Do Chi-Thai families celebrate Chinese New Year?

[Beachlover]

Question just popped into my mind... Do Chinese-Thai families celebrate Chinese New Year? I never asked.

If they DO celebrate it do they give "Hong Bao" (red packets/envelopes with money)?

Today is Chinese New Year Eve by the way! Tomorrow, 23 January is Chinese New Year day.

Gong xi fa cai!

*Traditional Chinese New Year greeting... means "wishing you wealth and prosperity" or something.

I'm off to attend a booooooooring family gathering. :drunken:

[Neal]

Many many Thai people are celebrating Chinese New Year today but I don't know or see anything about red envelopes. If they are, I want mine!

[neoncrusade]

One of my best Thai friends is half Chinese and they celebrate Chinese new year. They have a Chinese household type shrine that always has food offerings on it in one room, and the usual Thai shrine in another!
An excuse to have double the number of knees ups with plentiful food and booze I expect!

[aussie_]

Question just popped into my mind... Do Chinese-Thai families celebrate Chinese New Year? I never asked.

Yes and they start early on New Years Eve. I got back to my room from the Dave Foam Party at 5am and woke at 8am for an hour of fireworks in the next soi. It has been quiet during the rest of the day so far.

[latintopxxx]

you can take the Chinese out of China but not China out of the Chinese....their culture has an amazingly strong pull and the diaspora tend to celebrate various festivals (not only New Year) throughout the year, even in places where they were violently surpressed in the past like Indonesia.

[pong]

of course they do-can see the precedings going on for days-yesterday all that burning of fake money, cars, shares, mobuys etc in trashcans. And the showing of the fat pigheads, pink cakes, mandarins etc to appeal to the gods. The houses and hotels have all been swept clear. Hairs done and new clothes purchased.
Today is THE big day and the handing out of the treasured ang-pao *thats how they call it here) to valued staff-replaces simple the endofyear bonus in western circles. In many shops any customer also gets one-often with a money-off voucher for a next purchase or sometimes some lottery ticket for 5/8/55% discount or so. The same do some of the gay m2m msg shops. (as it is now 2555 in Thai years-the nr 5 is also very much used). One big advantage: BKK is near traffic free in some areas.
The tipical ignorant tourist often asks about where to go to see the celebrations-rather daft, as the Chinese stay at home-about the same as a visit to London on 25/12. But to please them, the TAT has hired various mainland China acrobat groups to do some performance-at shoppng malls. The Chinese are far too wary that those ignorant farang bring bad luck by not following the customs-superstition is the most important thing to reign now.
Also for you: Kung Hey Fatt choy or so-thats what the Sino-Thai in their mostly used dialect say here-the year of the water dragon (is it?)

[latintopxxx]

pong...I agree, ignorant farang tourists are so annoying, should simply be banned, maybe we can arrange to divert them at the port of origin to say Vietnam or Indonesia, they would never know the difference....let the neighbouring countries have the hassle of all the jobs and cash flow...that dumb tourists bring...hey!!

[Beachlover]

Thanks guys! Never been in Thailand during CNY and was wondering.

Some of my Chi-Thai friends have told me they did celebrate it back home but now that they're here (abroad), it doesn't mean so much to them.