Background in Thai Teachers Respect Ceremony in Thai school and the Meanings of Symbols that use in Ceremony

Abstract

          This article has the objectives of this article were to analyze the background of the Thai Teachers Respect Ceremony in the school and the meaning of things used in this ceremony using the documentary research methodology. The result found that the Thai Teachers Respect Ceremony in the school has a long history beginning from an individual rite to a formal pattern in schools, with the value of respecting teachers asa person who provides knowledge to students. The symbolic objects used widely consisting of durva grass, eggplant flower, Ixora, popped rice, and crown flower have been given the meanings in the Thai context. These meanings have been accepted for a long time, howeves, these objects may have been influenced from Hinduism to worship of deity. Durva grass isused for Ganesh, Ixora and crown flower areused for Siva, popped rice is used for Sarasvati and Hanuman including Auma for some groups of people. For eggplant flower, there is no evidence for worship of God but some groups used the leaves of eggplant to worship Ganesh. In the Thai Teachers Respect Ceremony tradition in the school, only eggplant flowers have been used maybe because they are easier to find as Thai households commonly grow the eggplant trees for cooking.