Thai man’s Emerald Buddha Songkran office party outfit is ‘inappropriate,’ monk says

A Thai man won 5000 baht for ‘best outfit’ at his office’s Songkran party in Udon Thani province yesterday, but a senior Buddhist monk says that dressing like the Emerald Buddha is “inappropriate.”

The Emerald Buddha is a statue of the historical Buddha in a meditative pose, made out of the semi-precious stone jasper and considered the “sacred palladium of Thailand.” It is housed at Wat Phra Gaew (“The Temple of the Emerald Buddha”) on the grounds of the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

Phra Phrayom Kalayano, the abbot of Wat Suan Kaew, says the man who dressed in the Emerald Buddha costume doesn’t know what should and shouldn’t be made fun of. He called the outfit “inappropriate.”

The Emerald Buddha is highly revered, even by the King of Thailand, said the monk. The Emerald Buddha undergoes a ceremonial costume change three times per year at the start of the summer, rainy and winter seasons. The ceremony is only performed by the King of Thailand.

Songkran marks the start of the Thai New Year. Phra Phrayom reflected on revered Thai monk Buddhadasa’s famous teaching, “Don’t be more stupid in the New Year than the year before.”

But not everyone finds the outfit offensive. It was so much of a hit at the office party that the faux Emerald Buddha, Kraiwich Chaninkul, won a nice cash prize of 5,000 baht for his efforts.

Kraiwich posted a photo of his outfit on Facebook yesterday with the caption, “Songkran office party. Dress lightly, don’t play big.”

The post gained 4500 likes and gained a lot of positive feedback from netizens in the comment section, who thought the costume was funny, said it was “cute” and that they were “impressed.”

Whereas, Phra Phrayom Kalayano says the picture “pierces the hearts of believers” and is “not creative.”

The monk says that whatever you do or make fun of, you should know the meaning behind it first. The monk asked, what is the meaning of Songkran? Where did it come from? How should we conduct ourselves during Songkran?