Thailand - New Year's Day
Hi, there. This is the "Happy New Year" page.
The scenery related to New Year's Day in Thailand is shown here.
Talking about "New Year's Day" in Thailand, including the Chinese New Year in February, they have the beginning of the year, and the famous Songkran Festival, that is held from 13th to 15 in April, the hottest season in Thailand, also famous for another name " Water Festival ".
In Japan, people enjoy new year's holiday from the end of the year to around
the 3rd day or the end of the first week of the year. However in Thailand, they have only 3 day long holiday from the 31th on December to the second of January. After that, normal
everyday arrives.On 31th, December, families including their relatives gather and enjoy chatting and having dinner, and a special year-end countdown is held. And on the first day of the year, people visit temples to do " Tamboon " (offering something to monks or temples such as food: people in Thailand who believe in reincarnation do Tamboon (do good things) and accumulate virtues for happiness of their next lives) in the very early morning.
This page shows the scenery of the year, 2007.
(I'm really afraid that the year-end countdown was suddenly canceled because of some bomb incidents. Very Sad !)
- Scenery of the streets in Bangkok
- Wat Benchamabophit (The Marble Temple)
- Sanam Luang (Grand Palace)
- Wat Arun
- Pra Pathom Chedi on New Year's Eve
- Market on New Year's Eve
Scenery of the streets in Bangkok |
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The scenery of the streets of the end or the beginning of the year before
dawn in Bangkok.(The pictures are on the first day of January, before dawn, around 5 o'clock.) Same as "Rama 9 The Sixtieth Anniversary", the streets are decorated with a lot of lights. Fantastic, right ? :) (Like these, when big events such as a new year, the birthdays of King and Queen come, streets and buildings are decorated with a lot of lights. This year, 2007, is a little special and more lights than usual because the last year, 2006, was the King's 60th anniversary.) |
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| Street 1 (Wonderfully decorated with a lot of lights.) |
Street 2 (People can be seen here and there who have offerings for Tamboon.) |
Chitralada Villa, Dusit Palace (The royal residence of the King in Bangkok. Like the 60th anniversary, it looks splendid.) |
Street 3 (I guess this is a special office (Army ministry ?). Some people are waiting for the offering around.) |
Wat Benchamabophit (The Marble Temple) |
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This is the temple, Wat Benchamabophit (The Marble Temple) before dawn in Bangkok.(About "Wat Benchamabophit", see this page) We prepared a lot of rice, cans of fruit, water, juice and so on for "Tamboon" (offerings) and visited here. Monks already came out from the temple and people were doing "Tamboon" around the area. |
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| Tamboon 1 (The people doing Tamboon. Monks are in the line. They are having a container called "baht" to put the offerings.) |
Tamboon 2 (A lot of monks are in the line.) |
Tamboon 3 (This is a long line. About 10 monks. :) ) |
Tamboon 4 (People are doing Tamboon with what they prepared for the monks from the car.) |
Sanam Luang (Grand Palace) |
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This is the scenery of New Year's Day in Sanam Luang around the Grand Palace in Bangkok.(About "Grand Palace", see this page) This place is crowded as well with a lot of people (monks and ordinary people), and a new year's ceremony is taken place. Sanam Luang Sanam Luang is called Phra Mane Ground or Thung Phra Meru as well. It's a vast open place next to the Grand Palace. It has been the place where ceremonies are held for birthdays of kings and queens or for other important days, including for the cremation of royal family, since the reign of King Rama I. I hear that it's a main place of traditional Thai kite flying from late February till around April or May. Let's go and see what it looks like. :) |
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| For a ceremony 1 (They've prepared for the ceremony with many tents set up. Very wide place.) |
For a ceremony 2 (A lot of seats are prepared for a ceremony.) |
Scenery 1 (A lot of monks and ordinary people in this place from the very early morning.) |
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| Scenery 2 (Monks are having a container called "baht" for offerings. They have a shoulder belt.) |
Ceremony 1 (Women monks are in the lines and a new year ceremony are held. An alter called "Param" is set up.) |
Ceremony 2 (A little difficult to find in the picture but a small famous monk image is put around the top in the decoration.) |
Ceremony 3 (A Buddha image is in front of the alter, and people put gold leaf over it.) |
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| Ceremony 4 (The side of the alter. Women monks in white are in the lines.) |
Ceremony 5 (The female monks in white are having a white container (baht), different from male monks.) |
Ceremony 6 (People light candles in front of the alter.) |
Ceremony 7 (Another angle of the front of the alter. People light candles and pray.) |
Wat Arun |
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As you maybe know, this is Wat Arun, also known as "Temple of the Dawn" in Bangkok, that is said that the temple is the most beautiful at dawn.(About "Wat Arun", see this page) This place also is crowded with a lot of people from the early morning. Wat Arun at dawn I visited here around dawn, but I guess it was better to see from the opposite side of Chao Phraya River that is running in front of the temple. |
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| Wat Arun 1 (At dawn. Another angle.) |
Wat Arun 2 (The scenery of sunrise from Chao Phraya River in front of Wat Arun) |
Wat Arun 3 (People having offerings for Tamboon come and go.) |
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| Prayer 1 (People are praying with candles and sticks of incense.) |
Prayer 2 (People put gold leaf over the Buddha image.) |
Prayer 3 (People pray with putting oil for Buddha images for each day of the week.) |
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| Prayer 4 (People put bank notes as Tamboon (offering)) |
Prayer 5 (The Buddha image that people pray in Wat Arun.) |
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| Extra 1 (Bells. Temples in Chiang Mai have a lot. :) ) |
Extra 2 (A little special Tuk-tuks are around Wat Arun.) |
Extra 3 (The scenery of a street around Wat Arun. Looks like people park here and visit the temple.) |
Extra 4 (This board shows temples that is recommended to be visited. Looks like the meanings of their names are good and lucky.) |
Pra Pathom Chedi on New Year's Eve |
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The highest chedi (Buddhist pagoda) in the world as well as in Thailand,
"Pra Pathom Chedi". This part shows pictures of Pra Pathom Chedi on New Year's Eve in the
end of 2006."Pra Pathom Chedi" is one of the main royal temples and located in Nakhon Pathom, about 60 km west of Bangkok. The huge orange tiled chedi is about 120 meters high, 65 meters in diameter and stands on the base, 240 meters around. (The pictures show how big the chedi is.) Nakhon Phanom is the place where Buddhism was introduced first in Thailand. Around the 3rd century B.C., King Asoka sent missionaries here to spread Buddhism and the original chedi was built. Although the chedi was destroyed by Cambodia in 11th century and left deserted, Rama 4 found it and commanded the reconstruction of a new huge pagoda covering the original one in 1853. It took about 20 years to finish it until the reign of Rama V. 
During the era of King Rama VI, Phra Pathom Chedi was renovated and the temple became the royal temple of King Rama VI. The relics of King Rama VI are housed at its base. As the birthplace of Thai Buddhism, Nakhon Phanom has a big festival on a night with a full moon in November every year with a lot of people from all over the country. |
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| For monks (Tables to put Tambun (offerings) for monks when they come out.) |
The front of the chedi (A big Buddha image is at the front of the chedi. A lot of people are praying.) |
Offerings (This can be seen in Chiangmai, but some have bills.) |
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| A lot of people come and pray (A lot of people visit here. Different from in Japan, they pray while putting hands together with an offering.) |
Shop (In the site, a shop sells small sized Buddha images to wear.) |
Around the chedi (A narrow path goes around the chedi like the picture.) |
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Market on New Year's Eve |
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This is a market on new year's eve in Bangkok, Thailand.You maybe know the famous market in Bangkok, "Jatujak Market". This market shown in the pictures is near the Jatujak Market and called "Aortorgor Market". (Very close to my wife's home in Bangkok. :D ) People look busy preparing for New Year's Day as in Japan (the same in your country ? :) ). (Picture above: Gift sets decorated very beautifully for New Years. They are Thai sweets.) |
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| In the market (Very crowded with a lot of people.) |
Gifts for New Years 1 (Fruits gift baskets. A lot of mangos piled up behind.) |
Gifts for New Years 2 (Assorted cookies. Looks yummy. :) ) |
Gifts for New Years 3 (They are not special for New Years but you can get various kinds of flowers for gifts in this market.) |
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| Gifts for New Years 4 (Assorted desserts. Each of desserts has lucky words in their names such as "Thong" meaning "gold".) |
A fund of fish and seafood 1 (A lot prawns ! About 300 to 700 Baht (around 10 to 20 U.S. Dollars).) |
A fund of fish and seafood 2 (Here are lots of seafood also. However, see ? Frogs on the right hand...) |
Various food (They are food for everyday life such as curry and soup. Taste great !) |
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