Chinese New Year Celebrations Kick Off In Bangkok's Chinatown

[george]

Chinese New Year celebrations kick off in Chinatown

BANGKOK: -- Thai-Chinese communities are celebrating the Chinese New Year in Chinatown with multiple performances commemorating the 35th anniversary of official Thai-Chinese relations.

Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over the opening of the ‘Chinatown Yaowarat B.E. 2553’ fair which ends Monday.

The two-day fair ending at midnight Monday is jointly organised by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and China’s Ministry of Culture to celebrate the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Thailand and the Peoples' Republic of China.

About 800,000 people are expected to attend the fair on Yaowarat Road, also known as ‘Chinatown’.

Nearly 200 performers from China will perform on a stage in Yaowarat Road and will perform later in 10 other provinces for 17 days overall later this month.

Meanwhile, more than 12,000 hotel rooms in the southern district of Hat Yai and elsewhere in Songkhla province are fully booked between February 15-20, a record for the past six years.

It is expected that more than Bt300 million will change hands during the period.

The ‘Hat Yai Chinese New Year’ fair opens officially Sunday evening at a school by senior government officials and representatives of the private sector.

-- TNA 2010-02-14

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