'Kruai': A Symbol of Class and Its Changing Status
The Origins of 'Kruai' from the Royal Court in Ayutthaya to 'Kruai Academic Status': The Meaning in the Cultural Attire Linked to 'Class-Rights-Feudalism' and the Sacredness of the Past Being Challenged in the Present
'Kruai' is not originally a traditional garment of the Thai people. It began to emerge only after contact with foreign cultures far from Southeast Asia. The Persians/Arabs, who sailed before the Europeans, brought with them new clothing, utensils, and even plants like roses.
The term 'Kruai', meaning a long cloak, originates from Persia and was adopted in the Ayutthaya royal court before the reign of King Narai, with evidence from foreign accounts documenting Narai's attire, including paintings of the royal envoy visiting King Louis XIV, who also wore a long cloak.
The Royal Court Kruai of the kings and nobles of Ayutthaya was not the puffy black kruai we are familiar with today; it was of Arab/Persian style, a front-slit cloak reaching down to the knees, similar to the Chulalongkorn University gown. This type of kruai was not something anyone could wear, as the strict feudal hierarchy of Thai society dictated what fabric each class could use, including accessories like sword sheaths and patterns, all indicating the user's status. Long cloaks were reserved for specific ranks, including royalty in the royal court, a tradition that continued into the Rattanakosin era.
The Western-style Kruai, or gown, such as the judge's robe or university gown, mostly came later from Persia, introduced when Siam adopted Western customs and institutions like the court system and education. This style began to be used for law graduates, taught personally by Prince Ratchaburi Direkrit, and later for judges, a European dress code that had been in use long before, yet we still refer to it as 'kruai', meaning an outer robe (indicating honor/status) as it has been called.
The commonality of both Thai-Persian and Western kruai is that they are garments specific to certain classes or those entitled to wear them.
The culture of attire linked to class and feudal rights is similar worldwide. The higher the class, the more elaborate the rules. Afternoon tea outfits, dinner attire, evening gowns, and even hunting outfits all have their histories. Western kruai has a history dating back 700-800 years to the 12th century, where judges in medieval England had to wear gowns and wigs as part of their uniform.
Kruai Academic Status for university students is similar. Initially in Europe, students attending classes had to wear gowns indicating they were scholars (with the status of graduates being higher than that of common laborers who were illiterate). As the world began to change, attending university in America became less strict about wearing heavy gowns all the time, adapting to wearing academic gowns only on graduation day, which later became a tradition for graduation ceremonies worldwide.
In Thailand and other Southeast Asian nations with structured social hierarchies, attire is part of a rigid class system. Otherwise, one could be accused of impersonation. There are regulations prohibiting commoners from wearing embroidered fabrics or gold-threaded garments, and one must dress according to their status. The kruai adopted in Siam/Thailand was clearly from the start a garment that ordinary people could not wear.
During the reign of King Rama VI, a decree was issued regarding the kruai in 1912 (B.E. 2455) because the custom of wearing kruai began to diversify from the ancient royal court traditions with the emergence of new organizations. This law stipulated that only those with noble titles or specified positions could wear kruai, namely judges, members of the royal family, and officials reading proclamations or royal blessings.
At that time, during the ordination of a novice, they already wore kruai. According to the decree, the novice was graciously granted royal permission to wear kruai according to the ancient tradition. However, there was a stipulation prohibiting the use of kruai 'beyond' their rank. If the novice's rank was not equivalent to that of a military officer or a civil deputy, they could only wear a third-class kruai.
This decree clearly indicated that the kruai signifies class and status in a detailed and strict manner.
The kruai of the royal family used gold and silver thread, unlike the kruai of the nobility, which was divided into three classes: first, second, and third. The first class had a white base with gold embroidery, while the third class had no embroidery, only gold thread around the edges and cuffs.
In the early reign of King Rama VI, the kruai in Thai society was still limited to the royal family and nobility (except for novices, who had to use it according to their rank) until 1930, when the decree for the Chulalongkorn University graduate gown and the law for the law graduate gown were established in 1936.
Thus, the kruai gradually began to be accessible to the general public who completed higher education.
The kruai thus became a source of pride, a symbol indicating a rise in social status. Universities that once only included Chulalongkorn expanded to include Thammasat and other educational institutions, which also conferred degrees and allowed the wearing of kruai. Ordinary villagers' children now have photographs in kruai at their graduation, a point of pride for Thai society in the post-World War era.
However, change is inevitable, as the saying goes.
In recent years, the kruai has begun to lose its sacredness, possibly due to the more open education system, with numerous universities leading to an oversupply of graduates. A bachelor's degree has started to lose its prestige, with many obtaining master's and doctoral degrees each year. The gown is no longer as unattainable as it was before the war, when only nobles or graduates from a few universities had the right to wear it.
Today, novices do not strictly adhere to status when ordaining, looking in the mirror to see what kind of kruai they are entitled to wear, and it seems no one cares about which class of kruai it is, as long as the novice wears one. What they care about is how grand the procession will be.
As for academic gowns, it is even more pronounced, as nowadays, even kindergarten children have graduation ceremonies with school gowns before moving on to primary school. The photographs of graduates in gowns that used to be a source of pride, with families displaying pictures of their children in graduation gowns on the walls, are no longer the same, as every child seems to graduate easily, just like everyone else.
Society changes, and the value of certain things changes accordingly.
