Thai String-Tying Ceremony

Thai String-Tying Ceremony

The highlight of my first week at my permanent Peace Corps service site, a rural school in northeastern Thailand, was the string-tying ceremony. The school held a welcoming reception four days after I arrived, and the ceremony was a big part of it. Like many things that happened during that first week, the reception and ceremony were fun and exciting but also made me acutely self-conscious – not least because a huge banner with my picture on it was displayed at the school entrance. I soon learned that banners are used for many Thai events.

The reception started quite a bit later than the announced time – something you quickly come to expect in Thailand. My English teacher colleague served as EmCee. I had to give a speech in the Thai language about myself. Everyone gathered in the middle of the room, sitting on the floor, around a large urn with flowers in it and surrounded by other objects including a bowl with an egg, other bowls and plates with fruit and other food, a candle stuck into an empty bottle, and short lengths of string hung up for people to take. I had seated myself politely with my legs to one side (covered by my skirt) when an older lady told me I could sit cross-legged as she was doing. A few minutes later, a teacher told me to sit the other way for the ceremony. I just tried to follow instructions.

The ceremony itself began with a long string being handed around so that everyone in the circles around the centerpiece had hold of it – everyone was connected by the string, as you can see in the photo. Then an older gentleman chanted for quite a while, and everyone held their hands in a wai/prayer position. The other people all knew when to join in the chant with a few syllables. A fellow-teacher told me the string is called sai sin, which means sacred string.

After the chanting was finished, I had to hold an egg, a banana, and a rolled-up banana leaf with rice in it in one hand, while each person in turn tied a string around my wrist.  They all said they wanted me to be happy, to have good luck, and to have good health, among other good wishes. This went on for a long time – I must have had 60 strings around my wrist when it was finished. The tradition is to leave them there for three days.  It was really touching that all these people came up to me on their knees to tie a string and say something kind.  Except for my host family and a few teachers at the school, I didn’t know most of them.

After that, there were speeches, food, and karaoke, which is very popular among Thais. You can count on a karaoke machine at most every party.

The next morning was graduation for mattayom Levels 3 and 6 (roughly comparable to our high school grades 9 and 12).  I went to the graduation ceremony, which again included many speeches. Each student walked across the stage to receive her or his graduation certificate. Then the graduating students all put their chairs in a circle and sat waiting for people to tie strings around their wrists!  So even though I had met only a few of them, I joined the other teachers in tying strings around each student’s wrist. I said in English:  I want you to be happy and strong and successful. Some of them cried really hard – the ceremony is clearly something that carries s a lot of emotional significance for them.

After the string-tying was finished, the students walked around signing each other’s blouses or shirts, like signing yearbooks in the US – the students at this school don’t have yearbooks, as far as I know. I signed quite a few blouses and a few shirts – not as many boys asked for my signature.  I was glad to have the chance to participate in the string ceremony from the giving as well as the receiving side so soon after arriving at my site.

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The photograph of the string ceremony, taken by my Thai colleague Chanutaporn Arayakul, was recognized for best representation of the Peace Corps in Thailand at the July “Reconnect” conference. A slightly longer version of this article was published on July 18, 2013 in the Ripon Commonwealth Press, the weekly newspaper of the Wisconsin town where I grew up.