Thailand has been celebrating the arrival of 2011 with New Year ‘Countdowns’ taking place last night at venues throughout the country. In Bangkok, the official celebrations were held outside Central World with large crowds gathering to watch a music concert and firework display. It has been a remarkable turnaround for the Central World shopping mall which in May 2010 was the scene of arson attacks as the red shirt protests were broken up in the Thai capital.
Last night and today, people have been saying to each other, ‘Sawatdee Pii Mai’ which is the equivalent of ‘Happy New Year’. With December 31 and January 1 designated as official public holidays in Thailand, it’s an opportunity to return home to visit family. Buses, trains and planes out of Bangkok are always busy in the run-up to the New Year period. It is also an occasion when people will visit the temple to make merit and wish for good luck for the New Year. Religious ceremonies take place at various temples throughout Thailand on New Year’s Eve with crowds gathering to hear Buddhist sermons and chanting from the monks. Because Thailand is a Buddhist country, the official Thai calendar uses the Buddhist Era (B.E.) which is 543 years ahead of the Western calendar that uses A.D. That means that this year is 2554. It’s another interesting aspect to Thailand and Thai culture which has managed to adopt other traditions without losing their own. This also means that Thailand gets to celebrate New Year on three separate occasions. The traditional Thai New Year is celebrated with the Songkran Festival in April. This is marked by the lunar calendar as is the Chinese New Year which is also widely celebrated in Thailand because of the ethnic origin of some Thai people.
photo © thaizer.com
