The Wai Khru Ceremony

Wai Khru is a traditional ceremony performed each year at educational institutes in Thailand for students to show gratitude and respect to their teachers for providing them with an education.

Presenting teachers with a floral offering, usually arranged on a footed tray, is an important part of the ceremony. The flower of the eggplant, Bermuda grass signifies patience and popped rice exemplifies orderliness and discipline. To decorate the tray, clay is sculpted into a pagoda-shape into which are pressed eggplants, jasmine and other flowers.

There are two trays, one for flowers and the other for candles and incense sticks. A female student usually holds the flower tray, while a male student holds the tray containing candles and incense sticks.

Apart from decorating footed trays for the Wai Khru Ceremony, students in each school also submit them as entries in competitions since each tray decoration reflects the creative ideas of its maker.