new year in bangkok

One night in Bangkok – and then a few more. New Year is probably the busiest time of all as far as the tourist circuit goes – day and night. Four of us are here to celebrate and it’s as good a place as any for ‘Happy New Year’ as they call it (as in ‘What you doing for happy new year?’).
The Thais use any excuse for a party, and celebrate three New Years – their own in April (Song Khran), Chinese new year (and almost half Bangkok’s population is of Chinese descent) and the western one now.
So we find ourselves in trendy Soi 4 for a celebration. All the bars in this little lane are garish with neon and fairy lights and Christmas decorations (snowmen and blow up reindeer in this heat!), and all are blaring pop music at top volume (all different so it’s a complete cacophony). And everyone is having a good time.
It’s Yasser’s first time in Bangkok and so it’s been good to show him my favourite places – Wat Pho, with the huge reclining Buddha image; Wat Arun, the huge stupa style temple on the opposite bank that pre-dates Bangkok; the royal palace; and of course a trip on a water-bus along the great river.
All are busy in high season, with visitors but also with locals. At Wat Arun something I have never seen before. Everyone is lining up to give gifts to the tempe and its monks. Plastic buckets full of useful things – food, candles, incense sticks, umbrellas – are popular, and they are also stringing money up like prayer flags on long strings from the top of the stupa to the ground. And they also are gathering round a tree that blossoms at this time. They all clap to encourage the blossoms to open. I can’t say that this is working but you never know. Anyway, they are all having fun and that’s what matters.Of course we ate and drank very well. It’s very difficult to eat badly in Thailand, and we had many good meals. From humble street restaurants to the best royal cuisine, Thai food is one of the great cuisines of the world and a big favourite of mine.