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Chinese New Yearตรุษจีน

Not a public holiday, but the week Bangkok's Chinatown and half the country's shophouses shut for family

Next
6 February 2027
6 February 2027
Where
Bangkok (Yaowarat), Nakhon Sawan, Hat Yai, Phuket Town, Chonburi
Public holiday
No
Alcohol sales
Normal

In short

Around fourteen per cent of Thais have Chinese ancestry and the proportion is far higher in commerce, so Lunar New Year has an outsized effect on ordinary life without being an official holiday. Shophouses and family businesses close for two or three days, Yaowarat and the shrine districts fill, and gold shops do their best trade of the year. Government offices, banks and schools stay open.

A Thai night market lit by dozens of warm paper lanterns strung in long rows overhead, with clothing and food stalls under white canopies behind, a brightly painted mural along the far wall and shoppers resting at moulded plastic chairs in the foreground.
PattayaPatrol / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Go if

  • Yaowarat, Bangkok — road closures, lion dances and the densest street food in the city
  • Nakhon Sawan, which stages Thailand's longest-running and largest dragon parade
  • Phuket Town and Hat Yai, both with deep Hokkien communities
  • Buying anything gold; the shops are open, busy and competitive

Be aware

  • Family-run restaurants, tailors, market stalls and small shops close for two to three days with no notice
  • Yaowarat on the night itself is genuinely uncomfortable — expect to move at a shuffle
  • Domestic flights and hotels in Chinese-Thai centres price up, though far less than at Songkran
  • It is not a public holiday: banks, immigration and government offices operate normally

Dates

The second new moon after the winter solstice — between late January and late February. Thai households observe three days: wan chai for shopping, wan wai for paying respects to ancestors and deities, and wan tiao for visiting. Celebrations in Yaowarat usually run over several days around the date itself.

  • 17 February 2026Tuesday. Year of the Fire Horse. Bangkok's celebrations were distributed across CentralWorld, ICONSIAM and the shrines rather than concentrated on Yaowarat as usual.
  • 6 February 2027Saturday. Year of the Goat.

Sources

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