Lunar New Year festivities in Bangkok’s Chinatown are being called off for the second year in a row due to the COVID-19 situation in the capital city. Meanwhile, observance of Chinese New Year traditions is not prohibited and decorations marking the occasion have now been put up along Yaowarat Rd. in Samphanthawong district.
Samphanthawong District Office Director Athittaya Chokkitmanatchai said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will not be holding the annual Chinese New Year festival on Yaowarat Rd. because of the unresolved Covid situation and current outbreaks of the Omicron variant. Decorative lights have, however, been put up at the Odeon Circle landmark in Yaowarat.
Ms. Athittaya said Bangkok City Hall is not prohibiting people of Chinese descent from observing the annual tradition, including visits to various shrines, but disease control measures must be implemented for these activities.
Each year, Samphanthawong District Office works with businesses and locals in the district to organize the Chinese New Year festival in the Yaowarat area. However, the festival was called off in 2021 because of the COVID-19 situation, and is once again being called off this year as concerns linger of the spread of the coronavirus.
This year, Lunar New Year falls on February 1. (NNT)
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