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Thai Children's Games

According to the website for the Untied Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), children in Thailand face significant issues such as lack of education and domestic violence. However, Thailand is making improvements for children that greatly are increasing the quality of life. As these improvements continue to be made, the children of Thailand are eager to play traditional and contemporary games to reflect their sense of happiness.

Khi Ma Song Muang
- Khi Ma Song Muang (Riding Horses Into Town) is a piggyback-ride game. This game really is a contest between two teams of children. Each team has "riders" and "jockeys," as well as a leader. The two teams line up about 10 meters apart. A referee stands midway between the two teams. The team who is challenging the other team goes to the referee and whispers a name into the referee's ear. Then each player from the opposite team goes individually to the referee and tries to guess what name was whispered. If the guess is correct, the umpire declares that team the winner. If no one guesses correctly, then the two teams reverse positions and a new round starts. When the name is guessed correctly, the losing team must allow the jockeys from the conquering team to have a horse ride.
Snakes
- Ngu Kin Hang (Snakes Bite Tail) is a chasing and protection game. One player is the mother snake, and another player is the father snake. The mother snake has the duty of protecting all the baby snakes, who are her teammates. The father and mother snake go through a dialogue about which part of the mother snake the father snake will eat to get to her babies. The baby snakes, all in a line, sway from side to side, and finally the father snake tries to catch any of the babies he can to eat them.
E-Gar Fuk Khai
- E-Gar Fuk Khai (Crow Sits on Eggs) is a game both of protection and hide and seek. For this game, two circles are drawn on the ground, one inside the other, with the smallest circle being one foot across and the largest circle being 4 feet across. Small rocks, marbles, or other small items ("eggs") are put inside the smaller circle, which is the "nest." One player is selected to be the crow, who must protect the eggs from everyone else. The players may do anything except step inside the nest or touch the crow to steal the eggs. When all the eggs are gone, the players blindfold the crow and hide the eggs. They then take the blindfold off and the crow has to go searching for the hidden eggs. The player whose egg is found first then takes over as the crow.

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