Chinese New Year in Thailand

The dates for 2027

Chinese New Year in Thailand falls on Saturday 6 February 2027. Friday 5 February is the eve, for family dinners, and the street celebrations fill the Saturday. Some shrines carry on to the Lantern Festival on 20 February.

It isn't a national public holiday. It's a regional holiday in four southern provinces only: Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and Satun.

Next: what the evening on Yaowarat is like.

What it's like on Yaowarat

Chinese New Year in Bangkok means Yaowarat: lanes along Yaowarat and Charoen Krung close from early afternoon, lion dancers visit the shops, and dragon parades run in the evening between the Chinatown arch at Odeon Circle and Ratchawong Pier.

The lion takes a red envelope hung over a shop door, which is meant to bring luck. Expect firecrackers and drums along the street.

The street stays lit for weeks, with lanterns from Odeon Circle to Chaloem Buri every evening.

When to get there

For Yaowarat Chinese New Year, arrive by 4 to 5pm: by 7pm the street is packed and hard to walk.

Photo: Mr.Sayompoo Setabhrahmana, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, edited

Taxis and Grab get stuck once the roads close, so take the MRT to Wat Mangkon or Hua Lamphong. Better still, come by river: Ratchawong Pier sits at the end of the parade route.

Wear red, the lucky colour, and skip all-black or all-white, which are for mourning. Have the boat at the pier by 4pm, and you step straight into the party.

Will Yaowarat have parades in 2027?

We'll know in January. Last year Yaowarat held no parades or high-pole lion dances, out of respect for the mourning period for Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother, and the lights and the food still ran.

We check the 2027 programme the day it comes out. Put your dates in now, and you get the times first.

Is there an alcohol ban at Chinese New Year?

No. Chinese New Year isn't a Buddhist holy day or a public holiday, so shops, bars and clubs sell as normal, and offices and transport run as usual.

The next shop ban is Makha Bucha on Sunday 21 February 2027, two weeks later.

One rule to know: since 12 May 2026, alcohol is banned at public piers and on public passenger boats under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee's notice, which the Department of Disease Control publishes; the rule names public boats, not private charters. Our Thailand nightlife laws page has the details.

What to book first

Book the river boat and the cars first: it's a Saturday, and the main day draws big crowds.

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Photo: AI-generated image

• Your own river boat for up to 16 drops you at Ratchawong Pier, away from the traffic. The price depends on the boat; Tanner quotes to your plan, with the DJ and the bar on top.
• The cars are luxury vans for up to 4, from ฿6,500 for 10 hours, waiting outside the closed roads.
• A villa for the weekend is a party-friendly pool villa in Bangkok from ฿18,500 a day.

Plan it with Tanner, and the boat is held for the Saturday.

After the lanterns

Start in Yaowarat for the lanterns, then slip into the bars on the side streets as the crowds thin. Our Bangkok Chinatown guide has the bars.

Many shrines serve cheap or free vegetarian food over New Year; look for the sign เจ (jay) at the door.

From Chinatown, the clubs of Silom and RCA are a short ride away. See our Bangkok guide, and ask Tanner for your VIP section.

Phuket and the rest of Thailand

Chinese New Year in Phuket centres on Phuket Old Town, where Thalang Road and Soi Romanee close to cars each evening for the Old Phuket Town Festival, and Jui Tui Shrine on Ranong Road is the heart of it.

Four more places go big for Chinese New Year:

• Nakhon Sawan holds the 12-day Pak Nam Pho festival, one of Thailand's oldest, with golden dragon parades.
• Hat Yai has fireworks, dragon dances and high-pole lion dances.
• Chiang Mai runs dragon parades from Tha Phae Gate through Warorot Market.
• Suphan Buri puts on light shows at the Dragon Descendants Museum, a dragon building 135 metres long.

See our Phuket guide and Chiang Mai guide, and pick the city that suits your group.

Which city for your group

Bangkok is the pick for a group: Yaowarat for the lanterns and lion dances, then the city's clubs the same evening.

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Photo: AI-generated image

• Bangkok means Yaowarat by boat, then Chinatown bars and the clubs.
• Phuket has Old Town's festival, smaller and easier to move around, then Patong.
• Chiang Mai suits a group already up north.
• Nakhon Sawan is a day trip north of Bangkok for the dragon parades.

Three new years in one country

Thailand celebrates New Year three times: 1 January with fireworks, Chinese New Year on 6 February 2027, and Songkran, the Thai New Year, from 13 to 15 April 2027.

Chinese New Year is the one with the lanterns, the drums and the food. Insider tip: the lanterns stay up for weeks, so a group that misses the main day still gets the glow.

Asking where to celebrate Chinese New Year in Bangkok? Yaowarat, every time, and by boat. A full party week for 12 around it, with the villa, the cars and the tables, runs from about ฿300,000 all in.

Ask Tanner to fit two of the three into one trip.

Chinese New Year in short

• Date: Saturday 6 February 2027, the Year of the Goat; the eve is Friday 5 February.

• Where: Yaowarat in Bangkok; Phuket Old Town; Nakhon Sawan; Hat Yai; Chiang Mai.
• Alcohol: no ban; bars and clubs open as normal.
• Best for groups: Yaowarat by private boat, then the Bangkok clubs.
• Book first: the river boat and the cars.

Checked November 2026.