Celebrating New Year Three Times

Hordes of tourists, an overflowing club and bar scene, and an extremely lively nightlife characterize Pattaya, the vacation resort on the Gulf of Thailand. This is especially true for New Year's Eve. Tens, or rather hundreds of thousands, crowd on the three-kilometer-long beach that curves into Pattaya Bay. Bars, eateries, drinking spots, and shooting booths, along with an incessant audio bombardment of live and canned music, create a riot of excitement. Later in the evening, eye- and ear-splitting fireworks light up the sky. The mega-event only concludes at sunrise on New Year's Day. New Year's Eve in Pattaya is legendary.

The Chinese, who famously invented fireworks about 1400 years ago, do not want to be left out. The Chinese New Year, celebrated for two weeks on the second new moon after the winter solstice, which will be on January 29 in 2025, announces itself by adorning houses, shops, streets, and temples in the various Chinatowns with strings of red lanterns that are lit in the evening. Red symbolizes life, warmth, prosperity, joy, and power.

Before that, houses undergo a thorough spring cleaning to make room for new happiness. Additionally, red paper strips with mottos are hung up. Family visits and monetary gifts are important. Dragon and lion dances, along with fireworks, are meant to drive away evil spirits.

All-Night Crackling

I experienced what that means in Malaysia in George Town on the island of Penang and especially in the capital of the Perak province, Ipoh, where the majority of the population is of Chinese descent. It nearly feels like being at war: all-night thunder and crackling; short pauses where you only hear the cheering of revelers and music; then the hissing and booming resumes until a massive detonation shakes people and animals alike.

However, Songkran, the traditional New Year festival of the Thai peoples, surpasses everything. It's not even a