Holidays in Thailand: Celebrating New Year’s Eve with a Bang

Marc (Curious Bear) 6 min read

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New Year’s Eve is celebrated big time in Thailand, like really big! 🥳 For instance, Thais love New Year so much that they have three! There is New Year, Chinese New Year, and the Songkran (Thai New Year) 🎉

But of all the Thai national holidays, the calendar New Year is the most Western-style celebration in Thailand. All the bars are full, gala events are everywhere, and families gather together across the nation to feast and celebrate 🎉 The Thais, like everybody, revel in the chance for a new beginning and count on better luck in the coming year 🥳

The fireworks I experienced on New Year's Eve In Thailand were unimaginable, and I can't keep myself from sharing it all with you 🥳

  Holiday Trivia!

• In December 2020, Thailand extended an emergency decree for the 8th time into New Year 2021 (until 15 January 2021) to restrain and prevent any resurgence of another COVID-19 wave.
• In December 2021, Thailand eased COVID-19 restraints nationwide, allowing New Year countdown festivities in selected areas.
• In December 2022, several localities from Chiang Mai to Pattaya and many places in Thailand decided to tone down New Year's celebrations or cancel them due to fears over the health conditions of a key royal, Princess Bajrakitiyabha, the eldest child of King Vajiralongkorn. Earlier this month, the Princess suffered a major health emergency.

What to Expect in Bangkok on New Year’s Eve

New Year's Eve is one of my most memorable events because, most of the time,  Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok) puts on one of the premier fireworks showcases in the world 🥳 The fireworks are always absolutely huge! The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) usually goes all out to make Bangkok and Thailand an irresistible New Year’s Eve destination. TAT normally partners with sponsors, including but not limited to the most popular shopping malls like ICONSIAM, prestigious banks, and other major business leagues, spending around 500 million Thai Baht (16+ Million USD) every time 🎉

Accordingly, the fireworks are set off over a vast 1400-meter span from Chaloem Park to the Asiatique The Riverfront. Everywhere along this route is a prime fireworks viewing, and it's not required to be at one of the rooftop spots 🎉 Similarly, the dinner cruise boats along the Chao Phraya River are great, too. One of the previous years' themes was “The Seven Wonders of Blessings,” so the fireworks were broken up into 7 different displays over about 40 minutes 🥳

Happy New Year 2020 Fireworks Program

The Seven Wonders of Blessings was the New Year's theme in 2020. It was a celebration of Thailand and the blessings the nation has for its people, and it was spectacular. Everyone loved it! 🥳

Likewise, the blessings portrayed in this show were from King Maha Vajiralongkorn as gifts to the people. The seven banners for the theme were history, prosperity, the nation, religion, the economy, agriculture, and the monarchy. Thus, seven different fireworks displays were meant to go along with each of these matters 🎉

What are the "Seven Wonders of Blessings" Fireworks Display Themes in Bangkok for New Year 2020?

The Glory

In the beginning, it was a tribute to the glorious victories throughout Thailand’s history over would-be conquerors 🥳 Thailand is fiercely proud that it has never been under another nation’s rule and was never colonized. This part of the program featured golden fireworks showers that went off high and rained to the water. Incidentally, this represented golden land blessed by the reign of Thai Kings and the golden glories they gave the nation 🎉

Sustainability

The fireworks went off; next, skyrockets streaked skywards and burst into blossoms like big trees 🎉 Reds and greens, together with gold streaks, created the illusion. The “trees” also represent wishes to the king for a long life. They conveyed his kindness towards the people 🥳  Sustainability in this context was not the environmental kind, and the sustainment of the royalty is the message.

Prosperity

This phase had big bursts of brilliant white and silver bombs that lit up the sky 🥳 This is meant to convey the path to enlightenment, represented by the brilliantly lit sky. The idea was to point to the morality of religion and thus lead to a peaceful life in the light. Also, the reference was to the eighth step and final step in the Buddhist path to eternal peace called enlightenment 🎉

Joy to the World

“…and peace on Earth”, the line from a Western Christmas carol, completed the meaning of this theme element. The fireworks next were really cool and different; they amazed me 🎉 There were hundreds of streaks of many colors going up to the sky from everywhere! Big, thick lines and thinner ones spread throughout the sky in huge arcs and sharp angles 🥳 In particular, all the colors were used to represent joy and contentment with the peaceful life in Thailand.

Diamonds in The Sky

This part of the program was created with the latest in fireworks technology. The idea was to light up the heavens with sparkling diamonds all over the sky. Big bangs followed by twinkling white crackles made it seem like diamonds all around 🥳 This was to show the “Suvarnabhumi” or “Land of Abundance” (you always wondered what the airport name meant?). The image of diamonds refers to the wealth and abundance of the natural resources of Thailand. By the way, the smaller flashes of white light resembled seeds that would grow soon. Just like the nation has the potential to do from its resources 🎉

Lucky Stars

Large and small multi-colored fireworks lit up the sky that welcomed the New Year in Thailand. The message was a special blessing of happiness and well-being to the Thai people 🎉 The sky-bursts looked like lucky stars for everybody. This demonstrated the King’s wishes for good fortune and harmony for the nation. The King also wants everybody to benefit from the blessing of living in Thailand and being Thai. In brief, it was a way of saying “Thank your lucky stars” all over Bangkok for over 7 minutes 🥳

The Power of Love

Big, bright, booming explosions turned the sky red during the final part of the program 🥳 Red is the color of love, and throwing it everywhere in big bursts conveys the triumph of love. The idea was the king’s love of the people and the power of good over evil as represented by love. Together with this, the red bombs created an aura of divinity that protected the country from forces that meant harm 🎉

 Holiday Fact!

Thailand is the only country that has never been colonized and remained independent throughout its history. Thailand is also a top destination worldwide, receiving millions of tourists annually. To make their experience more spectacular, the Thai Government has spent millions on New Year's fireworks.

Viewing the New Year’s Eve Fireworks in Thailand

The fireworks have always been easy to see everywhere in Thailand because they go off so high 🎉 Although there were a few spots better than others, the best ones were the rooftop bars. The other apparent places were along the river in the public parks, famous landmarks, or just in any hotel 🥳

Like in the West, fireworks are a major part of the festivities 🥳 Subsequently, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok) has become the center stage for Thailand’s New Year’s celebration. What draws everybody is all the party spots and clubs 🎉 Thailand is putting so much effort into this to make a fantastic memory for every person.