FESTIVALS

• Songkran: For a week every April Thailand celebrates the New Year and Bangkok transforms into a mysteriously empty and almost traffic-free city as the entire country participates in friendly water fights. 
• The King’s Birthday: Celebrated on December 5, this festival celebrates the birthday of their monarch, who has been the King of Thailand since 1946. Fireworks are traditionally released near the Grand Palace in an impressive display, and the streets of the city’s center are decorated in his honor. 
• Loy Krathong: On the night of the first full moon in November, the Thai people send small decorative floats, often on banana leaves, into the water as a symbolic offering to the gods to cleanse bad luck.
• International Festival of Music & Dance: Starting in mid-September or early October (depending on the year), this annual arts festival brings acclaimed opera, ballet, jazz, and performance artists from around the world to Thailand.
• Chinese New Year: A weeklong celebration in late January, the lunar New Year brings together the Thai-Chinese people. Visitors during this time who stop by Chinatown will find traditional dragon parades, acrobat performances, and firework shows.