City lights match the stage
lights at Bali Hai pier.
Manoon Makpol
The new year exploded across Pattaya in a shower of
fireworks and traditional celebrations as the city counted down to 2012.
Pattaya’s entire beachfront was lit up with fireworks
displays, the largest of them staged at Bali Hai Pier where city officials
presided over the official Grand Pattaya Countdown 2012. Shells exploded in
a rainbow of colors for 10 minutes in a show seen across Thailand and Asia
on television and by tens of thousands in town.
At Bali Hai, shoppers shopped and Thai rockers rocked the
house as tourists and locals packed into the pier area. The finale of the
week-long series of concerts resulted in nightmarish traffic, but filled
with holiday cheer, few seemed to mind much.
Restaurants, entertainment complexes and hotels welcomed
the new year with various festive events. Walking Street was packed
shoulder-to-shoulder and the roads clogged with horn-honking vehicles and
shouting revelers.
Hotels including the Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort,
Montien Hotel Pattaya and Hard Rock Hotel held festive and traditional
celebrations while pubs, beer bars and restaurants from Lan Po Park in
Naklua to Jomtien Beach celebrated.
Other than traffic snarls, police reported few problems
as the new year went off without a hitch.
Lovely ladies dress to the
nines at Montien Hotel Pattaya.
Lovely dancers await their
turn to take the stage at Lan Pho Public Park in Naklua.
Pirates of Pattaya take over
the Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort’s welcoming 2012 party.
Father and daughter prepare
to set free a khomloy (Chinese floating lantern) at the Montien Hotel.
Youngsters salute the New Year
at Town in Town Hotel.
Traffic was at a standstill
along Pattaya Beach Road on New Year’s Eve.
Rockin good time at the Amari
Orchid Pattaya.
The whole troupe parties in
the New Year at Joy’s Paradise in Jomtien.
It’s shoulder to shoulder at
Bali Hai pier.
The cast and crew take a
curtain call at the Mata Hari restaurant.
Young long drummers prepare to
march through Walking Street.
Celebrities, both real and
imagined, are out in force during New Year celebrations at Hard Rock
Pattaya.
When the clock strikes
midnight, fireworks blast off from Bali Hai pier.
Pattaya’s Tourism Police set
out to patrol the town to maintain peace and security during the
celebrations.
Dancing the night away on
Pattaya Beach.
Rockin in the New Year at Hard
Rock Pattaya.
A young contortionist amazes
Walking Street visitors.
The beach side of the Royal
Garden is brightly lit to welcome in 2012.
Pattaya’s Tourism Police and
volunteers prepare to ensure a peaceful and safe New Year’s Eve.
Chinese acrobats thrill the
crowds on Walking Street.
