I’m sure all my readers know both the colors and the days in Thai by now. I really don’t want to bore you with an ultra-beginner lesson . . . however, despite going back to the basics, I think most of you will still learn something from this post.

If you’ve lived in Thailand long enough, you would have noticed that people for some odd reason had a tendency to always wear the same colors – especially on Mondays and Tuesdays. But perhaps you just accepted it as ‘normal’, not knowing the real reason. In Thailand, each day is represented by a particular color. The day you were born determines your color. So if say you were born on Monday, your color is yellow, and you should wear yellow on Monday. Or not . . . up to you!

Women especially like to wear the ‘correct’ color on Mondays and Tuesdays. The color yellow represents royalty, and the color pink these days is worn as a wish for the King (who is quite advanced in age) to return to good health.

Day                                  วัน                       meaning            color                 สี

Monday                         วันจันทร์             Moonday          Yellow              เหลือง

Tuesday                         วันอังคาร           Marsday            Pink                   ชมพู

Wednesday (day)       วันพุธ                 Mercuryday      Green                 เขียว

Wednesday (night)    วันพุธ                 Mercuryday      Light Green      เขียวอ่อน

Thursday                       วันพฤหัสบดี      Jupiterday       Orange              ส้ม

Friday                             วันศุกร์              Venusday          Blue                    น้ำเงิน

Saturday                        วันเสาร์              Saturnday        Purple                ม่วง

Sunday                           วันอาทิตย์          Sunday              Red                     แดง

Keep in mind that the recent political upheaval has deterred people from wearing these colors. The PAD (พันธมิตรฯ), the protest group that took over three airports in Thailand for a week, all wore yellow shirts. A year later another group that acts just like the PAD, with mostly PAD members, also wears pink. Many say the PAD changed the color to pink so that they will not be associated with the airport fiasco thereby not be called hypocritical for their anti-UDD comments. The PAD specifically chose pink and yellow as it represented the popular love the people had for Thai royalty, making it a great propaganda tool.

The largest protest group, the UDD (เสื้อแดง), wear red shirts and took over a major business district for a month. The UDD guards wear the color black.

About a year ago a certain PAD-linked politician, who didn’t like the UDD, organized a group of thugs whom used weapons to attack the UDD in Pattaya. This group all wore blue shirts, and although they only appeared once, they definitely left an impression.

In summary, to avoid being affiliated with any of these groups, there are few colors left in the wardrobe to choose from . . . some people find it hard enough to choose what to wear in the morning as it is!

But maybe in a few years all this will be forgotten, and you’ll find yourself accused of not wearing the ‘proper’ colors again. And then you’ll think of this post.