One day
before special events, family members, especially females, are often responsible for preparing
the flowers in the early morning and arrange the flowers together on the veranda of the house
(Interview with specialist 1 Mrs. Mintra Dinakara N. Ayuthaya, Interview session Aug
4,2011).
Besides using floral arts in Buddhist-related ceremonies, Thai people also implement floral
arts to worship divinity in other religions as well, such as Brahman god and goddess. Thai
people often go to a temple or a Brahman shrine to pray for fortune. Usually floral arts are an
integral part of this praying (see Figure 2.18).
By the way, this culture of using flowers for floral arts was common for every household
daily life. When they had not enough flower they can borrow or lend flower to neighbors
regularly without hesitation.
2.4 leftovers of flowers after the arrangement
It is considered wasteful to throw flowers away. Hence, Thais often find some methods to
utilize the leftovers of flower materials after the arrangement. This shows how much Thai
value flowers as precious natural resource.
Figure 2.18 famous shrine in the center of Bangkok
43
2.4.1 Small flower work or toy for children
After finishing the floral arts, often people arrange the left-over fresh flower into animal
characters or small flower works for children. This provides another chance for novices to
practice their skill of arranging as well as creating a toy for children such as in Figure2.19.
This way, children might appreciate the value of flowers while enjoying their time with their
parents and family members.
2.4.2 Used to decorate food or drink
Many flowers have desirable scent, and people take advantage of this scent for food and
drink. Specifically, they use leftovers from the floral arts for decorating dishes or flavored
drinking water. Some scents from flowers are believed to raise appetite when used to touch up
the top part of baked desserts. For example, Damask rose petals are often used for decorating
baked coconut milk dessert, Thaco (See figure2.20).
2.4.3 Making flower sachet
Leftovers of floral arts are often included in a flower sachet. A flower sachet is a combination
of dried floral arts and traditional fragrance from flower. In a sachet, dried flowers are used as
1) an absorbent of fragrance emitted from other flowers and 2) a provider of fragrance
themselves (Amatadecha, 2011).
Figure 2.19 "Kra-tae" a floral arts resembles a squirrel
Figure 2.20 Damask rose petals on dessert
44
The floral arts that were touched by the King or royal families have to treat specially by keep
dry again in sunlight. Then spray the concentrated flower fragrance and put in the enclosed
container. This is called ”BU-NGA” means the dried flower with favorable fragrance smell.
Bu-nga is usually kept in flower sachet as in Figure2.21. (From the observation of interview
session of Mrs.Wanna Kluaymai N. Ayuthaya Maneenuch: on 08/04/2011)
2.4.4 Dried up flower that was used to worship divinity
The flower after used as an offering will be collected and dried by laying over the sunlight.
Later, it is grinded into powder and gives to Buddhist monks at temple. Monks will gathered
them together with the dried flower from special events at the temple as an ingredient of
talisman or sacred amulet making.
2.5 Flower medication
Flower in medication is widely used in Thai daily life from ancient time. Even though there
has no specific evidence of the origin, but the people in community learned from trial and
error. Many flowers are believed to have health healing benefit, for example, Sacred Lotus.
The lotus has many other uses than offering to divinity. It has medicinal values in its petals,
stamen and root. The seeds and the young leaves are delicious. The large tough leaf can be
used to wrap cooked food. (Ounayakawit, 1972)
Flower shows its benefits are not limited to beauty but also help preventing and curing
disease as one of Thai local wisdom.
2.6 Flower in food
Beside the beauty and medication benefit, flowers also increase the varieties of Thai cuisine
taste and texture. Thai cuisine is a very delicate art. Thai food requires various choices of
ingredients. Thai people use trial and error to adjust their food ingredient according to the
natural resource availability at the time.
Figure 2.21 “Bu-nga” in flower sachet
45
The flowers that can be cooked for food can categorize into the part of the flower used. First,
the young flower buds that can be eaten with chili paste when boiled are: 20, 22, 23, 24, 29,
30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 44, 45, and 46
Meanwhile, the fresh flowers that can be eaten raw with chili paste are: 6,39,47,48
Second, the medium bloom flowers that can be cooked as fritter fried dishes are: 19, 21, 22,
25, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 37, 41, 42, 43, and 48
Third, The full bloom flowers that can be cooked into soup cuisine are: 19, 21, 22, 25, 29, 30,
32, 34, 35, 37, 41, 42, 43, and 48
Fourth, the boiled flower that put in spicy salad dishes is: 20,23, 25, 40, and 41
the fresh raw flower that put in spicy salad dishes are: 42, 49
Fifth, the stir-fried flower buds dishes are: 10, 20, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, and 37
Sixth, the flower drinks can use: 2, 3, 19, and 28
Seventh, the flower that is used to make food coloring is: 28
Lastly, the flowers that can be used to make dessert are: 2, 3, 14, and 28
Since Thai people spend a lot of time with food gathering and cooking, they are very
exquisite about food. Therefore, various food tastes, textures, as well as scents are available in
the same dishes. It shows how Thai people utilize available resources to create variation of
cuisine. Consequently, people try different ingredients due to availability instead of following
the strict rules of cuisine.
2.7 Thai traditional Fragrance from flower
2.7.1 Liquid perfume
Thai traditional liquid perfume (Nam-ob) is extracted from flowers together with other parts
of plant. Main component of fragrance comes from the extract of flowers such as Ylang-
ylang, Jasmine and rose see Figure 2.22 for image of liquid fragrance. Traditional fragrance
has main usage as a clothes or room fragrance. It can also be used as a body perfume
(Amatadecha, 2011). Thai people believe that flower fragrance can change the human
emotion, mostly in positive way. Therefore people love to grow the plant that provide flower
Figure 2.22 "Nam-ob" Thai traditional perfume
46
with fragrance in their garden. The smell of flower diffusing varies by the time and type of
the plant. (Thaithong, 1999)
2.7.2 Solid perfume
Din So Pong or Thai solid perfume is made from filtered white-powder soil. The first process
of making Din So Pong is boiling and filtering white soil repeatedly. After its powder
turnouts white and clean, it is then pressed into a drop shape. After that, powdered drop is
kept separately with diffusing-scent flowers, including Jasmine, Damask rose and Ylang
ylang, in the same enclosed area in a bowl. In this bowl, a scented candle is burning for a
night in order for the powder to have the scent of the flowers in the bowl. Solid fragrance is
either used as body powder or liquid fragrance by combining with other liquid for more long-
lasting scent. The scent of Thai traditional fragrance is cool, and Din So Pong is also used for
soothing itchy skin (Amatadecha, 2011).
2.8 The meanings of using flower in Thai daily life
2.8.1 Flower and family
2.8.1.1 Family activities
In ancient days, Thai people used to have elaborate way of life. They valued details of
activities and art works. Floral arts can be seen as an example of this way of life. People
spend significant time on activities related to flowers. Since flower has many usages in
household, daily life activity using flowers encourages family bonds.
In the old days, women and children were responsible for floral arts. They calculated the
amount of flowers they needed for floral arts and picked the flowers from gardens. It was
everyone’s concern not to be wasteful with flowers. Girls often followed their cousins, sisters,
mother or grandmother to the garden to prepare their own flowers. On the other hand, the
boys prepared long coconut stripe to use as a needle. Then everyone gathered around and
focused on their jobs. Beginners started with picking flower from gardens by following the
Figure 2.23 "Din-so-pong" Thai traditional solid perfume
47
veterans. Veterans had a responsibility to teach beginners how to prepare each type of floral
arts. For example, beginners started by learning how to categorize jasmine by size and
ripeness, and how to split the rose into petal and float in water to avoid dehydration.
(Interview with specialist 1 Mrs. Mintra Dinakara N. Ayuthaya, Interview session Aug 20,
2011)
2.8.1.2 Flexible way of life due to flower availability
Basically, Thais’ rules about religion are very strict. However, when it comes to crafts or
lifestyle, Thai people spend enormous amount of time on their preference. Once people learn
basic processes, they might ignore some rules and create new forms or use different materials,
as they are comfortable with. Thai people are highly flexible at adapting to materials that are
available at that time. Sometimes overall forms might change or mix with other crafts they are
familiar with. Creativity then is another key feature of floral arts in Thailand.
2.8.1.3 Transmission of knowledge in a family
It is a habit of doing floral arts when other housework has done. Family members gather and
spend time together. There are variety of materials and special flowers used in some
households, and consequently, some families have their own style of floral arts. These family
habits have become customs of the family to carry on for the next generation. Even in the
same area, people practice variety of floral arts styles where they somehow keep the skill
secret to only family members.
While arranging flowers, people talk about traditional beliefs about living together with
nature. For example, every flower taken should be used up. The waste of flowers shows non-
respectful manner to nature. Hence after the main floral arts are finished, the extra flower
might end up as a decoration or toy for children or even a decoration for food as mentioned
earlier. Moreover, it is prohibited to sniff flowers. This is because the smell of fragrance is the
most value part that should be offered to divinity, not normal people. From this belief,
sniffing takes away the sacred of flowers.
2.8.1.4 Specific scent reflects good quality of life
Flower scent is important and has underlying meanings for Thai people life. Flowers with
desirable smell are recognized as the blessed ones. Gathering these flowers and combining
them systematically when arranging them can create sacred artworks. The scent from this
combination of commonly used flowers is regards as a representative scent of blessing by
divinity.
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2.8.1.5 Teaching each family member’s responsibility for their role
Floral arts are not just a hobby; rather they are viewed as a routine chore. All family members
have their own obligation. Each person’s job is integral to the whole process, and more
importantly it is a learning process. Children learn some of agricultural basic as they help
with growing flower plants. Then boys take care of preparing the string or thread made from
coconut or banana trunk while girls and woman spend most of their daytime arranging
flowers. Floral arts are, in fact, a more desirable obligation to Thai ladies than others, like
cooking. After the floral arts are done, a father or the leader of a household takes the
responsibility to offer to divinity or area god in order to receive the best wishes of natural
power.
2.8.2 Flower and community
2.8.2.1 Encouragement of networking in a community
Picking flower enhances communication in a community. It is a chance for people to step out
of their houses and communicate with others, who may pass by or also pick flowers. Flowers
have their own specific picking time to get the best of its preferable characteristic. This way it
is a great chance for people to gather at the public space at the same time of the day, and
therefore, inadvertently meet. Hence, flower gradually helps strengthen the community bond.
2.8.2.2 Flowers as an emotional symbol
Sometimes Thai people use flowers to non-verbally express their emotions. Different types of
flowers are associated with different types of emotions, ranging from affection, apology, to
sympathy. For instance, Crown flowers are often use as an expression of affection between
males and females. Similarly, floral arts in a form of malais are often used to express apology
to others. Likewise, to express sympathy, it is a common practice in Thai culture to use
marigold in a form of supporting malais (see Figure 3.5 for an illustration of a malai of this
type).
2.8.3 Flower and nature
2.8.3.1 Natural resource utilization
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Figure 2.24 Utilize Damask Rose can results in faster and more amount of flower grows
Usually picking flowers may reflect killing plants, but for Thai people, they believe that
cutting flowers is a method to allow the next flower to grow. Some plants die soon after their
flowers bloom and wither. However, cutting their flowers help elongate these plants’ life.
Figure 2.24 illustrates how cutting flowers help extend the plant’s lifes, compared to natural
growth in the case of Damask rose. Similarly, Figure 2.25 shows the similar consequence in
Marigold case.
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Figure 2.25 Cutting Marigold flower can elongate the plant life
In addition, Thai people utilize flowers at the best according their stages of life. For instance,
some flowers are used as when budding and some at the full bloom period to suit with
different purposes. This show folk biology knowledge Thai people acquire by means of floral
arts.
2.8.4 Flower and religious belief (divinity))
It is a common belief among Thai people that spirits and gods have huge influence on their
agricultural products. By employing floral arts in spiritual activities, Thai people believe that
their harvest would be blessed by the nature and/or divinity. Hence, as part of their house
management routine, Thai women usually spend significant amount of their time on making
floral arts.
Nature value 2Use !ower = elongate the life of plant
let the !owerbloom and died
cut the !ower
withering
utilize !ower
die
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This use of floral arts for harvest outcome is vastly reinforced by the fact that Thai
agriculturists have to rely heavily on unreliable nature. They hold a strong faith that spiritual
power would protect them from natural disaster. Because natural disasters can lead to such a
devastating state as famine, the use of floral arts such a big role in their life.
2.9 Conclusions:
2.9.1 Thai people use floral arts for religion purposes.
Thai people believe that nature is controlled by superstitious power. Hence, in order to be
affluent in natural resource and have good fortune, one must pay homage to divinity. Because
floral arts are so precious for Thais, they are suitable offerings to divinity. For example, floral
arts are regularly used to pay homage to guardian spirit, Buddhist altar and Buddhist monks.
Since such a behavior is practiced on day-to-day basis, people’s lives are highly involved
with flowers.
2.9.2 Materials of floral arts depend on availability of natural resources.
People choose materials for their floral arts based on availability of flowers at the time.
Although Thais try to keep forms of each type of floral arts stable across different types of
materials, they are flexible on changing materials in floral arts from season to season.
2.9.3 Thais utilize plants to their full potential.
Thai People highly value natural resource. Often they attempt their best to utilize natural
resource to its full potential. This notion is highly applicable to floral arts. In floral arts,
because it is considered wasteful to throw away plants, Thais have creative methods of plant
utilization. Firstly, Thai use plants, such as sacred lotus, at various states of their lives. In
addition, although Thais focus only on using the flower part of the plants in floral arts, they
often utilize the “left-over” parts of the plants for other usages, such as dessert decoration,
food ingredient, medicine, food wrapper, to name but a few.
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Unit3: literature review and field survey on the flower
culture in special occasion
第三章：非日常生活における花の文化～文献調査と
聞き取り調査より
53
Unit3: literature review and field survey on the flower culture in special occasion
第三章：非日常生活における花の文化～文献調査と聞き取り調査より
This unit focuses on floral arts in special occasions and its role, drawing from literature and
field survey in Bangkok, conducted from August to September 2011. Varieties of purposes of
floral arts are listed here. From here, we can see that there is a strong connection between
flowers and Thai citizens. Flowers are used in special occasions as they serve for religious
purpose as well as for other secular purposes, such as ingredients in food in special events.
- 3.1 Flower used as a gift
In special occasion, Thais sometimes give flower to others as a gift. For example, Jasmine is a
symbol of mother’s day. There is even a classical poem saying Jasmine is a symbol of purity
and priceless love. This is because Jasmine has many benefits apart from its beauty. The
smell of Jasmine can is cooling and calming scent. It is commonly used to flavor drinks.
Moreover, Jasmine is used as an ingredient for food and medicine. Jasmine got high value
from multi-purpose usage. Therefore children use this meaningful flower to forward their
gratitude to their mother. Consequently, Jasmine became the mother’s day gift. On mother’s
day, children can give out a Jasmine arranged in malai (Floral garland) form or a plain full-
bloom Jasmine flower to their mothers.
- 3.2 Flower type
The flower used in Special events is mainly on floral arts of ceremonies. However, the
picking methods of each flower are same as in the daily life usages.
1.) Sacred Lotus (Dok Bua): Nelumbo nucifer
2.) Jasmine (Mali): Jasminum sambac Ait.
3.) Damask rose (Kularb Mon): Rosa damascena Mill.
4.) Ylang-Ylang: (Kradangnga) Annonaceae Cananga odorata
5.) Ixora (Dok Khem): Ixora chinensis lamk.
6.) Marigold (Dao rueng): (Tagetes erecta L.)
7.) Crown flower (Ruk) : Calotropis gigantea
8.) Globe amaranth (Ban Mairooroey): Gomphrena globosa L.
9.) Bakul tree (Pikul): SAPOTACEAE Mimusops elengi
10.) Tuberose (Sornklin): Polianthes tuberose Linn.
11.) Orchid (Kluaymai): Orchidaceae Dendrobium hybrids
12.) Cape Gardenia (putt): Gardenia jasminoides
13.) Pandanus (Lumjiak): Pandanus odoratissimus
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14.) Yellow berry nightshade (Makhuer): Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad. & Wendl.
15.) Little yellow star (kradoomthong): Camchaya spinulifera H.Koyama
16.) White Champaka (Champi): MAGNOLIACEAE Michelia alba
17.) Orange Champaka: Michelia champaca
- 3.3 The floral arts (process and how to use)
On the Prior to traditional events, women in the community gathered flowers and made floral
arts together at a public space, which is usually a temple Women were networking and
sharing the knowledge while practicing floral arts. . Everyone had to bring her own available
flowers. In case that her flowers were not enough for floral arts, she can ask for help from
others. To be more specific, lending and borrowing flowers were a common behavior for
people in the same community.
Special events in Thailand can be concluded in figure3.0. There are a combination of yearly
events and events through lifespan. In yearly events, we can see 5 of the events are Buddhist
holy days. Buddhist Holy day are MakhaBucha day: full moon day of February, Visakha
Bucha day: full moon day of May, Asalaha Bucha day: full moon day of July, Khaopansa
day (Buddhist lent day): 1st waning moon of July, and Orkpansa day: Middle of October.
Buddhist holy days were the anniversaries of Buddha life such as birthday, enlightened day,
reached nirvana, etc. The ceremonies on these days are similar. There are offering food and
floral arts to monks or Buddhist altars at a temple, listening to Buddist preach, and wishing
for happiness. On other events, there are specific types of flowers or floral arts required,
which will be discussed later in this chapter.
Figure 3.0 special events in Thai traditonal culture
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3.3.1 Yearly events
3.3.1.1 malai (floral Malai)
Mainly use: Sacred Lotus (1), Jasmine (2), Damask rose (3), Marigold (6), Crown flower
(7), Globe amaranth (8), Orange Champaka (17)
Possible choice: Bakul tree (9), Orchid (11), Cape Gardenia (12), Pandanus (13), Yellow
berry nightshade (14), Little yellow star (15), White Champaka (16)
malai is regarded as a represent of Thai traditional floral arts. It is used in both everyday
life and special events. However, the delicate and elaborate detail of malai is varied by
the skill of arranger and social status of receiver. For example, in Figure 3.1 shows
elaborated malai from flower petals, which is very expensive and related to royal usage.
Yearly usages of malai are on Thai New year day, Mother’s day and can be a choice to
use in Buddhist holy day.
On Songkran, Thai New Year day, people used malai to pay respect to Buddhist altar as
well as the person they respected. For usage at Buddhist altar: People put malai on
cleaned Buddhist statue(s) as in the left of Figure 3.2. Finally, they wish for luck and
purification of body and mind. Then pour some floating flower over water on the statue.
Furthermore, People forward gratitude to the receiver by putting malai on the receiver
hand. Additionally, giver pours the floating flower over water on the malai and the hand
as in the right of Figure 3.2. This action is to pay respect, gratitude along with
apologizing what they have done wrong. It symbolizes a good start for the new beginning
of another year.
Figure 3.1 elaborated malai
Figure 3.2 Using malai on Songkran day
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On mother’s day, children can give out a Jasmine arranged in malai (Floral Malai) form
or even a plain full-bloom Jasmine flower to their mothers. Children gave Jasmine to
mother in their most polite form of paying respect. The child sits on the floor and put
their hand together in praying gesture (Wai). Later bend their back to worship the mother
until their hands reach the mother lab or feet. The child will leave the flower on the
mother lab as in Figure3.3. Further, the mother blesses her child with wishes. This
behavior is to pay respect along with gratitude toward mother. Moreover, it might means
apologizing to what children did that made their mother disappointed in the whole year.
In Buddhist holy days, malai can be a substitute of a bouquet of flower, incense stick and
candle. The usage is varying by preference and availability of time and resources. This is
because malai making took a lot of time and effort. Therefore, the usage of malai is also
associated with the religious in the same way as Flower-Candle-Incense sticks do. Using
malai in Buddhist holy days is to offer the Buddhism the beauty and precious natural
resource. Scene of use: To start with, people hold a bouquet of flower, incense stick and
candle in the most respective manner by putting their hands together in a praying gesture.
Figure 3.4 Putting malai on Buddhist altar
57
Then a candle is lighted up in front of the altars, and the bouquet of flower, incense stick
and candle should be placed in front of the Buddhist altar at a temple as in Figure 3.4.
After that, the incense stick should then be lighted up and hold in connecting hands
during the time of which people attentively pray a common short mantra. Some Thais
also consider this action a way of meditation.
Figure 3.5 variations of malai forms
Figure 3.5 above shows malai evolution, from basic malai to ribbon and supporting malai.
The ribbon malai is created to use less amount of flower and require shorter time than
common malai. Likewise, supporting malai requires shorter time because it is less
complex than common malai. Therefore, people use supporting-malai to show preference
to human Figure, e.g. community representatives and sport athletes. However, common
malai still symbolized a result of great effort. It is preferably use at Buddhist altars or at
temple. We can see that malai is adapted according to time and flower availability of each
era.
3.3.1.2 Floating flowers over water
Mainly use: Jasmine (2), Damask rose (3)
Figure 3.6 Floating flowers over water
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Possible choice: Ylang-Ylang (4), Crown flower (7)
Thai traditional fragrance and flower petals are added into clean water in Figure 3.6 and
leave for over a night in order to let scent of flowers diffuse into water.
Scene of use: In Thai New year day, people use floating flower over water by pouring
over the floral arts on Buddhist statue or the hand of elder as in Figure 3.2. Thais believe
flower-scented water can clean away all evil and provides a calm or peaceful state for
their life. The flower scent is stronger when flowers are separate into petals or bind many
of flower buds together into floral arts.
3.3.1.3 Phanphum (Floral arts on pedestal tray)
Mainly use: Sacred Lotus (1), Jasmine (2), Marigold (6), Crown flower (7), Orange
Champaka (17)
Possible choice: Globe amaranth (8), Bakul (9), Orchid (11), Cape Gardenia (12),
Pandanus (13), Yellow berry nightshade (14), Little yellow star (15) White
Champaka(16)
Phanphum consists of the tray with pedestal usually in gold color and flowers arranged
into a sacred lotus bud shape.
3.3.1.3.1 Special Phanphum for Wai Khru
Mainly use: Ixora (5), Marigold (6), Crown flower (7), Globe amaranth (8), Yellow berry
nightshade (14)
Possible choice: Sacred Lotus (1), Jasmine (2), Damask rose (3), Orchid (11)
Phanphum is essentially used in Waikhru ceremony. "Wai Khru" means pay respect to the
teacher in Thai. It is the important event to be held annually in every school at the start of
the new academic year. (Panrit, 2002)
The rituals of wai khru are believed to have derived from ancient animistic beliefs, influenced
by the spread of Brahmanism from India. This believe come from Wai Khru ceremonies of
traditional dance and music. Wai khru has existed as a folk tradition in history and has passed
on from generation to generation throughout the years. (Tramote, 2009) The ceremony is
usually held shortly after the beginning of the first semester, on a Thursday, as Thursday is
Figure 3.7 Phanphum for Waikhru ceremony
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traditionally the day of Brihaspati, Vedic god of wisdom and teachers. (Thepkampanat,2009)
The flower and plant used are considered specific for this event only. Each of the flowers has
a learning-related meaning.
• Ixora (khem) flowers (5), which while closed form pointed buds, symbolizing sharp
wit.
• Wire grass (ya phraek), the rapid growth and resilience of which symbolize
perseverance and the ability to learn,
• Yellow berry nightshade flowers (Makhuer) (14), which bow low when nearing
fruiting, symbolizing respect and humility.
Making of PhanPhum
Students in class create PhanPhum in Wai Khru ceremony together. Some students bring
meaningful flower from their household on Wai Khru day. In the past, the content of Phan
Phum was clay but it was replaced by green plastic material that is used in florist industry. In
addition, making phanphum emphasize the role of each gender in floral arts making. Men are
responsible to prepare wooden pin and help women classify flower materials by size and
category. On the other hand, women are responsible for putting flowers on clay by using
wooden pin. However, picking or cutting flowers are mutual responsibility of both genders. In
school on the day of the events, students in each class have to make 2 Phan phum: one for a
boy representative and one for a girl representative of the class. In many schools, making
Phan phum is organized as a competition of classyear. So there are many forms and colors
created by student creativity and originality rather than only original shape of a lotus bud.
Scene of use: Phan Phum is a symbol of paying gratitude toward teachers. The representative
of each class gives these floral arts to the teacher during the ceremony in front of all students
in the class. This ceremony can easily portrayed Thai culture of seniority easily. Students
shows gratitude together with asking for the teacher acceptance. Consequently, Teacher
accepts the Phanphum means accepting to take care of the students in the whole new
semester.
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Figure 3.8 Phanphum and ornaments
3.3.1.4 A bouquet of flower, incense sticks and candle:
It is mainly used in Buddhist holy day. See figure 2.11 for the flower arts from sacred lotus
used in a bouquet of flower, incense sticks and candle. It is the same shape as the one used in
everyday life.
Mainly use: Sacred Lotus (1),or Marigold (6), or Orchid (11)
People bind flowers with a candle and 3 incenses to create a bouquet of floral arts. These
elements represent three important elements of Buddhism, which are Buddha, Buddhist
preaching and Buddhist monks. All of the flowers used in these floral arts are durable and
stay fresh for a long period. However, arranging sacred lotus buds is a bit different than other
two kinds of flower used. This is because sacred lotus petals need to be folded to make a
shape of bloom flower.
Scene of use: On Yearly events, especially on holy days, people pray at temple for their
fortune. They use a bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle as an offering to divinity the
same way as usage in daily life. However, on holy days people often use floral arts at temple
as well as their household.
People use these Flower-Candle-Incense sticks in 2 ways at temple.
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1. After offering food and dessert as giving alms to monks, people offer a bouquet of flower,
incense sticks and candle onto a monk’s bowl. Monks regularly walk around the village
in the morning of daily routine. However, on Buddhist holy days people were
intentionally attend this activity at the temple instead. This is because after the food
offering activity, there is a Buddhist preaching for all the people in community. This
preaching intends to make the people realized about the four noble truth of life, which
consists of birth, growth, suffering, and death. So that people can clear their mind and
understand the concept of “acceptance”. Thai people believe to have happiness and lucky
life by often attend the Buddhist activity at a temple.
2. People offer a bouquet of flower, incense sticks and candle at the Buddhist altar after
praying. This is the same way as the use of malai on Buddhist holy days.
3.3.1.5 Krathong (Floating flower raft)
Mostly use: Marigold (6), Globe amaranth (8), Orchid (11)
Possible choice: Sacred Lotus (1), Damask rose (3), Crown flower (7)
Krathong or floating flower raft has the longest history of all the floral arts. In the past, people
in the same community gather and make Krathong together. However, recently people rarely
make Krathong but just bought the commercialize one on the riverside.
Krathong consists of banana stem, as a core, folded banana leaves, and flowers inside. The
finished Krathong contain a candle and three incense-sticks. Main purpose of Krathong is
Figure 3.9 Offering food and dessert to monks (giving alms)
Figure 3.10 Offering food and dessert together with flower at the temple
Figure 3.11 Krathong, flower lantern
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ambiguous. Some of the evidence said to pay respect to the Buddha footprint that was left
near the reiverband. Another theory implies that Krathong is for paying gratitude toward as
well as apologize to Water Goddess (Kongka) in Indian myth. (Intakul, 2009)
Krathong has many shapes. Obviously difference of each type is the shape of folded banana
leaf. The banana leaf acts as a border of the raft to avoid the flower inside falling apart. Two
basic shape of Krathong are Kleep Phaka (flower petals), and Kleep Kularb (Damask rose
petals). (Thai tourism Organization, 2003)
Figure 3.12 directions to make Krathong, Flower lantern
Making Krathong is an activity for women and children to enjoy folding banana leaves in to a
collection of one shape as shown in illustration in Figure3.12. To combine all folded leaves
together, they use wooden pins to stick it on a base made of banana stem. The original shape
of Krathong is a full-bloom lotus. So that folded leaves represent flower petals. Inside a
Krathong, flowers and a candle with incense sticks are regularly put in. However, there are
many shapes created. Various shapes of Krathongs are designed as seen in Figure3.13, for
example a boat, and a bird shape (Anuman Rajadhon, 1962). Additionally, in an observation,
we found that there are many possible materials for making Krathong, such as coconut coir or
colored paper.
Figure 3.13 Krathong in toy shape made from PE and paper
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In Loy Krathong festival, family members gathered up at veranda and create floating rafts
with the flower they have in the garden together. Luckily, Thai people had been fond of
flowers with good fragrance so it can be found anywhere. (Interview with senior citizen 2 Mrs.
Ar Ped Interview session Aug 05,2011)
Scene of use: In November’s full moon day, people gather at nighttime near the river band.
Each holding Krathong and light up the candle and incense-sticks. When letting the Krathong
into the river, hold Krathong with two hands and pay gratitude toward water goddess and ask
for forgiveness from bad things that was done to water resource in a whole year. Lastly,
people wish for hapiness from the divinity.
The development of Krathong is not only a new form but the material is also affected by
globalization. After the creation of Polyethylene, it had been used to make Krathong float
better. However, due to the environmental problem it costs, Thai people turned to use natural
material again. Nowadays, not only fresh leaves and flowers, baked bread are also used to
create Krathong (see Figure 3.14). This is a solution from enormous amount of garbages in
present because a base of bread Krathong is edible by fish in rivers. So we can expect less
garbage. Therefore, there is another problem, the huge amount of natural material also cause
water pollution as well (see Figure3.15). This is because a large amount of garbage might
block the sunlight for Aquarius creatures. Moreover, if Krathong sinks down, it is also
polluted the water indirectly as well. (Phannasak, 1999)
Figure 3.14 Krathong made from bread
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In yearly events, every household demand same meaningful flower simultaneously. A
household could ask for flowers from neighbors’ at ease. if the neighbor has their required
amount of flowers for floral arts already, they are willing to give away. This is because most
yearly events usage of flower is mainly concern with worshipping divinities. Therefore, the
flower givers feel as if they take part in offering those floral arts as well.
3.3.2 Event through life span
3.3.2.1 malai (Floral garland)
Common malai can be used in all events through life span. The usage of malai is mainly to
pay respect and offered to Buddhist or Brahman monks.
3.3.2.1.1Marriage malai
Mainly use: Sacred Lotus (1), Jasmine (2), Damask rose (3), Crown flower (7), Globe
amaranth (8)
malai is an important floral arts for Marriage. Marriage malai (see Figure 3.16) define and
emphasize the role of bride and groom. Unlike common malai, it has only 2 tassels
Figure 3.15 enormous quantity of garbage from Daily newspaper Nov17, 1999. Retrieved Nov 10, 2011 from http://www.tei.or.th/viewpoint/viewpoint18.htm
Figure 3.16 Marriage malai
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without the rounded shape in the middle. The two tassels are connected by the ribbon or
cloth. Always use as a pair, one for bride and another for groom. The shape of Marriage
tassels represents a chain. The chain has a meaning of binding 2 people together.
Scene of use: on the wedding ceremony morning, the couple receives a malai from their
families after they give the phan dokmai (3.3.2.2) to their parents. Bride and groom wear
marriage malai on their necks so as to distinguish them from other guests (Natejinda,
2009). Other purpose was believe to give the meaning of happiness or protection because
all flowers used have good meaning and good scent, people memorized in other
auspicious events. For example, damask rose and crown flower are used for offering to
divinity as well. Delicate floral arts even add the meaning of how important a wedding
day is. Moreover, since parents of the couple give marriage malai to them, marriage malai
has been a symbol of acceptance from bride and groom family.
3.3.2.2 Phan dokmai/ phan phum (floral arts or pedestral tray)
Mainly use: Sacred Lotus (1), Jasmine (2), Marigold (6), Crown flower (7), Globe
amaranth (8), Orange Champaka (17)
Possible choice: Bakul (9), Orchid (11), Cape Gardenia (12), Pandanus (13), Yellow
berry nightshade (14), Little yellow star (15), White Champaka (16)
The normal floral arts on pedestal tray are a form of formal usage to offer to divinity or
King. It is considered more valuable than malai and bouquet of flowers, incense and
candles. However, this phan dokmai (floral arts on pedestal tray) has been specifically use
as a gift for a bride family.
Figure 3.17 Phan Khanmak
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“Phan Khanmak” is a Phan dokmai for Wedding ceremony
However, there is a special type of Phan dokmai called “ Phan Kan Mak” is a special
floral arts used only for wedding ceremony. Phan Kan Mak (a type of flower arranged on
pedestal tray) composed of money, gold, and betel nuts on the arranged flower tray. Betel
nut is traditionally the symbol of invitation and friendly approach. Figure 3.17 shows 2
types of Phan Khanmak. The left tray is a main tray and the right tray is a secondary tray.
The Khanmak eak (main tray) is consisted of money, dowry, candles, clothes, and flower-
incense-candle. While the Khanmak toh (secondary tray) consists of sweets, fruit, and
betal nuts. Usually the amount of Khanmak is supposed to be even number. The pedestal
tray with pack of candles is for asking for forgiveness. In this case, the groom and bride
have to apologize for their bad manner they might have done to the bride’s family before.
Scene of use: The marriage ceremony starts when a groom brings phan KhanMak to the
bride house to propose for his bride. In the past, on the day before the wedding, relatives,
friends and neighbors of the groom gathered to help the groom making “phan kanmak”.
Making these floral arts required delicate skills, many flowers with good meaning, and a
lot of time and afford.
Scene of use: the groom and his family get in the bride’s house with phan kan mak to ask
for marriage permission. He will give both of the pedestral trays to bride’s parents. If the
bride’s parents accept the trays, it means the groom is accepted. Then they allow this
couple to marry by returning the marriage malai (3.3.2.1).
3.3.2.3 Baisri (Offering to divinity)
Figure 3.18 Baisri
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Baisri is used in Brahmanism ceremonies, such as birth celebration ceremony, and
celebrating new resident.
Mainly use: Sacred Lotus (1), Jasmine (2), Marigold (6), Cape Gardenia (12)
Possible choice: Damask rose (3), Crown flower (7), Globe amaranth (8)
Making baisri
Baisri is mainly consists of folded banana leaf and decorated by Marigold flower as
shown in Figure 3.19. The name of Marigold in Thai language “Dao rueng” means
growth and wealth in Thai culture. Moreover, it is believe that Brahman divinity also
prefer yellow color and more specifically this flower. Baisri has many complicated form
based on different usage. The higher and more complicated the form of Baisri, it
symbolized the more faith and sacrifice to divinity. However, there is a common feature
of all Baisri, a banana leaf folded into an upside-down cone shape. The basic Baisri also
called “Baisri Pak Cham” is arranged in food bowl.
Figure 3.19 Components of Baisri
There is a small amount of rice inside the upside down cone. Boiled egg is also put at the
top of Baisri Pak cham. However, lotus and Marigold are also used in many types of
Baisri. As shown in Figure 3.20, the height and delicate work of folded banana leaves
show the intention to pay homage to divinity and social status of the giver.
Figure 3.20 types of Baisri: Baisri Pak Cham and Baisri Thep
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See Figure 3.21 for picture of basic Baisri making by students in Chiangmai. First picture
shows folded leaves sewn together in layers. Students put 3 sets of layered binding folded
leaves in a bowl and decorate edge of leaves with available flowers. Most importantly,
they have to put the essential cone in the center of bowl to finish making a Baisri.
Figure 3.21 Students making Baisri for school project
3.3.2.3.1 Usage of Baisri in a birth celebration ceremony
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The ceremony divides into two periods, first three days after birth, and second one month
after birth. The first ceremony will be held suddenly and privately after birthday in the
household.
After the baby reached one month old, the second ceremony is conducted promptly with
naming the baby. There was a Buddhist monk-preaching ceremony at home first and a
Brahmanism monk later conducted a Brahman ceremony using Baisri.
Scene of use:
The first ceremony: Parents put Baisri near a baby while Brahman monks pray for
protection and happiness of a family.
The second ceremony: Like the first ceremony, Baisri is put near a baby during brahman
monks pray. Parents or grandparents cut the child’s hair. Brahman monk touches the baby
forehead with sacred water to purify body and mind of the baby.
After ceremony finish, banana leaves and flowers used in Baisri are wrapped together in
white cloth and kept under the baby mattress for three days. After that, flow all the ritual
objects in the river, for the food in Baisri, put in another banana leaves and put under the
tree to offer to divinity in the area. The hair that was cut is wrapped in the lotus leaf and
kept for 3 days, then flow in the river or buried. (Krabuansang, 2001)
Baisri in birth celebration shows how people use flower and leaf to create sacred floral arts.
This artwork is delicately made. Additionally it is suppose to sacrifice to superstitious belief
who protect the land they live in and ask for happiness and protection in return.
3.3.2.3.2 Usage of Baisri in a new resident celebration ceremony
Thai believed that celebrating the new resident is for wishing the residence a happiness
and successful life without devil spirit, poor health, or accident.
1. The ceremony before building a construction start
2. The ceremony after the house is completed and ready to move in
Scene of use: The ceremony before building a construction starts
Two Floral Arrangement on Pedestal trays (Phan Dokmai) and two set of Flower-incense-
candle are arranged on two sides of the Buddhist altar at the construction site.
The ceremony is held while constructer putting the first pole into the main of the house. Many
auspicious goods will be put into the soil as a base of the house such as silver and gold coin,
auspicious powder or sand from temple, sacred water, holy thread, popped rice with flower
petals. Brahmanism monks pray while Offering to divinity (Baisri) is put on the altar. It is
belief that Baisri is an offering to Brahman god that will allow a clam and peace living.
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scene of use: The ceremony after the house is completed and ready to move in
The ceremony after the house is completed and ready to move in starts when monks pray for
purify the house.(Punjawuthipatt, 2004). Traditionally, Thai people believe in Buddhism and
will feel secured with Buddhist statues in their household. So resident arrange the Buddhist
statues altar in the new house. The altar must be decorated with Phanphum (Arranged flower
on pedestal tray) and Baisri. An offering in form of floral arts, for example flower-incense-
candle is prepared for the monks invited to pray at the ceremony.
3.3.2.3.3 Usage of Baisri in other Brahman rituals
Baisri is essentially used in many other Brahman ceremonies, for example, participating in
Thai classical art school, and ask for big trees cutting permission from forest divinity. People
gather and asked Brahman monks to pray to ask for permission from the divinity. Baisri,
coconut, and banana are essential for these kinds of rituals. In some area, on top part of Baisri
contains boiled egg in the morning ritual. In the afternoon ritual, sacred lotus bud is used on
top of Baisri. More steps of layered folded-leaves implies more valuable offer to the divinity
(Thrabsin, 2007). The main flowers in Baisri are Marigold and Globe Amaranth.
Unsurprisingly, Marigold (Dao rueng) means growth and wealth in Thai language. Moreover,
it is thought that Brahman gods preferred Marigold than other flower. Therefore, Marigold
became one of the flower symbols for the offering to Brahman divinity.
3.3.2.4 A bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle
Mainly use: Sacred Lotus (1), Marigold (6), Orchid (11)
Most of the usages of Flower-Candle-Incense sticks are for offering for the Brahman monks
or Buddhist monks that was invited to help in the ceremony. Moreover, it is also used to pay
homage to natural divinity of the area. People expect the guardian spirit and divinity to allow
them to finish the ceremony completely on their important life events.
Scene of use: People offer a bouquet of flower, incense stick and candle in many events
through lifespan, such as birth, Marriage, celebrating new resident. Even though the main
floral arts for each event through lifespan is specified, people still use this bouquet of flower,
incense stick and candle to offer to Buddhist altar or spirit house at the place of the event.
This is because they expect to have smooth and thoroughly perfect event.
3.3.2.5 Flower cone
Mainly use: Sacred Lotus (1)
Possible choice: Jasmine (2), Damask rose (3), Tuberose (10), Orchid (11)
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Flower cone: a flower cone consists of a flower, an incense stick, and a candle binding
together with a flower.
Scene of use: When the body is put in the coffin, the body needs to hold a flower cone. This
tradition is believed that the dead will travel to the next world. In order to pass the next world
gate, they need to give the dead god the offering. (Sathienkoset, 1995) However, Thai people
will not usually do this anymore since the dead body is at the hospital and it is difficult to
prepare the flower cone. On the other hand, nowadays people at the temple will take care of
this instead of family members.
3.3.2.6 Flower arranged to decorate coffin
Mainly use: Tuberose (10)
Possible choice: Damask rose (3), Marigold (6), Orchid (11), Pandanus (13)
Flower decorating at the coffins: no specific form
Scene of use: In the past the coffin made from dark color wood, so people use flower
decoration to soften the atmosphere. However, nowadays the arranged flower on coffin had
less usage. (Natejinda, 2008) The flowers used in the funeral were freely chosen according to
availability. Accordingly, Tuberose is used as a coffin decoration because the smell is
diffusing and can deodorize the unpleasant smell from dead body. Consequently, Tuberose
smell represented melancholy and dead. Thai people can distinguish the smell and associate
with their experience before easily.
Figure 3.22 Dok Mai Chan
3.3.2.7 Dok Mai chan (Chan flower)
In funeral, acknowledges of the dead person put the Dokmai Chan into the pyre before
burning the coffin. Long ago the dried trunk of Chan tree smell fresh and calm, so Royal
family used Dried Chan bark in the funeral ceremony. However, Chan tree is very expensive
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and limited to the use of royal family. Therefore, citizens used other dried bark from Mok tree
to create the flower shape artwork in King Rama V’s reign (1873-1910). (Jarangab, 2008)
This flower is used to pay respect as a last good bye to the dead. Also funeral attenders wish
the dead to have a pleasant next life. Dok Mai Chan shows how Thai people prioritize the
smell of plants and associated with social meaning. Dok Mai Chan is commonly made into
Damask rose form and binded with candle and incense stick, similar to fresh Flower-candle-
incense stick used to pay respect to Buddhism.
- 3.4 The leftover flower
3.4.1 Leftover flower will be dried and used as an element to make sacred talisman
After the flower is used and left at the temple on the holy days, the traditional way to make
best use of the leftover is to dry it with sunlight. Later monks grind dried flower and Combine
with incense stick ashes. Additionally, some household help gathering own dried flower from
daily used worshipped floral arts. These ingredients are used to make talismans. The talisman
is a low relief Buddha Figure shape molded as a sacred amulet. In next special events, people
can adopt the sacred amulet from the temple. People believe that worshipping that sacred item
will protected them and feel secured. Therefore they put it on whether directly on their
necklace or on the Buddhist altar at home.
Figure 3.23 Buddhist talisman
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- 3.5Flower in food
Special dish uses a touch of flower to make it special. In Thailand, there is a “Kaw-Shae”
(Rice in ice water) that used the flavor of flower to elaborate the way of eating in summer.
The method is taking the cooked rice soak in the clean ice water, which has been perfumed
with aroma candle smoke or flowers. It is always kept in clay pot for maintaining the
temperature and eat with side dishes such as deep fried shrimp paste dip with egg, sugar fried
salted beef, spicy mango salad, etc. (Tourism Authority of Thailand, 2011) The aroma of the
flower in ice water keeps the body relax. Full bloom Jasmine is washed thoroughly, and then
put in clean water. Therefore, the aroma of jasmine is transfer to the water. Likewise,
sometimes Damask Rose petal is also used together with the Jasmine. Since Thai believe
Jasmine and Damask Rose are both have cooling aroma. Kaw-Shae, serving chilled, can cool
the body by its low temperature as well as its aroma.
Flower is one way to emphasize the special occasion.“Khao shae”, to illustrate, use flower
scent to give special meaning for food in special occasion.
- 3.6 The meaning
o 3.6.1 Flower and religious
Because of religious beliefs, Thais use flowers in many religion occasions. This is perhaps
because Thai people highly regard floral arts as worthy for religion purposes. This is actually
not only applicable to the flowers itself, but also to other materials in floral arts. A bouquet of
flower, incense stick and candle is an example for this case. It is believed that the reason
behind the inclusion of candle in the bouquet is because it used to be very essential for monks
in order to study at night, especially before electricity was popular. For Thais, offering the
bouquet to monks then is considered very blessing. This type of conduct is in line with what
Rajadhon (1962), the forefather of Thai studies, mentioned, “Whoever conducts good action
according to Buddhist preaching, he or she could become god/goddess in the next life.”
Figure 3.24 "Kaw-Shae" (Rice in ice water)
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Therefore, we can see that flower is an essential communication tool to divinity in order to
wish for protection and happiness.
3.6.1.1 Blessing and Purification of mind, and body
In a religious ceremony, flowers are often considered a tool for purification of mind, body
and, sometimes, belongings. Thai people use floral arts when praying upon their temple visits
or inviting monks at their houses on events through lifespan. This type of praying, Thai
believe, leads to blessing, and as a consequent, help them out of current stage of sufferings. In
one sense, it can be considered as a trading between one’s agricultural products used in floral
arts for blessings, concentration and wisdom. Blessing in this context are believed to purify
one’ mind and body in order for one to have a cleaner state of mind such that s/he can achieve
a great new start. This belief is not only applied to mind but also to the belongings that might
be suspected of evil or bad lucks. To illustrate, new house are considered purified after being
exposed to a Buddhist ceremony involving floral arts and sacred water. We can assume that
this is directly involved with the scent of flower used in the ceremony. Floral art itself
consists of countless amount of flowers binding together. Therefore, the scent of flower is
strong. Moreover, separate flower into petals and buds then binding them together or floating
over water is creating even more flower scent. This scent must has plays an important role as
a tool in many traditional occasion.
o 3.6.2 Flower and community
3.6.2.1 Yearly events
Every family practiced their skills on floral arts almost everyday. For yearly events or
important occasions in a life span, people in neighborhood often gather at a temple or one’s
resident to help preparing floral arts before the event dates. This way, the rules and the
meanings of floral arts are shared with each other and transmitted to the young. Consequently,
the whole community shares the same rules of what should or should not be done. Ultimately,
these rules are collective and gradually become community rules.
Additionally, nearly once every two months, people gather at a temple for religion-related
events. For these events, a community divides division of labors based on the members’ skills
and ability. Mainly men are responsible for preparing avenue while women are taking care of
food and floral arts. As a result, people in a community are bonded by means of collective
works at events at a temple.
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3.6.2.2 Events through life span
People in the same neighborhood are not only asking for help, but they are also willing to
return the favor they receive. Lending and Borrowing flowers or effort is common behavior.
Therefore culture of flower usage encourages networking in community.
One example of this event is a funeral. In the last chance to show gratitude to the dead, people
gather to decorate a coffin and a temple with floral arts. People put their best effort to help the
family that loss their member. So inauspicious ceremony can gather people in contact with
the dead as well the family of his/or her.
o 3.6.3 Flower and nature
Flower is used as the best offering to nature because flower symbolizes a success in
agriculture. To illustrate, people use flower to pay gratitude to goddess of water along with
apologizing for their mistake as well as asking for water fertility in the next harvest season.
People keep in mind to bring the best to pay back for the nature. However, they are expecting
the best natural resource and fertility from the nature at the same time.
Apropos, flower cutting, unlike the forest cutting, can increase the productivity of the fruit in
some plant. Additionally, some plant will die after it bears fruit, or in other words, not cutting
the flower out.
o 3.6.4 Flower scent as a cultural symbol
Flower scent can represents different environment of occasions they have experienced before.
Many of the flowers used are chosen by their meaningful name but others are because their
scent. Thai People could distinguish auspicious events from in-auspicious events simply by
the scent of flowers. To illustrate, flowers that have really strong scent, such as Tuberose, are
usually used in a funeral. This type of smell then can easily remind people of funeral and
such. However, other auspicious ceremonies use flowers that have mixing scent of light and
gentle fragrance, such as Jasmine and Damask Rose. The scent of blessing implicates cool
and calm nature. Combination of fresh flower scent used is realized as a symbol of blessed
nature. Thailand usually has tropical climate throughout the year so cooling and calming fresh
flower scents are desirable. Splitting the flowers into flower petals even help the scent
diffuses more. As a result, combining flower petals into floral arts form is one way of
utilizing flower scent from garden into resident or temple.
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- 3.7 Conclusion:
3.7.1 Brahmanism and Buddhism influence ceremony in people life and people value.
Therefore religious belief defines the way people live. Both yearly events and events
throughout life span show significant connection between people, nature and religious. Even
though most of the population in Thailand believes in Buddhism. They also have faith in
divinity of Brahmanism. The events through life span show clearly how people follow the
religious belief in each different stage of life. In Brahman belief, offering Baisri to divinity
made the normal people feel secured and fortunate. Likewise, the yearly events emphasize
how people follow the Buddhist manners. In each event, people gather and pray for fortune
from Buddha or the Buddhist statue, in return they offering flower.
3.7.2 People use flower as a communication tool
People gather at mutual place, doing the same activity and sharing the same rule of using
flower. This way, people share the value of using flower. At the same time, the community tie
is also strengthening through this activity. In yearly events, all people gather and use the same
type of flower for same activity. Consequently, people learn to make and use flower from
their community members. Plus, they learn the community rule and value through
communication during the flower usage. Likewise, in event through life span, host of the
event required the floral arts or crafts, so neighbors and relatives are gathering to help. In
conclusion, flower-using activity can create an environment for networking and share the
same value and rule of community. This turns out to be one way to strengthen the relationship
between community members.
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Unit4: Characteristic of flower culture in Thailand
第四章：タイにおける花の文化の特質
78
Unit4: Characteristic of flower culture in Thailand
第四章：タイにおける花の文化の特質
4.1 Thai people utilize flower for both physical and mental aims. On the one hand,
Thais use flower as herb and food. For instance, many types of flower, including but not
limited to sacred lotus, white Champaka, and Bakul, are employed in medicine-making
processes (Wannarangsri, 1999). In addition, edible flowers, like Jasmine, Marigold, Ixora
and Banana flower, are ingredients in many Thai dishes (Wannarangsri, 1999). In many
cases, these flowers become indispensable parts of Thai food as they provide variety of
unique taste, smell and texture.
On the other hand, apart from this direct usefulness of flower, Thai people enjoy using
flowers in other occasions--many of which are mainly for aesthetic proposes. It is common in
Thailand for people to plant many types of flowers in their home. These flowers often have
pleasant fragrance along with beautiful color, which believe to make the residences feel calm
(Thaithong, 1999).
Another common use of flower is for religious-related activities. Flowers are often
used for Thais to pay respect and gratitude toward monks, spiritual objects, and Mother
Nature as they are the symbols of natural beauty. It is strong belief that the more beautiful the
flowers are, the more blessing people will obtain in return. Perhaps this set of belief leads to
two consequences on floral arts--a way of which Thais employ to make the flowers even
more valuable when using for worshiping purposes.
First is the organization of floral arts. To make a traditional set of floral arts, one
needs to organize the flowers so well that they have form and shape in order. It is highly time-
consuming and taking so much effort to arrange flowers in such a deliberative, delicate and
complex style. Second characteristic of floral arts nonetheless is the opposite of the first one.
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This is due to the fact that, regardless of time and effort, types of flowers are limited to
seasons, weather, and locations. Thais are adapt to this restriction by being flexible on the
types of flower used due to their availability, but rather focus on the shape and form of the
final floral arts.
Consequently, from these two main purposes of flowers, Thai people are benefit from
flowers both physically and psychologically.
4.2 Scent and form of flowers can influence situational atmosphere.
Different arranged flower and scent symbolize different situations such as auspicious event
and inauspicious. The scent and form of floral arts can be associated with the blessing
because floral arts have a very strong connection to divinity and spiritual believe. As an
example, the combination of flower scents in malai (Thai floral Malai) can symbolized the
worshipping to divinity. This is because malai is usually offered to divinity at Buddhist altar,
temple, or other guardian spirit house in daily life. According to the religious custom, people
believe to achieve luck and better life blessing after offering the beautiful floral arts to
divinity. Consequently, malai scent and form became the symbol of blessing life. Likewise, in
many auspicious events malai is commonly used, so people can recognize the form and smell
as a pleasant situation. Meanwhile, Tuberose flower was used particularly in the funeral
together with other available flowers. Therefore people found Tuberose fragrance as a symbol
of funeral or inauspicious atmosphere. We can see that people value the scent as well as the
flower form to emphasize the meaning of each situation.
4.3 Floral arts activity strengthens the community bond and encouraging
communication.
Flower culture unites people in the same community. As they are using same elements to
create same form of floral arts, they share the same social value. People practiced floral arts in
a family on daily life basis. Albeit on special events, people also gather in the common space,
a temple, and arranging the flower together. The floral arts making was a chance for women
and children to work together. This way the long transmitted knowledge can pass along with
the floral arts activity. Furthermore, using floral arts is not limited to only female members of
the community. Teenagers and children can unintentionally meet and greet with others during
the flower picking time and floral arts making process. In special event, everyone attend the
ceremony using flowers and later enjoy the leisure time together.
4.4 Responsible of roles in family
Using flower specified clear responsibility of each role in family. Women were responsible
for cooking and making floral arts. Meanwhile, the children were assistants of parents or
80
senior family members. Picking flower can be a responsibility of children or teenagers.
Sometimes older family members accompanied them. After finish floral arts, the head of the
family took the lead to use the flower. Men use floral arts to pay homage to divinity on behalf
of all family members. Other family members were preferably having their own flower
though. This might be because the religion customs limited action of female family members
at some extent. For example, men can put the flower directly to monks directly but women
are allowed only to indirectly put the flowers on the altar or floor covered by white sheet of
cloth. It is apparently understandable that flower usage is one of the methods that clearly
specify each family member roles.
81
Unit5: Analyses of Questionnaire from the Young and a
Proposal of Design a Living Concept in Bangkok
第五章：若者への調査と文化継承の提案
82
Unit5: Analyses of Questionnaire from the Young and a Proposal of Design a Living Concept
in Bangkok
○第五章：若者への調査と文化継承の提案
5.1 Analyses of questionnaire
There are three main questions being investigated in the questionnaire: 1) how flower is used
nowadays among the young in Bangkok, 2) what these people think of culture of flower in
Thailand, and 3) what they are interested in. The complete form of this questionnaire is listed
in Appendix A. There are five parts of analyses we conducted here: 5.1) the prescreening
process of data in the general demographic part of the questionnaire, 5.2) descriptive
statistical analyses of Part 1, 5.3) descriptive statistical analyses of Part 2, 5.4) descriptive
statistical analyses of Part 3, 5.5) correlational analyses of the data from every part. We used
information from this questionnaire to design a guideline for a living.
5.1 General Demographic
The data was collected online, using SurveyMonkey service (www.surveymonkey.com). Web
links to this questionnaire were posted to various websites where predominant users were
college students and recent graduates in Bangkok. One hundred people participated in this
study. However, some participants did not complete the questionnaire, and their hometowns
were not in Bangkok area or unspecified. Hence, only data from 50 participants (16-30 years
of age; female = 40) were analyzed here.
5.2 Part 1: How Flower is Used Nowadays among the Young in Bangkok
The first part of the questionnaire shows how teenagers still use traditional flower in their life.
60% of participants used flower more than one times per year (see the graph 1 below). This
was contrast to what literature and interview with seniors suggested us about this activity of
flower usage in the past. From these data, it is clear that the culture of flower usage in
Thailand still exists. We can see a possibility to transmit this culture’s meaning for future
generation.
83
Graph 1. Percentage of people who use Thai flower in daily life or cultural events more than
five times per year
To further investigate at which occasions flowers are used among the young in Bangkok, we
had another set of questions in the questionnaire, asking about frequency of flower usage
separated by occasions. These occasions had four categories: 1) secular holidays, including
Thai new year, mother’s day and teacher’s day, 2) religious holidays, including Loy kratong
and Visaka Bucha, Makha Bucha, Asalaha Bucha, Khao punsa, Ork Punsa (Tod Katin), 3)
secular activities in daily life, including cooking, drinking, producing medicine, expressing
thankful message, expressing respect, expressing apology message, and 4) religious activities
in daily life, including praying to scared items, praying to monks/priests. In these questions,
there were five choices: 1 for never, 2 for rarely 3 for sometimes 4 for often and 5 for always.
Table 1 shows the results of these questions, ranked by answers.
more than 1 time 60%
1 time or not at all 40%
How often do you use Thai 1lower in daily life or cultural events? (per
year)
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Table 1. Ranks of frequency of flower usage separated by occasions. M denotes the frequency
rating of flower usage.
Rank Occasion Category M 1 praying to scared item religious activity 3.58 2 praying to monks/priests religious activity 3.46 3 Mother’s day secular holiday 3.24 4 Loy kratong religious holiday 3.14 5 Teacher’s day secular holiday 2.9 6 Visaka Bucha religious holiday 2.44 7 Makha Bucha religious holiday 2.44 8 Asalaha Bucha religious holiday 2.38 9 Thai new year secular holiday 2.36
10 expressing respect secular activity 2.36 11 Khao punsa religious holiday 2.34 12 Ork Punsa (Tod Katin) religious holiday 2.22 13 expressing thankful message secular activity 2.04 14 expressing apology message secular activity 1.76 15 Drinking secular activity 1.36 16 producing medicine secular activity 1.28 17 Cooking secular activity 1.26
From this ranking result, it can be inferred that young people in Bangkok mostly use flowers
for religious purposes, either on holidays or in their daily life, with some exceptions.
Specifically, the most frequent eight occasions consist of six religious-related occasions, and
two of which (i.e., praying to scared item and praying to monks/priests) are the highest. In
fact, it is clear that people use flowers as religious activity (rank 1st and 2nd) far more than as
secular activity, which starts at rank 10th till the bottom of the list (rank 13th, 14th,15th, 16th and
17th).
Two exceptions of this trend of using flower for religious-related proposes are on the
Mother’s Day and Teacher Day. We reason that this is due to formal education that requires
the young to use flower on these days. This hypothesis was tested in the later part of the
questionnaire.
From the two sets of questions up until now, we confirm our prediction that the custom of
using flower has been shrinking among the young in Bangkok. In addition, this custom
85
predominately remains in religious-related occasions; there are only a few secular occasions
where people still use flower.
The next section of the questionnaire examines how the custom of using flowers in Thailand
manifests nowadays. We previously showed that there are some remaining occasions where
people still use flowers, yet we do not know how these flowers are prepared. Preparation of
floral arts was in fact an integral part of the custom of using flower in Thailand in the past.
Answering this question would tell us the changes, if any, in this behavior among the young
in Bangkok nowadays compared to that of people in the past.
Firstly, we included two consecutive questions in the questionnaires regarding how often
people use vs. make floral arts. We also included a question asking about the last time when
they arrange the flowers themselves or with others. The results, showing in the Graph 2 and
Graph 3 respectively, reveal that although people still use floral arts sometimes, it is rarely
that they make floral arts by themselves or with others. Moreover, the majority of participants
(70%) reported that the last time they arranged the flowers were more than ten years ago
(39%) or between five to ten years (31%). This is sharply different from what happened in the
past where these two types of behaviors were consistent; Thai people used flowers in which
they made by themselves. Purchasing arranged flowers instead of spending time arranging
flowers with others might obscure some benefits of the custom of using flower in the past.
Graph 2. Consistency/discrepancy between the frequency of using and making floral arts (on
average per year).
6.99
0.319333333
0 2 4 6 8
Mlower arrangement usage per year
making Mlower arrangement per year
How many time do you use/ make 1lower arrangement per year?
time per year
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Graph 3. Last time when participants made floral arts by themselves or with others.
The result from the question on the last time people make floral arts also indirectly indicates
the role on which formal education might play. This is because the majority of results lie
when the questionnaire takers were in their school before college (five to ten years or more
than ten years). This notion actually confirms with the next questions on 1) by who
participants were taught to arrange Thai traditional flower, and 2) at what situations where
participants usually make Thai floral arts by themselves (see Graph 4 and Graph 5 for
results).
By far most participants learnt how to make floral arts from teachers. 32 people indicated this
as opposed to the case of family members, which is the second most popular choice but has
only 11 people indicating so. Additionally, school obligation is the most frequent situation
where people make floral arts (22 vs. 12 in own preference). These results together with that
from the question on the last time of making floral arts confirm the significant role of formal
education on how the flowers are used nowadays. This is contradicting to what was the case
in the past where family members and neighbors were usually the ones who thought the
young to arrange flowers. This perhaps may contribute to the decrease in flower making
activity after school years. That is, people might think of the activity of arranging flowers as
39%
31%
12%
6% 6%
6%
Last time of arranging 1lowers
more than10 5-‐10 years 1-‐5 years 6-‐12 months 1-‐6months never
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school obligation as opposed to fun activity with family members and neighbors. As a result,
they do not continue practicing it when they do not need to.
Graph 4. The persons from which participants learn how to make Thai traditional floral arts.
Graph 5. Situations where participants usually make Thai floral arts by themselves.
In conclusion, Part 1 of the questionnaire reveals many characteristics of the custom of using
flowers among the young in Bangkok nowadays. We found that the young do not use flowers
as frequent as in the past generations, and when they do use, they rarely arrange the flowers
by themselves or with others. In addition, we also found that religious occasions remain
situations where the young still use flowers. Finally, formal education plays an important role
in teaching the young about the custom of floral arts, but does not reinforces people to
continue practicing it after school years.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Never Lernt Yourself Friends Teachers Family members
Specialists
Num
ber of People
Who taught you to arrange Thai traditional 1lower?
0
5
10
15
20
25
never Own preference
school obligation
family obligation
routine commercial reasons
others
Num
ber of People
What is usually the case when you make Thai 1lower arrangement by yourself?
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5.3 Part 2 What the Young in Bangkok Think of the Culture of Using Flowers
This part investigates attitude and knowledge the young in Bangkok have regarding culture of
using flowers. There are two questions in this part. Firstly, the participants were asked about
the purpose of flowers using in Thai society. Participants could choose more than one answer.
We listed the possible purposes of using flowers we found in the literature described in
Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. This means these answer choices of purposes listed in the questions
can all be somewhat true purposes of the custom of using flowers in the past. The answer we
find here will tell us in what domain the young in Bangkok nowadays still value the custom
of using flowers.
The ranking results of the answers to this question were listed in Table 2. It is clear that
majority of people believe that the purpose of using flowers in Thai society is for praying for
fortune (41 vs. 18 in the 2nd rank answer of utilization of natural resource). This result is in
line with the notion found in part 1 that flowers in Thailand society were mainly used for
religious purposes. Other purposes, albeit applicable to the past usage of flowers in Thailand,
have been largely ignored by this generation of people in Bangkok. Hence, we should design
a living to fulfill these purposes.
Table2. Ranking Results of the Question, “What is the Purpose of Using Flower in Thai
Society in Your Opinion?”
Rank Purposes of Using Flower in Thai society Number of people 1 to pray for fortune regularly 41 2 to utilize natural resource using local wisdom 18 3 to pray for fortune occasionally 17 4 to relax in free time 13 5 to learn way of life in the community 10 6 to bond with other people in the same community 6 7 to spend time with family 1 8 none of above 0
The second question of Part 2 is for examining to what extend the young in Bangkok know
the meaning of commonly used flowers. The answer will tell us about the knowledge the
young have regarding each specific type of flowers in terms of cultural meaning, and whether
the knowledge has been equally transmitted across different types of flowers that may tap on
to different purposes.
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Here we listed eight flowers that are commonly used in the cultural events in the past. These
flower names were from the interview we conducted with senior citizens and also from the
literature (see Chapter 2 and Chapter 3). Participants were asked to indicate whether they
know the cultural meaning of each flower (1 = do not know, 5 = absolutely know).
The ranking results of this set of questions are listed in Table 3. The two top flowers of which
people indicated that they know the meanings are sacred lotus and jasmine. For scared lotus,
we reasoned that this is due to religious-related meanings of this flower. This again is
consistent with other lines of evidence we found here where religion is the remaining domain
where people still use flowers. The knowledge in this domain in turn has been transmitted to
the young in Bangkok. As for jasmine, since this flower is commonly used in Mother’s day,
we believe that the young should gain the knowledge about its cultural meaning while they
participated in Mother’s day events at school.
Table3. Ranking Results of the Question, “Do you know what is the cultural meanings of
commonly used flowers written below?”
Rank Flower M of Knowing cultural meanings 1 Sacred lotus 3.86 2 Jasmine 3.4 3 Crown flower 2.9 4 Globe Amaranth 2.68 5 Tuberose 2.38 6 Damask rose 2.34 7 Marigold 1.68 8 Cape gardenia 1.46
To conclude Part 2, we showed that cultural knowledge about flowers has not been
transmitted equally. Although some domains have been well transmitted, most domains have
not. Only knowledge about flowers that are commonly used either for religious purposes or at
school is retained. Similar to Part 1, religion and formal education seem to play an important
role here.
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5.4 Part 3 What the Young in Bangkok are Interested in
This part of the questionnaire examines young people’s life styles nowadays. This is so that
we can design a living that suits them. There are three sets of questions in this part. The first
one is related to general interest. The second one is about interest in Thai culture. The third
one is focused specifically on interest in flower in Thai culture.
The first set of questions looks at general interest in three domains: nature, family and
neighbors. The custom of using flowers in the past is thought to tap on these three domains.
We distinguished participants’ behaviors at these domains between two traits, involvement
and value. We specifically asked 1) how much they involve with each domain (i.e., nature,
family and neighbors) and 2) how much they value each domain. There are 7 choices in each
question (1 = not at all; 7 = extremely).
The results to this first set of questions on general interest are showed in Graph 6. It seems
that people involve with and value family the most, followed by nature, and by neighbor.
From this pattern, it seems that people do not involve with/value neighbors as much. In the
past, one of the benefits of doing floral arts is bonding between neighbors. Hence, our design
a living should at least taps on this domain. In addition, involvement and value seem to be in
the same direction; the more people value, the more involve they are in that domain.
Nonetheless, in the nature domain, although people value it, they are less involved with it.
Therefore, our design a living should at least bring the level of involvement with nature up to
the same level with the value on this domain.
Graph 6 Answers to the question, “how much you involve/value with nature/family/neighbor?
Nature Family Neighbor Involvement 5.22 5.92 3.78 Value 5.8 6.1 4
3 3.5 4
4.5 5
5.5 6
6.5
How much do you involve/ value with each domain?
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The next set of questions is on interest in Thai culture. We used seven-point rating-scales
from 1 = not at all to 7 = very much. There are two questions assessing: 1) how much they are
interested in Thai culture, and 2) how much they think Thai culture is interesting. The results
of these two questions are in the same direction such that on average people are somewhat
interesting in Thai culture (4.68) and think that Thai culture is interesting (5.5). Although the
average scores are more than half of the scale (4), there is some room of improvement for
participants to be more interesting in Thai culture. Again, this should be addressed in our
design a living.
The last set of questions investigates whether participants are interesting in a cultural activity
about flower. Again, we used seven-point rating-scales from 1 = not at all to 7 = very much
here. The results of answers to this question along with previous questions on the interest in
Thai culture in general are depicted in Graph 7. The results clearly demonstrate that people
are less interested in events on Thai Flowers although they think Thai cultures are interesting.
Then we should design a living so that people in the society became more interesting in Thai
flowers.
Graph 7. The answers to questions accessing interest in Thai culture.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
How interesting is Thai culture?
Are you interested in Thai culture?
Are you interested in Thai traditional Mlower
activities?
92
Another set of statistical analyses was conducted to further explore the last set of questions on
interest in Thai culture and flower activity. Here we are specifically interested in the role of
gender on the interest scales. A set of independent-samples t-tests was conducted to compare
the three interest answers for male and for female participants. Across the three questions,
males are less interested than female counterparts (See Graph 8). Females (M = 5.68, SD
=1.12) were more likely to think that Thai culture is interesting difference than males (M =
4.8, SD = 1.14), t(48) = 2.207, p < .05. Similarly, females (M = 4.90, SD =1.24) were more
interested in Thai culture than males (M = 3.8, SD = 1.32), t (48) = 2.49, p < .05. In the same
direction, females (M = 4.28, SD =1.50) were more interested in Thai traditional flower
activities than males (M = 2.3, SD = 1.34), t (48) = 3.79, p < .001.
These results on gender difference in the interest in Thai culture and floral arts suggest that
gender does play a role on the interest in Thai culture and flower activities. Here we
confirmed the historical evidence in the previous chapters that females have played huge of
role in transmitting and keeping Thai traditional customs. Hence, our design a living should
then be focusing on females as it will be more attractive to them. At the same time, we should
attempt to attract more male participants by heightening their awareness on the roles they may
contribute to floral arts, thereby changing their attitude toward Thai culture.
Graph 8. The answers to questions accessing interest in Thai culture, separated by genders.
The error bars here denote +/- one standard error.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
How interesting is Thai culture?
Are you interested in Thai culture?
Are you interested in Thai traditional Mlower
activities?
Female
Male
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We also conducted interview to follow up the results we found here regarding interest in Thai
traditional cultural events. There are three interview sessions conducted, each with a person
either high, medium or low in their score in the last question (see Appendix B for complete
interview scripts). A person who expressed high interest in cultural events with Thai flowers
indicated that she felt that it should be fun to do. She also said that she has been helping her
mom making floral arts since she was young and found it fun. She would like others to
discover this fun activity and got to know each other. She mainly used flowers for religious
purposes, and felt secured when she used it as an offering to sacred items. The act of making
floral arts in itself was also refreshing. However, nowadays she preferred purchasing the
arranged flowers o ver making them herself because she was busy, and it was relatively cheap
for her to buy even beautiful ones. She also indicated that she would be happy to help others
learning how to arrange flowers.
As for the interview with a person with medium interest in cultural activity about Thai
flowers, we found many aspects that are useful for design a living. This person said that she
know how to arrange flowers and used to make them for cultural events. However, she said
that simple floral arts were cheap and easy to purchase. It seemed unnecessary for people to
make floral arts nowadays. Nonetheless, she might join an event where she can help others
arranging flowers.
The last person we interviewed was not interested in customs on flowers at all. He did not
find it interesting or fun to do. Still if his group of friends decided to do it, he might join as
well as a social activity among friends.
To conclude part 3, there are many aspects that might guide our design a living. First, it seems
that people are not involved with neighbors as much as family or nature. Second, people
believe that Thai culture is interesting but they do not want to engage in it. Third, gender
appears to play a role here where males seem to have less interest in flower activities and
Thai culture in general. From the interview, we also discovered that people are more likely to
engage in cultural activities, if these activities involve other people. Hence, our design a
living should be about having people joining together to learn about flowers in Thai
traditional way of life.
94
5.5 Correlation analyses
To see the overall picture of facets of factors that might contribute to attitude toward floral
arts among the young in Thailand nowadays, we conducted correlation analyses among each
pair of questions. Table 4 lists the questions included in the analyses, as well as their
descriptive means, standard deviations and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients
(r) from each question pair.
Table4. Correlation Matrix of the Overall Answers in the Questionnaire
SD Mean 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1. use flower/year
12.93 6.84
2.purpose = praying to sacred item
1.14 3.58 .33*
3.purpose = praying to monks/priests
1.13 3.46 .42** .74**
4. Religious strict .95 4.62 .1 .11 .17
5.temple visiting(/year)
7.54 6.6 .41** .23 .23 .24
6. Use floral arts/year
18.27 6.99 .70** .26 .32* -.05 .04
7.make floral arts/year
.85 .32 .44** .23 .25 -.15 -.04 .68**
8.involement with nature
1.42 5.22 .01 -.13 -.09 -.03 .2 .05 .15
9.involement with family
1.29 5.92 -.12 .07 .19 .13 .11 -.03 .18 .28
10.involement with neighbors
1.22 3.78 .31* .15 .31* .19 .30* .22 .35* .32* .48**
11.value nature .86 5.8 .06 -.19 -.11 -.12 .2 . .07 .72** .29* .33* 12. value family .97 6.1 .09 -.02 .27 -.02 .15 .16 .26 .32* .59** .38** .44**
13.value neighbors
1.21 4. .26 .25 .36* .27 .36** .19 .34* .34* .56** .82** .35* .50**
14.interest in flower activity
1.66 3.88 .30* .14 .18 .07 .26 .26 .39** .17 .30* .33* .21 .42** .51**
15.age 3.1 24.44 .05 -.12 -.18 -.19 .1 .04 -.11 -.11 -.43** -.28 -.04 -.26 -.30* -.37** Note: * denotes statistical significance at p < .05 (2-tailed) and ** denotes statistical
significance at p < .01 (2-tailed). Degree of freedom (df) for each of the pair is 48.
From Table 4, we can see the first significant correlation is between the frequency of using
flowers per year (1) and the frequency of using flowers for praying for sacred items (2), r (48)
= .33, p < .05. This association means that those who use flowers frequently, often use
flowers for praying sacred items. This in fact can be applied to another significant
relationship between the frequency of using flowers per year (1) and the frequency of using
95
flowers for praying to monks and priests (3), r (48) = .42, p < .05. Because the use of flowers
for sacred items (2) and to monks and priests (3) are highly associated with one another, r
(48) = .74, p < .001, it can be inferred that the use of flowers among the young in Thailand is
vastly for religious purposes. This notion is confirmed by the correlations between the
number of using flowers per year (1) and that of temple visits per year (5), r (48) = .41, p <
.001, and between the frequency of using flowers for praying to monks and priests (3) and the
number of using floral arts/year (6), r (48) = .32, p <.05. From these relationships, it is highly
reasonable to infer that people often use flowers upon their visits to temples for praying for
sacred items and to monks and priests.
There is nonetheless no significant relationship found between the degree of religious
strictness (4) and other scales, including the frequency of using flowers per year (1). This
finding seems to undermine our notion on the use of floral arts for religion purposes.
However, we reason that this is because the use of floral arts at a temple for the young in
Bangkok now has become merely an activity that is driven by a cultural habit, but not a faith
in the religion, as in the past. This notion is especially in line with the null result on the
relationship between the degree of religious strictness (4) and number of temple visits per
year (5). In other words, people do use floral arts when they are at a temple for religion-
related activities as to offer to sacred items, monks or priests, but they only practice this type
of behavior when they happen to be at a temple for cultural events. These events can be on
religion holidays, such as loy kratong, visaka Bucha, makha bucha, asalaha bucha, or even on
secular holidays like Thai new year.
Another set of correlations shows how people practice floral arts nowadays. There is a
significant relationship between the frequency of using flowers per year (1) and the frequency
of using floral arts per year (6), r (48) = .70, p < .001. Moreover, this relationship is also in
the same direction with the relationship between the frequency of using flowers per year (1)
and the frequency of making floral arts per year (7), r (48) = .44, p < .05. Though, the latter
relationship is less strong. This means that people who reported using flowers are often use in
a form of floral arts, and also make floral arts themselves. High correlation between, the
frequency of using floral arts per year (6) and making floral arts per year (7), is also found
here, r (48) = .68** , p < .01. This means that those who use floral arts are likely to make
floral arts themselves. This perhaps indicates that making people use floral arts might be a
first step toward making them make the arts themselves. For our design-a-living project then,
we should maybe try to make people experience making floral arts first, and as a result, this
might lead them to understand the underlying meaning it lies. Therefore, they might continue
making floral arts later. This ultimately then might higher the behavior of making floral arts
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since as of now the descriptive mean of the frequency of making floral arts per year is so low
(.85 times per year vs 18.27 times per year for the use case).
The answers to the questions regarding involvement and value toward nature, family and
neighbors were analyzed in terms of correlations. It is showed that the answers to
involvement and value are in the same direction in the same domains. That is, those who are
involved in nature (8) also value nature (11), r (48) = .72, p < .01, as for family case (9 & 12),
r (48) = .59, p < .01 and for neighbor case (10 &13), r (48) = .82, p < .01. This means that
people behave what they value in. For our design-a-living project then, if we can make people
value floral arts more, then they may involve in floral arts more, and vice versa.
Another important finding on the questions regarding involvement/value is on its
predictability. Among the three domains, only involvement toward neighbors (10) can predict
the frequency of the use of flowers per year (1), r( 48) = .31, p < .05 among other relevant
factors, such as the frequency of using flowers for praying to monks and priests (3), r (48) =
.31, p < .05, the number of temple visits per year (5), r (48) = .30, p < .05, and the frequency
of making floral arts per year (7), r (48) = .35, p < .05. This means that the higher degree
people involve with neighbor, the higher tendency for them to use flowers, make floral arts
and involve in religion-related activities, like visiting temples and making offering to monks.
Hence, heighten involvement one have with neighbors might be another key to get people
involve with the floral arts activity in our design-a-living project.
The correlations between the interest in flower activity (14) and other variables might
determine important features that should or should not have in our design-a-living project.
Firstly, it is correlated well with the frequency of using flowers per year (1), r (48) = .30, p <
.05 and also the frequency of making floral arts per year (7), r (48) = .39, p < .05. This means
that those who indicate their interest in our design-a-living project on flower activity are
likely to be comprised of those who are already involved with flowers, either use flowers or
make floral arts. This is not very surprising because people often involve on what they are
already interested in. However, we should keep in mind in our recruiting process that we
should also have people who have not already extensively involved with floral arts so that our
project can outreach and permeate to other groups.
The correlations between the interest in flower activity (14) and involvement (8,9,10) and
value (11,12,13) are also informative for our design-a-living project. That is, it is only in the
domain of family (9, 12) and neighbors (10, 13), but not nature (8, 11) where the interest in
flower activity (14) have significant relationships with, rs (48) = .30, .42, .33. & .51,
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respectively, all with p < .05. This indicates that we should have our design-a-living project to
be involved with family and neighbors to be able to attract audiences.
The last variable is age (15). It has been found that age is negatively associated with the
interest in flower activity (14), r (48) = -.37, p < .05. From this, it appears that the older
people are, the less interest they are on flower activity. This is important to keep in mind as it
may influence the target group for our design-a-living project. That is, our design-a-living
project should attract younger than older participants. Hence, our project is decided to
conduct the project with children and teenagers in schools.
In sum, correlation analyses guide us in many aspects that might be helpful for our guideline.
First, people use flowers nowadays for praying in religious purpose. This confirmed the
purpose of flower usage in the past from the literature review and interview section. Also the
usage of flowers is directly related to the temple visiting frequency. However, even though
people still visit temple and use flower, strictness or faith in religion does not correlate to
those factors. Second, there is a significantly correlated data on floral arts using and making.
So people that use floral arts are more likely to make the arts themselves. Third, The higher
degree people involve with neighbors the higher tendency for them to use flowers, make
floral arts and involve in religion related activities like visiting temple and make offering to
monks. Forth, people who show interest in this design a living with flower project are likely
to comprised of those who are already involved with flowers, either use flowers or make
floral arts. Lastly, older people are less interest in cultural activity using flowers. Therefore
our design-a-living project should focus on these aspects.
5.2 Proposal for design a living in Bangkok
Information from questionnaire and interview show that the custom of using flower is
becoming nearly extinct among the young in Bangkok. People rarely make floral arts
themselves, and they have limited knowledge about traditional culture of flower usage. In the
past, this custom of using flowers has played an important role in preserving folk knowledge
on how to co-exist with nature and how to bond with the community. Because of the
extinction of this traditional custom, here we decided to design a living in order to transmit
the core wisdom of this custom to the society nowadays, although in a different method. By
considering the significant factors from questionnaire and interview afterward, we should try
to make people to at least experience making floral arts first, and as a result, this might lead
them to understand the underlying meaning it lies. Therefore, hopefully they might continue
making floral arts later.
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Our proposal is based on the information previously found. We should focus on (1) let people
experience using flowers in cultural way, (2) children should experience culture in non-
formal way (school system) and (3) strengthen relationship between neighbors.
From existing organization and foundations, we found that Thai health promotion foundation
also now run a campaign encouraging cultural activity. This campaign emphasizes an
importance of temple to Thai society. This is to let people spending more time at local temple
near their place every Sunday and on holiday (NaewNar newspaper, 2010). The campaign
motivates people to spend holiday using space at temple to do different activity concerning
traditional culture and Buddhism. They believe joining cultural activity can improve physical
and mental health of people in a community. For example, on 2010, there was a campaign of
learning camp at temple. 25 temples in Bangkok, and another 60 temples all over Thailand
are participating in this project.
Figure 5.1 activities for children at temple to learn Thai traditional way of life on holiday
On the other hands, school in Bangkok seems to recognize this cultural issue as well. So one
of many schools, Pathomtham elementary school, in Bangkok, arranged a cultural activity on
their regular basis. This school focus on natural learning and is different from normal
educational school (Baanpathomtham, 2011). Therefore, each student learn in more relax
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environment. For example, on Loy Krathong day, relatives of students were asked to teach
making floral arts for this ceremony. Unlike the normal class, students used a hallway to
practice floral arts in natural outdoor environment and allowed to use flowers in school
garden for one day. This learning style might be able to apply to all school in teaching
cultural activity.
Figure 5.2 relative of a student teach how to make floral arts
Furthermore, we should have volunteers in a community joining activity to transmit local
knowledge to children. In phuket province, February,2011, there is a small conference on the
suggestion of how to transmit the knowledge about culture by people in community
(Prueksarak, 2011). As a result, they arranged a group of volunteer to practice local art and
culture on holiday for children to enjoy learning them. These cases must also happen in
Bangkok, however it is not being publicly recognized.
Design guideline/ proposal 1
From questionnaire and interview research, most of the transmitted knowledge is mainly from
school. People learn how to use flower from school, however unfortunately they stop making
floral arts after finish school. More than half of participants even think of making floral arts
as the school obligation. This way, it is very important to transmit the meaning and usage of
flowers to children in new way. Moreover, result of correlation analyses show that people
with older age might have less interested in cultural activities. We can see the significant
factor relating between making floral arts and involvement with neighbors. We should try to
engage neighborhood involvement together with encouraging children to experience floral
arts.
In this proposal, the main propose is to make the children understand the underlying meaning
of floral arts. A teacher might ask some senior citizens, especially students’ relatives, in same
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community with school to join the class as instructors. Senior citizen can teach children by
basic lesson by hands-on method. Moreover, story telling while making can indirectly
transmit the meaning of flowers.
Special class about traditional culture, such as floral arts, should be an enjoyable moment.
The class should be held outside the classroom with close distance to nature. As a result,
children can learn how to combine flower in Thai traditional way from one of their
classmate’s relative. They can learn floral arts along with folk wisdom from senior citizens.
Students might find cultural activity more interesting than just one school obligation.
Furthermore, it is a good chance to let the people in the community shares their value and
knowledge to the next generation.
For this activity, students might have to prepare by picking available flowers from their place.
So they can learn the nature value of planting and using flower. Moreover, cutting and
growing flower at home can increase their family time together. Furthermore, it is a chance
for family communication as well. Children can learn their role in making floral arts. Though
there is different in men and women roles, the children role is similar, to follow an instructor.
Therefore, this activity aims to continually nurture the value for flower, nature, family, and
neighbors of Thai children.
Design guideline/ proposal 2
From interview and questionnaire, the results show how religious plays a very important role
in transmitting the meaning of floral arts. People obviously use floral arts in religious context.
So it must be a good chance to let children learn about flower usage at a community center in
the past, a temple. Moreover, it is easier for children to understand the real experiment of
“living with temple” like in the past. Thai Health promotion foundation also supports people
in community to involve more with temple. This is because a role of temple is disappearing
nowadays in modern life style (Health promotion foundation,2010). This chance will
encourage children to learn new thing at a temple, in this case floral arts. Also children can
spend time with family and neighbors from the same community on holidays.
In this proposal, an activity will be held at Thai traditional temple near their resident. Thai
traditional temple has a big center hall and surrounded by hallways, which were the main area
for arranging flower in the past. Students can learn the meaning of flower usage in the
original environment in original place. Therefore, this activity can motivate student to learn
about the flower, and its usage. Moreover, participating in this activity provides a chance for
children to understand the underlying meaning of flower usage.
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In this activity, on religious and secular holiday, people still gathering at the temple.
However, unfortunately they are independently use floral arts they bought from nearby shop
or even an artificial flower. We should consider this is a chance to let people in the same
community brought available flower from their residents and exchange flower and knowledge
of how to make floral arts. There are a lot of senior citizens that are willing to teach and
communicate with others. Children can learn with the young and adults at the same time, in
order to experience the real environment of traditional Thai life in the past. They can also
learn the role of different gender. This activity should be more interesting than a same
classroom learning style with the same age students only. This way, it is a mutual benefit.
Students can learn traditional knowledge about culture in more interesting way. At the same
time senior citizens can feel they are important to the community as well. In addition, using
their own flowers or exchanged flowers can heighten the value of their own floral arts for
their special day. At the same time, they can gradually understand the underlying meaning of
using flower, both in nature aspect as well as the communication through community
member’s aspect.
Both of the proposals are intended to make people in the community communicate more.
Furthermore, it is a great chance that is possible to let the children or teenager memorize Thai
traditional flower scent in ceremonies and events. Therefore, they might hopefully realize the
importance of flower role in community and continue to transmit this culture of flower usage
to the next generation.
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Conclusion
○終章：まとめ
103
Conclusion
○終章：まとめ
In Thailand, there are varieties of flowers growing all year round due to tropical climate and
humidity Thai people use products of floral arts at many occasions together. Also floral arts
bind Thais with nature. In the past, because flowers were used in floral arts in everyday life,
people grow their own garden or field. As a result, they have acquired skills and knowledge
about agriculture and have gradually passed them on from generation to generation. This way
folk knowledge about floral arts have transmitted and preserved as an integral custom in Thai
society.
From literature review of myth and evidence about flower in Thai history indicate high degree
of engagement Thais have with flowers in various domains of arts. From this, we can see 1)
the influence of religion on floral arts, 2) the association between righteousness and flowers
and 3) preference toward rules of order in floral arts. These values explain how floral arts are
used.
From literature review and interview about flower in daily life usage, we can see that Thai
people use floral arts for religion purposes. Floral arts are associated with divinity and sacred
item in daily life use. In addition, floral arts make us understand how Thais utilize plants to
their full potential. This method requires a lot of time, effort, and skills. Therefore, Thai
people transmit their cultural knowledge about nature and craft-making skills by means of
floral arts. Family members then practice floral arts skill in their daily life. This way the
knowledge and family bond is tighten through the usage of flowers.
In the research on usage of flower special occasion, we can understand how flowers have
specific meaning for different events. Religious belief is mainly mentioned in the purpose of
floral arts usage. Brahmanism and Buddhism influence people value especially on how
people need floral arts in festivals and events. Furthermore, people utilize flowers and share
their value with other community members.
As a result, family members and neighbors need to spend a lot of time together to carry on
customs about floral arts making. Communication during the process of making floral arts is
unavoidable, and it strengthens bond in a family and a community. During the use of flower,
seniors teach younger generations their folk knowledge about flower and nature in general.
From this, children have gradually absorbed Thai wisdom along with religious myths.
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We can conclude that (1) people utilize flower for both physical and mental aims. This means
that floral usage impact the way people live significantly. (2)Scent and form of flowers can
influence situational atmosphere. People remember and give value to specific type of flowers
in different types of events. (3)Floral arts activity strengthens the community bond and
encouraging communication. (4) Separation of roles in family. Men and women as well as
children have their own role and responsibility.
In questionnaire analyses, we found the results to confirm that people do use floral arts when
they are at a temple for religion-related activities as to offer to sacred items, monks or priests.
However, they only practice this type of behavior when they happen to be at a temple for
cultural events. These events can be on religion holidays. However, the more involvement
with neighbors and family found, the more we can see the relationship with floral art usage.
We should have our design-a-living project to be involved with family and neighbors to be
able to attract audiences. In addition, the result of questionnaire shows that most of the young
purposes of doing flower arrangement is because school obligation. As a classroom subject,
they might have bad impression and do not continue making floral arts since school.
Therefore, we propose to conduct the project with teenagers in school age in a more enjoyable
way than a school obligation.
All in all, Thai people life has long been engaged with flowers, especially floral arts. This
culture of using flower has a lot of underlying meanings. People in the past has been
transmitted their knowledge from generation to generation through daily life usage as well as
usage in yearly events and events throughout lifespan. There are many strict rules on flower
usage, each of which have underlying meanings and folk wisdom. People in the same
community share those rules and knowledge. In fact, these rules entail how people in a
community interact with each other and with nature. Therefore, the community bond is
strengthened by the flower usages, and Thai people gain knowledge about nature through this
cultural means. Furthermore, it is important for us to create a chance for the people to realize
the essential value of flowers in their life. However, in Bangkok the usage and cultural
activities about flower has been disappearing thogether with Bangkok identity. It is very
important to of this culture and create a chance for the next generation to realize the essential
value of flowers in their life. We hope that people are still able to benefit from the flower
usage in their life.
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Acknowledgment
I am heartily thankful to my supervisors, Professor Naoto Suzuki and Professor Ueda Akira,
whose encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to
develop an understanding of the subject.
This thesis and thesis presentation would not have been possible without a great help from
Mr. Toshihiko Kikuchi. His wide knowledge and logical way of thinking have been of great
value for me. I deeply thank for his great help in revising the Japanese of my manuscript.
My sincere thanks are due to my family and friends in Thailand, Orm, Lhin, Pim, Wan and
Poon for their excellent photographic works and great support throughout this study. I wish to
extend my warmest thanks to all those who have helped me with great collaboration in
Thailand.
I am grateful to be with everyone in Design Culture Unit, Department of Design Science,
Graduate School of Engineering of Chiba University. During this work, we had spent a lot of
time together and I had got a lot of warm support. Thank you for all nice memory in Chiba
University.
I owe my deepest gratitude to Mr. Narun Pornpattananangkul, my husband, for his guidance
in statistical analysis, revising the English of my whole manuscript, and untiring help during
my difficult moments. Without his encouragement and understanding it would have been
impossible for me to finish this work.
Lastly, I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported me in any respect
during the completion of the project.
Chiba, Japan, February 2012
Rasa Salakij
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・Photography and Illustration写真 Figure0.1 evidence of flower usage in history
Figure 0.2 Praying at temple
Figure 0.3 the lifestyle of making floral arts changed
Figure 1.1 Four types of lotus in the myth from Buddhist teaching
Figure 1.2 Thai mural painting with lotus
Figure 1.3 flower used in Khon classical dance
Figure 1.4 Grandmother teach her granddaughter to make traditional liquid fragrance, scene
from Thai series “ Four reigns”
Figure 1.5 silk textile pattern, Bakul flower
Figure 1.6 pattern of systematically arranged flower
Figure 1.7 Lotus in Thai ancient art
Figure 1.8 Lotus in ancient architecture
Figure 1.9 Jasmine in painting Figure 1.10 prajamyarm, basic pattern resemble organized flower
Figure 2.1 A specialist making malai (floral garland)
Figure 2.2 Lotus picking in Thailand, 1868. The British Library
Figure 2.3 different stages of sacred lotus flower
Figure 2.4 Parts of sacred lotus (from left: stamen, rhizome, stolen, dried old seed, leaf)
Figure 2.5 Jasmine flower buds
Figure 2.6 ready-to-use Jasmine flowers
Figure 2.7 picking Jasmine part explanation
Figure 4.8 (above row from left): Damask rose, Ylang Ylang, Ixora, Marigold (below row from left): Crown flower, Globe Amaranth, Bakul, Orchid Figure 2.9 (From left) White Champaka, Orange Champaka, Frngipani
Figure 2.10 Flower types category
Figure 2.11 Sacred Lotus as floral arts
Figure 5.12 Making floral arts by using Sacred Lotus
Figure 2.16 Praying with flower-candle-incense
Figure 2.14 Malai (Floral garland)
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Figure 2.15 Parts of malai: combination
Figure 2.16 Process of making malai
Figure 2.17 Daily making merit
Figure 2.18 famous shrine in the center of Bangkok
Figure 2.19 "Kra-tae" a floral arts resembles a squirrel
Figure 2.20 Damask rose petals on dessert
Figure 2.21 “Bu-nga” in flower sachet
Figure 2.22 "Nam-ob" Thai traditional perfume
Figure 2.23 "Din-so-pong" Thai traditional solid perfume
Figure 2.24 Utilize Damask Rose can results in faster and more amount of flower grows
Figure 2.25 Cutting Marigold flower can elongate the plant life
Figure 3.1 elaborated malai
Figure 3.2 Using malai on Songkran day
Figure 3.3 Using Jasmine malai on mother's day
Figure 3.4 Putting malai on Buddhist altar
Figure 3.5 variations of malai forms
Figure 3.6 Floating flowers over water
Figure 3.7 Phanphum for Waikhru ceremony
Figure 3.8 Phanphum and ornaments
Figure 3.9 Offering food and dessert to monks (giving alms)
Figure 3.10 Offering food and dessert together with flower at the temple
Figure 3.11 Krathong, flower lantern
Figure 3.12 directions to make Krathong, Flower lantern
Figure 3.13 Krathong in toy shape made from PE and paper
Figure 3.14 Krathong made from bread
Figure 3.15 enormous quantity of garbage from Daily newspaper Nov17, 1999. Retrieved Nov 10, 2011 from http://www.tei.or.th/viewpoint/viewpoint18.htm
Figure 3.16 Marriage malai
Figure 3.17 Phan Khanmak
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Figure 3.18 Baisri
Figure 3.19 Components of Baisri
Figure 3.20 types of Baisri: Baisri Pak Cham and Baisri Thep
Figure 3.21 Students making Baisri for school project
Figure 3.22 Dok Mai Chan
Figure 3.23 Buddhist talisman
Figure 3.24 "Kaw-Shae" (Rice in ice water)
Figure 5.1 Thai people chanting for luck at temple on 2012 new year night campaign Figure 5.2 relative of a student teach how to make floral arts Figure 5.3 Proposal 3 Graph 1. Percentage of people who use Thai flower in daily life or cultural events more than
five times per year
Graph 2. Consistency/discrepancy between the frequency of using and making floral arts (on
average per year).
Graph 3. Last time when participants made floral arts by themselves or with others.
Graph 4. The persons from which participants learn how to make Thai traditional floral arts.
Graph 5. Situations where participants usually make Thai floral arts by themselves.
Graph 6 Answers to the question, “how much you involve/value with nature/family/neighbor?
Graph 7. The answers to questions accessing interest in Thai culture Graph 8. The answers to questions accessing interest in Thai culture, separated by genders.
The error bars here denote +/- one standard error.
Table 1. Ranks of frequency of flower usage separated by occasions. M denotes the frequency
rating of flower usage.
Table2. Ranking Results of the Question, “What is the Purpose of Using Flower in Thai
Society in Your Opinion?”
Table3. Ranking Results of the Question, “Do you know what is the cultural meanings of
commonly used flowers written below?”
Table4. Correlation Matrix of the Overall Answers in the Questionnaire
[A picture from Four Reigns Film]. (n.d.). [Online photograph]. Retrieved from
http://ohokwan.blogspot.com/2011/09/blog-post_14.html
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[Untitled images of Making Baisri pak cham]. (n.d.). [Online photograph]. Retrieved from http://61.7.233.3/cd/index.php?pg=rsview&id=38
The British Library (1868). Lotus picking in Thailand. [Online illustration]. Retrieved from
http://www.agefotostock.com/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/HET-1618808 [A bouquet of flower, candle and incense]. (2008). [Online photograph]. Retrieved from
http://nuchote.multiply.com/photos/album/68#photo=27 [Untitled image of a Jasmine flower]. (n.d.). [Online photograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.nanagarden.com/supplier-index.aspx?supplierid=2867 [Untitled image of a Frangipani]. (n.d.). [Online photograph]. Retrieved from
http://medicinal-thaiherbs.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html [Untitled image of a White Champaka]. (n.d.). [Online photograph]. Retrieved from
http://medicinal-thaiherbs.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html [Untitled image of a sacred Lotus and parts of lotus flower]. (n.d.). [Online photograph].
Retrieved from http://www.prachathon.org/forum/?topic=3709 [Untitled image of a common malai]. (n.d.). [Online photograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.baanmaha.com/community/thread40794.html [Untitled image of Takbart or Almsgiving in Thailand]. (n.d.). [Online photograph].
Retrieved from http://www.thayang.org/news/news_detail.php?news_id=00036 [Untitled image of a Baisri]. (n.d.). [Online photograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.rossukon-m.ob.tc/kuamlu.html Jarangab, T. (2008). Untitled image of DokMai Chan Making. [Online photograph].
http://school.obec.go.th/tasiewkanlum/tongtin.htm
[Untitled image of children with garbage from Krathong]. (1999). [Online photograph].
Retrieved from http://www.tei.or.th/viewpoint/viewpoint18.htm) [Untitled image of a Krathong]. (n.d.). [Online photograph]. Retrieved from
http://www.dhammajak.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26453 [Untitled image of a Buddhist statue in Songkran festival]. (2007). [Online photograph].
Retrieved from http://www.bloggang.com/viewdiary.php?id=ainne&month=04-2007&date=23&group=1&gblog=52
[Untitled image of an activity in Songkran festival]. (n.d.). [Online photograph]. Retrieved
from http://www.akeblog.com/blog-relax/%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%95%E0%B9%8C/attachment/dsc06121-1/
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[Untitled image of an activity at temple]. (n.d.). [Online illustration]. Retrieved from
http://www.bloggang.com/viewdiary.php?id=plaiplang&group=7 [Untitled image of praprom, a sacred shrine in Bangkok]. (n.d.). [Online illustration].
Retrieved from http://atcloud.com/stories/87178 [Untitled image of flowers over water]. (n.d.). [Online illustration]. Retrieved from
http://watkomafai.igetweb.com/index.php?mo=3&art=295248 [Untitled image of a phan phum, floral art on a pedestal tray]. (n.d.). [Online illustration].
Retrieved from http://www.arunsawat.com/board/index.php?topic=6679.0
Thai encyclopedia for children Vol22. (n.d.). Thai traditional fragrance. [Online photograph]. Retrieved from http://kanchanapisek.or.th/kp6/New/sub/book/book.php?book=22&chap=4&page=t22-4-m.htm
[Untitled image of folded leaves for making Krathong]. (n.d.). [Online illustration]. Retrieved
from http://campus.sanook.com/teen_zone/senior_03042.php [Untitled image of floral arts learning group]. (n.d.). [Online illustration]. Retrieved from
http://baanpathomtham.com/?page_id=56 Thai Health Promotion Foundation. (2012). New year chanting campaign. [Online
illustration]. Retrieved from http://www.thaihealth.or.th/healthcontent/special_report/18927
Tourism Authority of Thailand. (2011). Khao Shae. Retrieved from
http://www.highlightthailand.com/main/detail_content/This-summer-It-s-the-time-for-Mon-s-rice-in-ice-water/63.html
Jarunchon, A. (n.d.). Khon costume. [Online photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.oknation.net/blog/assada999/2009/11/18/entry-1
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Appendix B ・Interview Script聞き取りの内容 添付資料 Interview with specialist 1 Interview session Aug 04,2011+ Aug 20,2011 Mrs. Mintra Dinakara N. Ayuthaya: age 63 M.L. Puang Dinakara was a traditional Thai style woman, and she had transmitted her exquisite culinary knowledge from her mother, whether it is the traditional Thai cuisine, desserts and elegant fruit and vegetable carvings. She was able to create a very beautiful and magnificent piece of work which unique apart from other Thai cuisines. All her cuisines are innovated within family and made by heart, therefore each cuisine is exquisitely prepared and decorated. What do you know about Thai traditional flower arrangement? Thai flower arrangement: “rule of the house” Every special day like Buddhist holy days or monk’s day, the family have to prepare the flower to offer to the monk at the temple gathering of people in the community area. Moreover, there is a spirit house in almost every household. It is very common to offer food and flower to this spirit house. Since there is a belief that routine offering to spirit house will make the family member protect by the area god or spirits. The offering requires new food everyday but new flower arrangement every 3-4 days. Flower arrangement is used in both daily life and special occasions. One day before special event, family members, especially female, have to prepare the flower from early morning and arrange the flowers together on the veranda of the house. Who do Thai traditional flower arrangement? The flower arrangement is a women and children job. The arranger will calculate the amount they want and take the flowers from the garden. Everyone will take only what they expect to use, so there will be no flowers left unused. The girls will follow their cousins, sisters, mother or grandmother to the garden to prepare their own flowers. On the other hand, the boys will prepare long coconut stripe to use as a needle. Everyone will gather around and focusing on their own responsibility given. Beginner starts with picking flower from the garden by follow the veteran. After returning to the house veranda, veterans teach beginners how to prepare each type of flowers. For example, categorizing jasmine by size and ripeness, splitting the rose into petal and float in the water to avoid dehydration. - Every child in the household has to learn flower arrangement from her grand mother. They all have to wake up very early to pick up the flower in the morning themselves for what they want to do. Later on, prepare the flowers on the outdoor veranda of the house. After finish flower arrangement, they will prepare to cook in the kitchen (separate building) before her grandmother arrives. Who teach all the practitioners? Grandmother is the one who decide everyone’s responsibility. She does not work on her own but rather check her grandchildren work and teach advance technique. At the same time, the wisdom of living with nature will be passed on through story in conversation. To illustrate, Lotus is a symbol of Buddhism because the Buddha was born on 7 blooming lotuses. So lotus is used as an offering to Buddhist monk. Putting lotus in vinegar before folding the petals makes it stay the same fresh color for longer period.
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What is the purpose of doing flower arrangement? Flower arrangement has 3 important purposes; first to teach the children how to meditation, second children can practice their responsibility and lastly, practice working as a group. What is the condition of this culture nowadays? Thai specialists usually keep the knowledge as a secret of their own household. For this reason, Thai flower arrangement has different origins and patterns. It can be said that the original arrangement is from the same royal palace. However, there are many designs, which differ from each specialists as well as the king’s reign. The children nowadays don’t appreciate the flower arrangement so the original arranging style and life style have been change through time. In these days, the original arranging can only be found in the special traditional art school. Do you remember any relationship with people or nature through doing flower arrangement? Neighborhood is another important relationship in community. Flower arrangement sometimes strengthens the bond. When the flowers in household are not enough for arrangement, it is very common to ask for specific flower to use for coming special events from neighbors. Moreover, there is sometimes the household can return the favor to neighborhood by either sharing the favorite dishes or flower arrangement for the neighborhood to pay respect to Buddhist altar in their house. Process of flower arrangement 1. Deciding the flower to grow in the garden is a responsibility of the female leader of the household. Gardening is different responsibility and usually belongs to male family members. Only grandmother can decide the type of plant growing in the garden. This way she can manage flowers used in the flower arrangement. 2. Gardening and taking care of flowers and plants is usually a responsibility of male members. 3. Picking flower in the morning of the day before the special events or on the day of routine usage. The arranger is the one who pick the amount of the flower that expect to use, because there are many specific rules for each flower arrangement type. For example, creating a flower Malai need cone shape jasmine instead of full-bloom one. This is because the Malai is supposed to be in symmetrical shape and full-bloom jasmine cannot be shape the same way. Another example is rose. 4. Preparing the flower before arranging is a very delicate job. The arranger will have to categorize the flower by type and size then put in separate trays. Each part of the flower can be used in different style of flower arrangement. Without washing in the water, the arranger will clean some flowers and leaves with damp cloth. Then sprinkle clean water to keep the flower fresh. 5. Starting the flower arrangement by deciding the size of the works from the flower prepared. Sewing the flower into coconut stripe (needle). Then cut another prepared flower in same size as needed. Therefore the arranger has to sew and cut the flower’s bud back and forth. The prepared flower cannot be cut at first because the arranger will have to see how much they need in each step. 6. Usage usually related to Buddhist usage; offering to monk or pay respect to Buddha images. 7. After the flower dried, the arranger will have to put away and replace with new one. The dried flower arrangement will be put under big trees. This is believe to help the tree grows healthier and provide great shade and keep the house cooler by the blessing of Buddha or รุกขเทวดา (the tree goddess of each big tree) Is there any belief about flower arrangement?
1. Don’t walk over the flowers both arranged and unarranged.
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2. Don’t pick the flower at night 3. Don’t leave the flower arrangement unfinished. 4. Don’t sniff the flower both on the plant, the picked or even the arranged flower.
Most flowers have the specific way to bring out their best fragrance. Some can put on the fire for good fragrance. And some have to lay in the sunlight. Therefore, flowers arrangement can be used to make the clothes or space smell good. Interview with professional2 Interview session Aug 04,2011+ Aug 30,2011 Mrs.Wanna Kluaymai N. Ayuthaya Maneenuch: age 52 Now a president of Chotiveth Rachmongkol association
What do you know about Thai traditional flower arrangement? Her family used to work for the royal family. So her grandmother used to work as a flower arranger. Since she and her siblings found the Thai traditional flower arrangement very interesting, they used to help the family activities about flower. Flower arrangement are used frequently both in personal Buddhist believe and annual the royal ceremonies. Thai people believe in Buddhism. The strict Buddhist prayer usually goes to the temple everyday with the flower to pay respect to the Buddhist image or monks. Later, if they have Buddha image at home, the need of going to temple is lessen to only special occasion. However, the flower offered must be fresh and new at all time. Who do Thai traditional flower arrangement? Thai people really appreciate craft, which is literally the work of sewing, stitching, knitting and string together. Long ago, there is a saying that the good woman can cook, make clothes, and doing flower arrangement well. All the ladies from that time took this word as their goal and carried on this believe until now. The arrangers usually do it at their own place because they want to teach only their children. So most of the traditional flower arrangement rule might already been lost. Students who learn home economics at Institute or college have to learn hot to arrange flower as one of the majors. There is an association of housewives doing complicated flower arrangement together to use in the royal ceremony or for use when contact with Thai royal families or high social status person. People or organization who would like to show appreciation to them will have to buy this specific elaborated flower arrangement. The association members also bring their child to learn and practicing flower arrangement there as well. Like an adult, children will start from practicing step by step and end up doing only one specific step. The association believes this process provides more consistent to arranged flower works. Who teach all the practitioners? Home economics teacher teach the entire student on weekday. The curriculum is all about arranging flower arrangement systematically. The traditional way of arranging has been adapted to make the flower more durable and more complicated as the arranger can imagine. This is because the commercial needs are very important to this career nowadays. What is the purpose of doing flower arrangement? The flower arrangement is used to offer to Buddhist image or monks, the arranger is believed to gain merit in their life as well. Moreover, arranging flowers takes a lot of time and effort. The arranger can practice skills and patient. What is the condition of this culture nowadays?
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It is totally different today. Doing flower arrangement used to be an activities for all woman but now it is just one of the commercial product. Anyways for the modern flower arranger found it is easier to buy flowers nowadays. Due to chemical fertilizer, the flower is productive and even last longer. For example, the Malai used to comprise of rose petals but now orchid petals are used instead. This is because it can last longer and it is easier to sew together. Additionally, there are many new designs according to the arranger preference and market needs. The more complicated flower arrangement got, the more expensive it is. Besides, the people start to buy artificial flower arrangement. It can be made of plastic or variety of color cloth. Do you remember any relationship with people or nature through doing flower arrangement? She usually makes flower arrangement in a group of 5 people at least doing different part and combines it later. Everyone have her own specialty. Group members usually share their knowledge about specific skills on arrangement. At first the place might be silent in order to concentrate on the work. However, working together for 10 years made everyone talks when they are working. Nevertheless, there will be no flower waste at all. If they don’t use the entire flower up, they can keep it in special refrigerator for flower. Process of flower arrangement
1. Grow the flower for flower arrangement 2. Picking the flower from the garden. In order to get the best shape and fragrance of the
flower, some kind of flower should be picked in the morning and some should be pick in the evening.
3. Wash in clean water and dry in the sunlight 4. Categorize by size and color. If there is any rotten one, separate it. Then put
underneath the big tree, as it will become fertilizer later. 5. Divide the tasks for group members. 6. Start working specific task. For example, first person does the flower tip at the end of
the Malai. Second person does the short flower work. Third person does the long flower work. Fourth person prepares the decoration when combining all the part. Fifth person prepares different decoration.
7. Combining all the work 8. Spray water all over the finished artifact 9. Usage either for showing appreciation to person with higher social status first or offer
directly to Buddhist monk or Buddha image. 10. After praying with the offered flower until it dried up, can separate into 2 parts. First,
normal flower arrangement will be put underneath big tree to make organic fertilizer. Second, the flower arrangement that is touched by the king or royal families has to treat specially by keep dry again in sunlight. Then spray the concentrated flower fragrance and put in the enclosed container. This is called ”BU-NGA” means the dried flower with favorable fragrance smell.
Is there any belief about flower arrangement?
1. Don’t walk over the flowers. The flower refers to teacher and divinity, walking over is totally rude and might cause that person a bad luck.
2. Don’t do the flower arrangement with dirty hand since the flower will be offered to divinity.
3. Don’t eat anything when work. There might be some dangerous chemical that cannot be eaten from flower or leaves.
Don’t sniff the flowers Interview with senior citizen1 Aug 23, 2011+ Aug 26, 2011
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Mrs. Puangpakha Kurovath retired, was a Home economics teacher, Age: 78 Aug 29, 2011 + Aug 31,2011 When she was a child, she does not remember any particular activities about flower arrangement. After she entered Girl College, she began learning about traditional cuisine, traditional clothes, and traditional flower arrangement. The study is totally different from doing flower arrangement as a hobby, but concentrate more on commercial attribute. What do you know about Thai traditional flower arrangement? It can be said that flower arrangement has been a life style for all Thai people. Thai people think of the flower arrangement as an auspicious expression to get good luck and good blessing from divinity. Flower arrangement is used in every stage of Thai people life, starting from birth until death. Moreover, in every special Buddhist holy days and full moon day, people used to strictly make merit by offering food and flowers to monks at the temple. Since, in Thailand, we can find flowers everywhere, picking the best flower and arranged it systematically will even make the flower more valuable and suit the offer to god. Thai people anciently believed in Bhramanism, which gradually turned into Buddhism in nowadays. People still familiar with Bhramanist ceremony and combine it with Buddhist and local festival. Most of the ceremony has the main purpose to ask for natural fertility for agriculture. This is because Thai people main occupation is agricultural work. Who do Thai traditional flower arrangement? Long ago, the court ladies do traditional flower arrangement. They usually cook food, making clothes, and decorate the palace as their full time job. All the ladies will gather flowers with good meaning or good scent as a symbol of the flower that has already been blessed. Sewing the flower petal together into Malai or any other forms in order to pay the respect( ไหว) to Buddha images. However, there are many usage of flower arrangement. Flower that was left after finish arranging for the Buddha image sometimes turns into Kruengkwaen (Hanging object) to decorate the palace. The royal children will have fine flower decoration on their hair until they have the ceremony to turn to adult. Nowadays, people with spare time and specialist do flower arrangement. It is a very good commercial aspect as people stop doing it themselves, but rather buy it regularly from the seller. Thai people believe in offering favorable goods to Buddha image or Buddhist monk will make them successful in life by getting blessed. Who teach all the practitioners? Most of the specialists are thought from Home-economics College. This special school has a teacher that used to learn directly from court ladies. The students learn as a group and share their techniques. Good flower arrangement is not the most elaborated one but the one that look fresh and new. What is the purpose of doing flower arrangement? I believe it pull out the effort to deliver the best part of the nature to Buddha or divinity. This way, the flower arranger can practice their concentration just like one way of doing meditation. More importantly, arranging flowers is a good way to be responsible and efficient. We have to use up all the flowers to avoid wasting it whether it means creating another flower arrangement or use in food preparation. Moreover, it is very important for the household to get blessed and get the fertility of soil and water so the agricultural condition can be more productive. What is the condition of this culture nowadays?
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The usage of flower arrangement is less. People used to go to the temple to pray and pay respect to Buddhist monk every day. Now people only buy what is sold in the market especially on special occasion like the Buddhist holy days or their birthday. Fortunately, the specialist develop the flower arrangement to make it more durable that can be kept for longer time. Speaking about flower arrangement was done in every household before. Nevertheless, the life style has changed. Everyone is busy with his or her works. Children today do not appreciate Thai traditional art but rather interested in foreign art and high technology products. Do you remember any relationship with people or nature through doing flower arrangement? As I can remember, my grandmother used to arrange flowers every holy day with neighborhood in the temple. My house had a garden that grew lots of flowers which grandmother used. However, my mother worked so hard that I do not remember about whether she can do traditional flower arrangement or not. Even so, what I can remember is I did flower arrangement at primary school with all of my friends. The schoolteacher asked every student to bring the flower we have and learn the basic of flower arrangement together. Besides, I choose to attend Girl College and major in Home’s economics which many kinds and style of traditional flower arrangement have been taught. Process of flower arrangement 1. Designing the flower arrangement pattern or shape 2. Buy the flower according to the design 3. Prepare the flower by selecting the rotten one out. Then categorize by size or peel the outer layer off. 4. Start arranging into parts by using long straight needle and thread 5. Combining each part 6. Spray the water to keep the flower freshness 7. Offer to monks or Buddha image. Moreover, give to a person the arranger respect for them to offer to monk later. 8. When all the flower arrangement dried up, collect into box and expose to sunlight. Later give to the temple for the monks to grind into powder and create a Buddha amulet. Is there any belief about flower arrangement?
-‐ The flowers should not be sniffed -‐ The flowers should not be step over This is because Thai people believe all the flowers are blessed and will become a favorable object. Disrespecting flower will cause unfortunate or inauspicious fortune
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Interview with senior citizen 2 Aug 5, 2011 + Aug 11,2011 Ar Ped Narkpeth Age: 68 years old Retired: used to be a hairdresser’s teacher, housewife What do you know about Thai traditional flower arrangement? Most of flower arrangement artwork is used for religious belief. It is used as an offering to Buddhism, which consists of Buddha, Buddhist preaching, and Buddhist monk. Her grandmother often went to the temple with food and flowers as an offer to Buddhist monk without forgot to arrange the flower for Buddha image at home as well. Flower arranging is usually done at home or temple. People gathering to arranging their flowers and offer to god. This way they believe to get blessed by sacred power in exchange. Doing flower arrangement really consumes time. This shows the great effort the human have to the divinity. Usually the flower arrangement takes 3-5 hours. But special occasion like marriage ceremony might takes a whole daylong. Thailand is mainly an agricultural country. The cost of living comes from the abundant of soil and water, which are believed to come from the blessing of divinity. Not so long ago, every household used to grow vegetable and plants for food supply as well as or decoration. The flowers have been a symbol of abundant and fertility. So Thai people use the best flower they have got together with food to offer for more blessing and fortune. Who do Thai traditional flower arrangement? Both adult woman and children often arranged flower before. People gather in their household or in the temple on a night before the event. The children were having so much fun at the time of arranging flowers because they can spend time together chatting until late night. Nowadays, students only learned hoe to do flower arrangement in home economics class because their mother might not have enough free time to teach. Who teach all the practitioners? According to the story of parents, the experienced flower arranger will teach the beginner no matter how old he or she is. However, the teacher at primary school and their mother or grandmother can teach flower arrangement basic at home. For example, the Loy Krathong festival the family member used to gather up and arrange floating raft with the flower they have in the garden. Luckily, Thai people love the flower with good fragrance so it can be found anywhere. The flower with fragrance is good to use as an offering to divinity, such as Pikul and Chan. There are a belief that some specific kind of flower that associated with Buddhism likes lotus, Pikul and jasmine. What is the purpose of doing flower arrangement? Thai culture has a delicate and natural beauty especially in flower arrangement. It is a good practice of patient. Besides, this activity make the arranger feels blessed and lucky due to the flowers will be used as an offering to Buddha or spirit god. It is an auspicious work. What is the condition of this culture nowadays? These days, if they want to do flower arrangement, people buy flowers from market instead of growing. Moreover, they usually buy the complete arranged flower instead of doing it themselves. Even she used to do flower arrangement everyday stopped doing it more than10 years ago because she said it consumes time to prepare. It is easier to buy the finished flower arrangement in market.
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Do you remember any relationship with people or nature through doing flower arrangement? Every household grows flowers. Usually they choose the flower with good meaning from its name. However, sometimes it is because of the scent. Flower with perfumery scent is desirable, so Thai people think it is necessary to choose the best for divinity. Only the fresh and non-stale flower petal can be chosen. Not only Buddhism, some of the ritual comes from Bhramanism. Flower arrangement for both Buddhist altar and spirit house will be replaced every three days or until the flower got withered. If there are any special events of neighbor, woman will gather and help each other. Process of flower arrangement
1. Getting flower from garden or market. Cutting the flower incorrectly sometimes cause the plant to wither. The correct cutting method leads to growing of new branch. Roses are very delicate but marigold is very easy to grow, so there are many flower arrangement contains these two kinds of flowers. Additionally, not only the flowers are used, most of the flower arrangement requires banana leaves and sometimes trunk.
2. Selecting the part they want to use in arrangement. The rotten or withered will be taken away and put underneath the big tree.
3. Experienced flower arranger will teach inexperienced arranger how to prepare each type of flower to use in traditional arrangement.
4. Spraying the water over to keep the flower fresh. 5. Sewing the flowers together as decided by the flower amount and arranger design.
The more elaborated show more practiced skill of the arranger. 6. Using by praying at the Buddhist altar or spirit house. Usually the Father or male
member will be the leader of this ritual. 7. Clean up the place, the flowers that is not used will be arranged as an extra Malai or
create a toy. 8. Leaving to dry then put under big trees after it is staled. The flower arrangement will
be a part of the garden again. Is there any belief about flower arrangement?
1. The flower arrangement that was once used as an offering can not offer to another god again.
2. The flowers on preparing or any flower arrangement should not be sniffed. 3. The flowers should not be stepped on. 4. When selecting the flower in the garden, the young and immature flower cannot be
taken.
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flower/event
Thai New
Year
Wai Khru
Mothe
r’s day
Loy Kraton
g da
y
Budd
hist holy da
ys
Birth
New
resid
ent celeb
ratio
n
Marria
ge
Fun
eral
Use at tem
ple
Pray everyda
y at hom
e altar
Pray at spirit hou
se
Banana leaves ¢ ¢ ¢ ¤ ¢
¤ ¤ ¤ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
Orange Jessamine leaves ¢ ✕ ¢ ¢ ¢
¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ Rose petals ¤ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
¢ ¢ ¤ ¢ ¤ ¤ ¤
Jasmine ¤ ¢ ¤ ¢ ¢
¢1 ¢1 ¤1 ¢ ¤1 ¤1 ¤1 Cape gardenia ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
¢2 ¢2 ¤2 ¢ ¤2 ¤2 ¤2
Globe emeranth ¢ ¤ ¢ ¤ ¢
¢ ¢ ¤ ¢ ¤ ¤ ¤ Crown flower ¢ ¤ ¢ ¤ ¢
¢ ¢ ¤ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
Marigold ¤ ¢ ¢ ¤ ¢
¤ ¤ ¤ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
Lotus ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¤
¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¤ ¢ ¢ Orchid ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¤
✕ ✕ ¢ ¢ ¤ ¢ ¢
Ixora ✕ ¤ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕
Yellow berry nightshade ✕ ¤ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕
Wire Grass ✕ ¤ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕
Bakul ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
¢ ¢ ¢
Little yellow star ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
¢ ¢ ¢ Ylang-‐ylang ¢ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
¢ ¢ ¢
White Champaka ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ¢ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
¢ ¢ ¢ Orange Chempak ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ¢ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
¢ ¢ ¢
Pandanus odoratissimus ¢ ✕ ✕ ✕ ¢ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
¢ ¢ ¢
Tuberose ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕ ✕
✕ ✕ ✕ ¤
✕ ✕ ✕
¤ Preferably use ¢ Possibly use ✕ Do not use
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Flower arrangement Basic flowers Green -banana leaves
-Orange Jessamine leaves
Red - Damask rose petal White - Jasmine (not available when weather is cool)
-Cape gardenia (usually use to replace jasmine in winter)
- Globe Amaranth -Crown flower
Purple – Globe Amaranth
-Crown flower
yellow -Marigold Solitary use (Individual)
-‐ Lotus
-‐ Orchid (Usage began about 50years ago)
Specialist1 Preparation
Specialist2 Basic preparation Finish Pick in Evening
Woman1 Basic
Woman2 Basic use Preparation Malai use finish
Basic Malai use
Pick in Evening
Malai use Malai use Temple use
Basic -also use in food decoration
Basic Short life: easy to wither Thin petal Temple use Pick in morning
Temple use
Temple use Marriage
Basic Malai use Mother’s day
Basic Pick in morning Mother’s
Purity Mother’s day Malai
Basic Temple use
Use instead of jasmine when jasmine is not available
Has dangerous chemical Pick in morning
Temple use
Basic Marriage
Marriage Temple use Pick in morning
Temple use Marriage
Basic Temple use Marriage
Marriage Marriage Temple use Pick in morning
Temple use Marriage
Basic Temple use Marriage
Marriage Marriage Temple use Pick in morning
Temple use Marriage
Basic Temple use Marriage
Marriage Marriage Temple use Pick in morning
Temple use Marriage
Basic Temple use Marriage
Marriage Pick in morning
Temple use Marriage
Growth Temple use Marriage
Temple use Symbol of Buddhism
Temple use Buddhism Pick in morning
Buddhism
Buddhism
basic Temple use Durable Pick in morning
Temple use Durable
Temple use Durable
Extra flowers Have diffusing fragrance -Pikhul (Bakul) -Kradoomthong (Little yellow star) -Kradan nga(Ylang-ylang) -Champee (White Champaka) -Champa(Orange Chempak) -Lum jiak (Pandanus odoratissimus)
special fragrance with deodorizing effect : Sornklin (Tuberose)
Specialist1 Fragrance For temple use+ Buddhist altar
Specialist2 Temple use Royal use Basic usage
Woman1 Fragrance use
Woman2 Buddhism Can’t pick, have to get only the fallen one
Fragrance
Fragrance
Fragrance for clothing
Dried flower Fragrance for clothing dessert
Fragrance for clothing dessert
Temple use only
Temple use only
Temple use only Not for good ceremony
Temple use only
Temple use only
Temple use only Not for good ceremony
Fragrance for clothing
Fragrance for clothing
Funeral Grow far from home
funeral funeral Funeral Strong smell
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Interview after Questionnaire I Dec 9,2011 Beau, University student 22 years old Female Really interested in the flower activity Beau basically likes all the craft and art. She regularly arranges flower with her mother. Recently, her mother only look and advice but not attending anymore. The arranged flowers are from available flower in her garden, such as damask rose and Ixora. However, in special occasion she will buy the ingredients from near by market such as sacred lotus or orchid as a second choice. Her younger brother has responsibility to take care all of the plants in the garden through the father advice. She will take the flowers and spends short time arranging flower on every Sunday. Arranged flowers are place at a Buddhist altar and a spirit house. Beau’s grandmother is not making floral arts anymore. But she only takes care of the arranged flowers by keep them in folded banana leaf before anyone offer them to Buddhist altar or spirit house. Her grandmother really likes the smell of the floral arts, especially Champaka. So that sometimes Beau bring the flower without arranging it and place it on grandmother bed and her desk. On special events, everyone in the family has to bring their own floral arts. Resulting in the demand of commercial floral arts. The complicated arranged flower, Malai, is bought instead of making it. This is because Malai takes a lot of time. Moreover, complicated floral arts also cost little and look nice. Malai looks more valuable and worth giving to monks rather than simple flower-candle-incense sticks. In mother’s day of every year, Beau and her brother bought their mother a Malai. But recently, her brother feels fresh flower is hard to keep and chose Malai shape soap instead. Beau disagrees with the idea. She thinks fresh flower is refreshing and please people emotion. Beau’s mother taught that when she gives out the best flower to divinity, then in return she could get lucky and good-looking in next life. When she feels unsecured, she usually brings food, drink, together with floral arts to the temple and pray for purify mind as a restart. She believes Sacred Lotus has significant meaning to give to Buddha. Therefore, Sacred lotus is her first choice, but orchid is commonly sold at temple. Orchid is fine because it can stay for a longer time. She likes to join the activity to help people out She can enjoy herself arranging flower with friends. It is even more interesting to communicate with other senior citizens. Moreover, she prefers to join the volunteer activity. She and her friend want to try spend a short time (30min.-1hr.) talking with lonely senior citizen while making floral arts. Additionally, it is more interesting if the floral arts will be used to help other not only the makers. She would love to help making the flower that benefits others rather than only pleased herself. Interview after Questionnaire II Pim, veterinarian 26 Female Dec 10,2011 So-so interested in the flower activity Pim learned to make basic floral arts with her family and at school. However, she remember only that she should make it delicately organized. She does not remember the name of method or particular part of floral arts.
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In Thai new year, Pim and her relatives rarely gather and making simple Malai (floral Malai) with Mali(Jasmine). It is very common to use Malai on Thai New Year day, so it is usually sold out even though she is just an amateur. She said jasmine is easy to grow and smell nice in hot weather. So she choose to make uncomplicated Malai since there is no rule about the decided flowers for Malai form. If there is an activity about flower for herself, she thinks it is just so-so. However, she thinks it will be more fun if she goes with her friends and her arranged flower means something important. She doesn’t think she want to make floral arts on normal holiday, but she would love to go help if it is someone wedding or resident celebration. This is because the fresh flower can stay nice only for one day or so. It should be for the occasion that is really special. Pim said floral arts is more fun doing together with other than alone. She suggests that volunteer activity might be a tempting chance for her. She wants to play with her friend during chatting with senior citizen in the community. Pim think the floral art that was made in the community is more valuable than the bought one. However, she used flower as a routine and she bought a common Malai, which is not expensive and very easy to find. On the other hand, special floral arts for specific events really cost a lot. So she thinks it might be a good idea to have this activity helping those who have not much money and want to celebrate special events. The activity should not only focus on the attender but more on the usage of floral arts made. Interview after Questionnaire III Tua, University student, 22 Male Dec 12, 2011 Not interested in the flower activity at all Tua have some background about learning to arrange flower in his elementary school. But for some reason, he really doesn’t enjoy making art and craft at all. He has a feeling that flower and craft is a woman job. So it made him embarrassed to join and make floral arts. Anyway, he also had a good feeling for arranging flower with his sibling on Loy Krathong day (Floating flower raft) when they were children. Tua remembered he had fun using the flower in his garden and making the raft by Banana leave and trunk by himself. However, he doesn’t think he want to join the activity now unless his friends intend to go. He really enjoys spending time with his friends. He always follows his friend to some interesting activity about sport. However, he does not mind doing any activity he has no interested as long as he can spend some time with friends. Therefore, recently his friends join a lot of volunteer activity helping Thailand flood in 2011, so he did join many cultural activities. Tua only used flower when he feel unsecured and need his mind purified. He buys the floral arts sold by the temple or shrine with no preference. His family usually goes to temple on Thai New Year to buy a charity coffin for the poor and spends time pray at temple with bought floral arts. He believes to get fortunate afterward.
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・Questionnaireアンケートの内容 Dec 2011 Flower used in Thai culture questionnaire This interview is carried out in Thai language in December 2011. This is a part of Chiba University’s Master Thesis about culture of flower usage in Thailand. 1) How often do you use Thai flower in daily life or cultural events? 1. never 2. once every ____ years (less than one time per year) 3. ____ times per year (less than one time per month) 4. ____ times per month 2) How often do you use Thai traditional flower in the following occasions or daily life activities?
1 Never/ 2 Rarely/ 3 Sometimes/ 4 Often 5 Always 1. Thai new year
2. Loy kratong
3. mother’s day
4. Teacher’s day
5. Visaka Bucha
6. Makha Bucha
7. Asalaha Bucha
8. Khao punsa
9. Ork Punsa (Tod Katin)
10. praying to scared item
11. praying to monks/priests
12. cooking
13. drinking
14. producing medicine
15. expressing thankful message
16. expressing respect
17. expressing apology message
3) What are other occasions or activities in which you use Thai flower?
1 Never/ 2 mostly not/ 3 sometimes/ 4 usually use 5 Every time __________________ __________________ __________________ 4) How religious are you?
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1 not at all/ 2 mostly not/ 3 quite not belief/4 so-so /5 quite belief / 6 quite strict 7 extremely
5) How often do you visit a temple for religious purposes? 1. never 2. once every ____ years (less than one time per year) 3. ____ times per year (less than one time per month) 4. ____ times per month 6) How often do you use Thai floral arts? 1. never 2. once every ____ years (less than one time per year) 3. ____ times per year (less than one time per month) 4. ____ times per month 7) How often do you make Thai floral arts by yourself or with your family/ or people in community? 1. never 2. once every ____ years (less than one time per year) 3. ____ times per year (less than one time per month) 4. ____ times per month 8) Who taught you to arrange Thai traditional flower? ( multiple answers are possible) 1) I have never learnt how to do it. 2) Yourself 2) Friends 3) Teacher at school or university 4) Family member(s) 9) When was the last time you make Thai floral arts by yourself or with your family/ or people in community? 1. more than 10 years ago 2. within 5 to 10 years ago 3. within 1 to 5 years ago 4. within 6 month to 1 year ago 5. within 1 to 6 months 6. within one month
10) How much do you involve with nature? 1 not at all/ 2 mostly not/ 3 quite not relate/4 so-so /5 quite relate / 6 mostly relate 7 extremely
11) How much do you involve with your extended family? 1 not at all/ 2 mostly not/ 3 quite not relate/4 so-so /5 quite relate / 6 mostly relate 7 extremely
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12) How much do you involve with people in same neighborhood?
1 not at all/ 2 mostly not/ 3 quite not relate/4 so-so /5 quite relate / 6 mostly relate 7 extremely 13) How much do you care for natural environment? 1 not at all/ 2 mostly not/ 3 quite not care/4 so-so /5 quite care / 6 mostly care 7 extremely
14) How much do you care for your extended family? 1 not at all/ 2 mostly not/ 3 quite not care/4 so-so /5 quite care / 6 mostly care 7 extremely
15) How much do you care for people in same neighborhood? 1 not at all/ 2 mostly not/ 3 quite not care/4 so-so /5 quite care / 6 mostly care 7 extremely
16) What is usually the case when you make Thai floral arts by yourself? 1) You have never arranged flower.. 2) It is your own intention. 3) You do because of obligation from school. 4) You do because of obligation from family members. 5) It is a routine. 6) You make floral arts for commercial reasons. 17) What is the purpose of flower in Thai society in your opinion?(many choice possible 1. leisure for free time 2. to pray and ask for fortune regularly 3. to pray and ask for fortune once in a while 4. increase family time together 5. a chance to know people living in the same community 6. to know how to utilize nature from local wisdom 7. to learn how to use flower and the rule of community 8. none of the above, please specify___________ 18) Do you know what is the meaning of commonly used flowers written below 18.1Jasmine 18.2Sacred lotus 18.3Crown flower 18.4Globe Amaranth 18.5 Cape gardenia 18.6Tuberose 18.7Marigold 18.8Damask rose 19) Are you interested in Thai culture?
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1 not at all/ 2 mostly not/ 3 quite not care/4 so-so /5 quite care / 6 mostly care 7 extremely
20) What is your activity in your free time? 1) Foreign language study 2) Extra curriculum class 3) Movies 4) Music 5) Shopping 6) Reading books 7) Surfing on the Internet 8) Eat out 9) Window-shopping 10) Playing sport 11) ____________ 21) How interesting is Thai culture in your opinion? 1 not at all/ 2 mostly not/ 3 quite not care/4 so-so /5 quite care / 6 mostly care 7 extremely
22) Are you interested in participating in an event about Thai traditional flower? 1 not at all/ 2 mostly not/ 3 quite not care/4 so-so /5 quite care / 6 mostly care 7 extremely
23) Personal information 1. Age: 15-20 20-24 25-30 24. Sex: Female Male 25. Education: University/college student high school 26. Hometown: