Ramadan in Thailand
- Sanra Refira
- Jun 9, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 29, 2023
May is an important month for Muslims and fashion enthusiasts around the world, as it marks the start of Ramadan and the highly anticipated Met Gala 2019. I don't want to talk about the Met Gala right now, but I would like to share a story or two about Ramadan in the city where I currently reside, Bangkok. I have spent the holy month of Ramadan in Indonesia for most of my life. I experienced the atmosphere of Ramadan in Italy in the summer of 2015, and this year in Thailand during the country's so-called summer! Like Muslims in Indonesia, we have to fast for 13-13.5 hours in Thailand, while in Italy it could be 17-18 hours depending on the season. In summer it is usually longer. According to data, the Muslim population in Indonesia, Italy and Thailand is 87.2%, 4.8% and 4.3% respectively. There are rules for fasting. Muslims are encouraged to have Suhoor (early morning meal) before Fajr prayer time, which also marks the beginning of fasting. We can eat again or break the fast, or iftar in Arabic, right at Maghrib prayer time. Hunger and thirst are not the only ideas of Ramadan.
The holy month is also about forgiveness, kindness, giving, holding back anger, patience, and diminishing bad attitudes.
It was not difficult to find a mosque in Bangkok. The closest one (from where I live) is near BTS Surasak called Java Mosque. The mosque is the heart of the Muslim community in this area. The story goes that the architecture (?) of the mosque was influenced by the Javanese, which explains why the mosque is called Java Mosque. They served some snacks for Iftar, which was completely different from Indonesia, but dates were mandatory as it is Sunna to eat 3 dates during Iftar. After Iftar we prayed Maghrib with the whole community. I didn't expect a free meal afterwards, but they gave all the Muslim brothers and sisters a proper meal of rice, soups, beef, etc. This didn't happen in the Indonesian mosque in general, as they mainly serve snacks for Iftar.
If you miss home, make sure you go to the Indonesian Embassy. On 25 June 2019, the Indonesian ambassador to Thailand invited all Indonesians to have iftar together. I was lucky to be able to eat decent Indonesian food. Just like in the Java Mosque, the queue was the same. Snacks, Maghrib prayers, dinner and Tarawih prayers (Sunnah prayers in Ramadan after long fasting). I believe that every expatriate student or worker would feel the strong feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood when you meet other people who share the same nationality with you.
After about 29 or 30 days of fasting, we celebrated Eid al-Fitr or the feast of breaking the fast. I went to the embassy to pray for Eid al-Fitr and had a sort of big feast afterwards. This is the time to forgive and ask for forgiveness for all the mistakes you have made, intentionally or unintentionally. Start from the beginning, like your relationship with people. I loved the fact that every Eid al-Fitr, my non-Muslim friends celebrated the day with us, or just sent texts saying "Eid Mubarak". After all, we are all the same, not different because of our religion or tribe. The idea of a new beginning also applies to fashion during Ramadan. It is common for Indonesians to wear new, clean clothes that match their family. Women would wear long robes and men would usually wear shirts with Shanghai collars (Koko Shirt). I was wearing the same robe as my mother and sister from Vanilla Hijab in Indonesia. Different design but same mood: floral motifs, stormy weather and peach beige pantone.
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