Tributes to gods and
ancestors are made across the region on this “pay homage” day of the new
year festival.
Phasakorn Channgam
Dragons and lions roamed the city and firecrackers
exploded from dawn ‘til after dusk as Pattaya spent two days celebrating
Chinese New Year.
Thais of Chinese heritage - or those who simply love
fireworks - made sure everyone was awake for the two-day festival by
igniting M80s and larger poppers before the sun even broke the horizon Jan.
22. Shortly after, Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh began official
commemoration of the “Year of the Dragon” with Pattaya’s traditional
ceremony paying homage to city fathers King Taksin and Prince Chumphon at
City Hall.
Dancers at Lan Pho Public Park
create a beautiful sight.
Ronakit next led revelers to the Sawang Boriboon
Foundation headquarters in Naklua to the Chinese “Wai Jao” ceremony
to pray to gods and ancestors for good luck. A lively circus of dancing
dragons and lions then took the stage, moving out to various destinations
around Pattaya afterward.
A Chinese dancer entertains
whilst judges make their decisions.
Similar tributes to gods and ancestors were made across
the region on this first “pay homage” day of the new year festival. Prayer
alters filled with meat dishes, sweets like fluffy rice flower cakes,
steamed dumplings and fruit and even whiskey could be spotted in front of
homes and shines across the area. Evil spirits were cast aside with long
bursts of firecrackers.
On Jan. 23, the actual New Year’s day, youth teams
carrying paper-and-fabric lions and dragons popped up pretty much
everywhere, from Central Center to Central Festival, Royal Garden to Mike
Shopping Mall, which filled its Second Road parking lot with Chinese-style
enthusiasm. At Central Festival, which was also celebrating its third-year
anniversary, youths chased away spirits with loud drumming and symbol
crashing that could be heard five floors away.
The tireless lions danced until after dark along South
Road, stopping for more drumming and a short fireworks burst at the
intersection of Third Road before moving on to Walking Street just before 10
p.m. where throngs of shutterbugs jostled for the eye of the dragon and kids
with tiny lion outfits ran through go-go bars for 20-baht notes.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome brought festivities to a close
at the city’s official event at Lan Po Park in Naklua, which was decked out
with red lanterns, mini-dragon booths and a downsized replica of the Great
Wall of China.
There were, of course, more dancing lions and dragons.
But revelers were also treated to music, performing artists from the
mainland and Taiwan, parade and Little Chinese Girl pageant.
Finalists in the Miss Chinese
New Year line up on stage at Lan Pho Public Park.
Pretty in blue, another
beautiful young contestant works her magic in the Miss Chinese New Year.
A beautiful young contestant
in the Miss Chinese New Year contest at Lan Pho Public Park.
The headdresses during the
Miss Chinese New Year contest are spectacular.
Acrobats perform an exciting
lion dance by the pool at the Hard Rock Hotel.
The fierce lion brigade chases
away evil spirits on Walking Street.
Pa Yim - Sim Hua Roh: a lion
care taker in the lion show group is always smiling; therefore he always
creates liveliness and brings happiness to everyone.
Young Chinese dancers lead the
parade down Walking Street.
Lions and a dragon dance in
the Chinese New Year at Central Festival Pattaya Beach.
Chinese acrobats build a human
sky scraper on Walking Street.
The entire Eng Kor Pa Bu dance
troupe poses at Royal Garden Plaza.
These should scare away those
pesky evil spirits for the year.
Lions and dragons pay homage
to King Taksin the Great at City Hall.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome feeds
the dragon for good luck.
Beautiful Chinese dragon art
on display at Central Festival Pattaya Beach.
Eng Kor Pa Bu dancers, who
upheld justice and fought against corruption in the Song dynasty, and became
known as the “Righteous Bandits”, perform to this day.
The majestic dragon guards the
entrance to Mike Shopping Mall.
Eng Kor Pa Bu dancers,
representing all classes of Chinese society, were fabled to have robbed from
the rich to feed the poor.
Lovely tourists have their
photo taken with the dragon for good luck.
Tourists on Walking Street
meet the mighty dragon.
The mighty dragon chases away
evil spirits from the beginning to the end of Walking Street.
Death defying feats to welcome
in the year of the dragon at Lan Pho Public Park.
