Christmas Past in Siam at 137 Pillars House

December 6

Christmas Past in Siam, a Graham Jefcoate Reading in the Jack Bain Bar, at 137 Pillars House.
Visiting Siam (as Thailand was known until 1939) in the 1930s, the young American Ruth Rickover observed: “There were only a few hundred Europeans and Americans in Siam, but they certainly succeeded in generating much Christmas spirit.” This evening, we’re going to generate our own Christmas spirit with stories about Christmas celebrations in Bangkok and Chiang Mai a century ago and with readings from Graham Jefcoate’s collections of writings by foreigners in Siam, Enchanted Land and In Bangkok (River Books). How did people prepare for Christmas? How did they spend Christmas Day and what did they have for dinner? (You’ll be surprised!) What happened at the famous Christmas Meetings in the North? And what really went on when men and women played “bumble puppy?
In the spirit of the foreign community’s Christmas traditions, money raised will be supporting the restoration fund for Chiang Mai’s Foreign Cemetery, which was so badly affected by the recent floods.