DHAKA: Christmas is not a holiday in predominantly Buddhist Thailand, and its palm trees outnumber pines, but the country still set a world record with its holiday spirit.

One of the country’s largest shopping malls arranged a publicity stunt involving 852 schoolchildren dressed in green and red hoodies to break the Guinness World Record for the largest human Christmas tree.

They outdid a German record of 672 participants in 2011.

To the relief of parents, and the chagrin of a few teenagers, the children were not hoisted onto a human pyramid shaped like a conifer.

It was more an exercise in crowd control, grouping the assembled 6 to 15 years olds into a tree-like formation on the ground, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1508 HRS, NOV 26, 2013