Some Thai people celebrate birthdays by going to a nice restaurant and having a great meal with friends and families. Some Thai people have birthday parties. They prepare cake with candles and gifts. Besides, as majority of Thai people is Buddhist, on our birthdays, we usually go to temple to make merit such as offer food to monks.
My birthday was last week. I did not go to any restaurant and did not have a party, but I went to the temple named Wat Sri Rattana Thammaram with my mother and my cousin.
This temple is located in Samut Prakan Province. We woke up early and departed home around 6.00 am. About an hour, we arrived the temple. At that time, there were 500 monks staying at this temple in order to learn meditation. So, in the morning there were many people coming to temple to offer food to monk. It was kind of a big event.
At this temple, things are very well-organized. If we come with drinking water and food, we will give them to staff. To offer food to monk, we will put only rice into the alms bowls. I myself prepared rice, but I saw some people offered sticky rice. My cousin told me to put a spoon into the plastic bag, so rice will not stick with a spoon.
If you come to Thailand during your birthday, you can try celebrating your birthday as a Thai by offering food to monk in the morning. It is one of the ways to learn our culture and it is not difficult to do. Just follow other Thai people. We usually take off our shoes while offering food to monk. Do not forget to do so!