Christmas is celebrated all over Thailand, in the malls, in the schools and increasingly in people's homes, even though it is not a Thai holiday and not a public one. So if you live here, or you are visiting in December, here are the Thai words you will actually hear, with the script and how to say them.

The Christmas words you will hear most👩‍🏫

• Merry Christmasis สุขสันต์วันคริสต์มาส, suk-san wan Krit-mat. This is the one you will see on every shopfront and hear in every mall.

• Christmas Eveis คืนก่อนวันคริสต์มาส, kuen gon wan Krit-mat, literally the night before Christmas Day, the 24th of December.

• Christmas Dayis วันคริสต์มาส, wan Krit-mat, the 25th of December. Note that it is a normal working day in Thailand.

• The Christmas seasonis เทศกาลคริสต์มาส, tet-sa-gan Krit-mat. เทศกาล is the word for any festival, so you will hear it constantly.

• Jingle bellis กระดิ่ง, gra-ding, the small bell hung by a door so it rings when anyone comes in or out.

Words for decorating the Christmas tree

The rest of the Christmas words, in Thai

• Santa Claus🎅 = ซานตาคลอส, San-ta-klos
• Sleigh = รถลากเลื่อนบนหิมะ, rot lak luean bon hi-ma
• Reindeer 🦌 = กวางเรนเดียร์, gwang ren-dia
• Rudolph = รูดอล์ฟ, Ru-dolf
• Elf = เอลฟ์, elf, Santa's small helpers
• Holly = ต้นฮอลลี่, ton hol-li, a plant that stands for everlasting life
• Mistletoe = มิสเซิลโท, mis-suen-tho, the parasitic plant couples kiss under, believed to make love last
• Singing 🎶= การร้องเพลง, gan rong pleng
• Gingerbread = ขนมปังขิง, ka-nom pang khing
• Cookie = คุกกี้, khuk-ki
• Christmas hat = หมวกคริสต์มาส, muak Krit-mat
• Christmas pudding = พุดดิ้งคริสต์มาส, pud-ding Krit-mat
• Turkey 🦃 = ไก่งวง, gai nguang
• Fireplace 🔥 = เตาผิง, tao phing
• Chimney = ปล่องไฟ, plong fai
• Christmas carol = เพลงคริสต์มาส, pleng Krit-mat
• Chestnuts🌰 = เมล็ดเกาลัด, ma-let gao-lat
• Nutcracker = เครื่องกะเทาะเปลือกถั่ว, khrueang ka-tho pluek thua

One thing that catches people out

In Thai, ต้นคริสต์มาส normally means the poinsettia, the red leaved plant sold everywhere in December, not the fir tree the words translate to in English.

So if you walk into a Thai florist and ask for a Christmas tree, you may well be handed a pot of Euphorbia pulcherrima. If you want something to hang on a tree, the phrase you want is ของตกแต่งคริสต์มาส, khong tok-taeng Krit-mat, Christmas decorations.

Last thing

This is only the vocabulary you will hear most often. If you want the greetings rather than the nouns, we have those in a separate article here