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Published on December 5, 2007

Behind Santa Claus' big red belly and his enormous red overcoat, it's difficult to see his cherubic face. The curly grey beard forms a nest about his chin, revealing only a set of owlish eyes.

As he shuffled into the busy newsroom at The Nation, fingers stopped tapping. Soon there were crowds of reporters and even editors clamouring for a glimpse of him. He arrived with a little girl and boy, the latter dressed like Peter Pan.

Santa's home is in Lapland, which is near the Arctic Circle; there is snow for miles and Santa Claus's travelling mates, the reindeer, graze on the tufts of grass that show through. Besides his wife, Santa is surrounded by elves who help him with all the Christmas letters and gifts.

And his name? Don't bother to ask, the answer is always: "My name is Santa Claus."

Santa speaks very slowly; that's because he translates each word as he hears it into every language in the world including German, Spanish, Italian and even a little Thai: Laew pob kan mai - see you again, he says before he takes his leave. Everything is mixed up in his head, except for the one day a year he can speak perfectly.

"It's a miracle. At Christmas I can speak all the languages," he says.

Besides the gift of language, Santa Claus has the privilege of bestowing gifts on children all over the world.

How does he pick the good or bad children? First he looks at what children do with gifts, he says vaguely. He advises us to look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we've been good.

"You know inside if something is good or bad. You have to do what makes you feel good," he explains.

When Santa is not working, he sleeps or spends time thinking. He hopes, he says, that everyone is happy, has a good life and that families stay together and live in peace.

Santa's not much for words; perhaps it's because he's most fluent in Finnish. But ask him to sing and he can go on and on. He has several songs in his head depending on his mood. Today he sings about Inari Lake, which is in northern Finland. It's a dangerous place for his elves and reindeer.

With a deep voice that seems to belong in a church, he sings in Finnish. Inari is filled with ice, and the steep pathways fill him with worry.

"Oh, I was thinking of the elves and the reindeer," he says absent mindedly. He remembers where he is and mumbles that his reindeer waiting on the roof may need something to eat.

Time for some tough questions from the assembled members of the press. "Erm, is Santa Claus a role model?"

"Yes". He always thinks of his elves and reindeer, and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas.

Perhaps he can tell us of a time he was bad...

He pauses, then says innocently, "I can't remember."

Meet this Finnish Santa Claus at Bangkok's Emporium shopping mall anytime before December 27.

Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra

 The Nation