Venue
Samphanthawong District, Bangkok, Thailand
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Chinese New Year in Thailand, Yaowarat Bangkok guide
Lion dancers take over Yaowarat Road.
In short
Chinese New Year in Bangkok follows the lunar calendar, usually between late January and mid-February, with the eve and the first two days busiest. Yaowarat Road closes to traffic for lion dancers, drummers and food carts beneath red lanterns. It suits food lovers and street photographers; expect dense crowds and travel by public transport.
Once a year Bangkok's Chinatown closes Yaowarat Road to traffic and hands it to lion dancers, drummers and food carts under long rows of red lanterns. Thais call the holiday Trut Chin. For the country's large Thai-Chinese community it is the most important date of the year, and the city's oldest commercial street shows it.
What draws visitors is the street itself. Shop owners hang red envelopes above their doors for the lion troupes, families crowd the Chinese shrines with offerings, and incense smoke drifts out over a street lined with food carts. It is loud, hot and packed.
It also shows a Bangkok that the river temples and the malls of Siam do not, a working neighbourhood of gold dealers and shophouse kitchens celebrating on its own terms.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Where: Bangkok, Thailand
Venue: Yaowarat Road
Held: Every year
Type of event: Cultural Events, Religious Festivals, Parade
Nearest airport: Bangkok (BKK) · 1 flight route
Currency: Thai baht (฿ THB)
Time zone: UTC+7, no daylight saving
Language: Thai
Map
Close to the venue
- Wat Mangkon Kamalawat Attraction · 310 m
- Wat Traimit (Temple of the Golden Buddha) Attraction · 670 m
- Wat Suthat Attraction · 1.3 km
- Giant Swing (Sao Chingcha) Attraction · 1.4 km
- Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok Hotel · 2 km
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Wearing red and the colours to avoid
Wear red if you own anything red. A shirt, a scarf or even a red bag is enough, and it is the colour of good luck for the coming year. Leave outfits that are entirely black or entirely white in the suitcase, since Thai-Chinese families associate them with mourning.
Closed shoes beat sandals on a street this crowded, where toes get trodden on. Light cotton clothing helps in the evening heat.
Etiquette at Chinese shrines during the holiday
Visitors are welcome inside the shrines and temples during the holiday, including on the busiest days. A few habits keep you on the right side of the families praying there:
- Step over the raised threshold at the door. Never stand on it.
- Do not point at the statues of gods, with a finger or with your feet.
- Give people at prayer room, and keep your voice low.
- Ask before photographing anyone who is praying or making an offering.
Firecrackers, pickpockets and evening crowds
Firecrackers go off at close range, so bring earplugs, especially for children. Keep your phone and wallet in a front pocket or a bag worn on your chest; a packed street is ideal for pickpockets.
Once the crowd thickens, movement slows to a shuffle and there is no easy way out to the side streets. If you feel uncomfortable, head for the nearest soi early. Small notes speed up buying from the food carts.
What happens on the day
- Eve, after dark
Firecrackers
The first firecrackers go off on the eve, and families prepare offerings for the morning.
- Main day, early afternoon
Roads close
Yaowarat and Charoen Krung become a walking street and the opening ceremony is held.
- 16:00 to 17:00
The best time to arrive
You can still walk at a normal pace, queue at a food cart and choose where to stand for the evening.
- Late afternoon
Lion dances
Troupes go from shop to shop, snatching the red envelopes hung over the doors.
- From 19:00
Peak crowd
The street is shoulder to shoulder and moves in one direction at a time.
- After dark
Dragon parade
The dragon travels from Odeon Circle to Ratchawong Pier.
- Next day
Shrines and a calmer street
Yaowarat stays busy on the second day, and the lanterns stay up for weeks.
Booking a room and choosing an evening in Yaowarat
Our Bangkok city guide compares the districts if you are still picking a base.
Decide early how many evenings you want in the crowd. One is plenty for most people. A good shape for the visit is a late afternoon walk along Yaowarat on the main day, food from the carts as the light goes, the dragon after dark and the train back to the hotel. Keep the next morning for the shrines along Charoen Krung, when families come to pray and there is room to stand still.
In a group, fix a meeting point before you go in. Phone signal gets patchy in a packed street, and friends who drift apart in the crowd rarely find each other again before the parade is over.
Yaowarat's history, gold shops and shrines
Yaowarat was laid across rice fields and canals between 1892 and 1900 on the orders of King Rama V. Its name means young king, after his eldest son, the first crown prince. The road bends as it runs, which is why Bangkok calls it the Dragon Road, and the gold shops packed along it gave it a second nickname, the Golden Road. Their red and gold signboards are half the reason the street photographs so well at night.
For Thailand's Thai-Chinese families the new year outranks every other date. The spiritual centre of the Bangkok celebration is Wat Mangkon Kamalawat on Charoen Krung, the Dragon Lotus Temple, founded in 1871 or 1872 and dedicated to Guanyin, goddess of compassion. Over the holiday its courtyards fill with families carrying incense, fruit and whole roast meats to lay before the altars, and the smoke hangs under the roof all day.
Then there is the food. Yaowarat is Bangkok's best known night food street in any month, and on the holiday the carts and shophouse kitchens stay busy until late. Eat early, before the crowd makes it hard to reach a stall.
Getting there
Flying into Bangkok
International flights land at Suvarnabhumi (BKK) and Don Mueang (DMK). Check entry rules for your passport on our Thailand visa page.
From Suvarnabhumi by rail
The Airport Rail Link runs from 05:30 to midnight; the full run to Phaya Thai takes about 27 minutes. Get off at Makkasan and walk across to Phetchaburi for the MRT Blue Line.
MRT to Chinatown
Wat Mangkon station lies under Charoen Krung Road, a few steps from the temple. Hua Lamphong, the stop before, is handier for Odeon Circle and the Wat Traimit end of Yaowarat.
By river
Every flag line of the Chao Phraya Express Boat calls at Ratchawong (N5), where the dragon parade finishes; board at Sathorn beside BTS Saphan Taksin. Weekend and holiday boats stop in the early evening, so plan to leave by train.
Leave the car behind
Taxis and Grab drivers cannot get close once the roads shut. The festival strip is about 1.5 km long and a short walk from either station.
Where to stay during the festival
Rooms within walking distance of Chinatown go weeks before the holiday, so book as soon as your dates are fixed and choose a rate you can cancel.
If Yaowarat itself is full, a hotel close to an MRT Blue Line station is nearly as good: the train takes you to Wat Mangkon or Hua Lamphong and brings you back after the dragon has passed.
Bangkok
Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok5-star hotel
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from$542.00/ night
- Free WiFi
- Airport shuttle
- Swimming pool
8 Rooms available
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Weather and what to pack
February is in Bangkok's dry, hot season. The 1991 to 2020 normals for Bangkok Metropolis (NOAA and the Thai Meteorological Department) give an average high of 33.7°C and a low of 24.8°C, with 21 mm of rain on about two days in the month.
Expect a hot, humid afternoon in a packed street and a warm night; rain is unlikely.
Worth packing
- Light, breathable clothes; red is the colour of the day
- Comfortable closed shoes for a crowded street
- A refillable water bottle
- Earplugs for the drums and firecrackers
- Small notes for the food carts
- A phone power bank
Flights to Bangkok for Chinese New Year in Thailand, Yaowarat Bangkok
The busiest routes into Bangkok (BKK).
Car hire in Bangkok
Airport transfer to Chinese New Year in Thailand, Yaowarat Bangkok
Met at arrivals at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and driven door to door to Yaowarat Road.
- Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) → Yaowarat Road
- 36 km · 35 min
Restaurants and food in Bangkok
Places to eat in Bangkok before or after the celebrations.
Yamazato
24th floor, Park Ventures Ecoplex, 57 Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330
Cuisine:KaisekiEdomae sushi
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
- Delivery
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Timing & weather
No. It is not a national public holiday, so offices, banks and trains keep their usual hours. The exception is Chinatown itself, where plenty of family businesses close their shutters for a few days.
Many will not. Family-run businesses often close for a few days, so if you want to shop for gold or fabrics, come before the holiday or wait until the following week.
For weeks. In 2026 the city kept the lighting on Yaowarat from 7 February to 1 March, well past the main day, so a later trip still catches the lanterns.
General
The Year of the Goat. Its first day is also the main day on Yaowarat Road, when the street is at its fullest and loudest.
Shopkeepers hang a red envelope with money above the door. When the lion snatches it, the business is meant to enjoy a lucky year, so owners are glad to see the troupe stop outside.
A red envelope of money. Married relatives hand them to younger members of the family at the new year. As a visitor you are not expected to give any, though you will see them everywhere.
Princess Sirindhorn has presided over the opening ceremony in many years, which is part of why it draws such large crowds in the afternoon.
Yes. In 2026 TAT staged a programme around the country from 13 to 22 February. The 2027 plans are normally released in January.
Red lanterns line Thalang Road and Phang Nga Road in Phuket Old Town, with evening markets underneath. Worshippers go early in the morning to the Jui Tui and Kathu shrines, the same two shrines at the centre of the island's Vegetarian Festival in autumn.
Yes, on a smaller scale. The shrines around Warorot Market fill with offerings, and the old city usually stages lion dances and a float parade in the days before the main date.
Hat Yai, in the far south, put on shows and lion dances along Saneha Nusorn Road in 2026. Nakhon Sawan, north of Bangkok, holds one of the oldest processions in the country.
Not quite. Sampheng Market is the trading area at the centre of Chinatown, close to Yaowarat but separate from it, and Phahurat, Bangkok's Little India, lies next door.