A Study of Thai-Chinese Shop Signs in Si Sa Ket Town Municipality

Abstract

The study of Thai with Chinese ethnicity shop signs in the Si Sa Ket Town Municipalityhad the objectives to study the Chinese language naming of the shops of Thai with Chinese ethnicity and study the culture, beliefs, and values of the shop signs of Thai with Chinese ethnicity in the Si Sa Ket City Municipality. This research uses survey and interview methods.   The target group was the shops that had the Chinese language signs in the Si Sa Ket Town Municipality. Research tools were: Survey forms and questionnaires about the Chinese language shop signs in the Si Sa Ket Town Municipality and 2) tools of collecting, recording and summarizing the researched data. The result of study found out that in the Si Sa Ket Town municipality, there are 63 Chinese language shop signs. Most of the shop signs feature Chinese language characters alongside Thai language characters, with the Chinese characters usually placed on the right and the Thai language characters on the left in a horizontal layout. The reading of the Chinese characters is from right to left. The most commonly used Chinese dialect for reading the shop signs is Teochew. The majority of Chinese names are surnames (last names) of ancestors. The most frequently encountered surnames are Tang, Tia and Kua. The predominant types of businesses are general merchandise stores and miscellaneous goods shops. The culture, beliefs, and values found out that both of the shop signs names have the similar meaning which are prosperity, wealth, abundance, goodness, and good luck. The shop signs are often in red color with gold letter to enhance their auspiciousness, in the line with the Chinese belief that “red” symbolizes the spirit of the Chinese people and has been part of Chinese culture and traditions for a long time. The use of “gold” is favored as it represents prosperity, wealth, and abundance.