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During the past four months we have witnessed New Year’s celebrations at least four times. We are now back in Phuket in Thailand and prepare for the New Year 2553.
New Year occurs on different days in different countries and the calender is usually based on religion. Here in Thailand it is called Songkran and takes place this year between 13th and 16th of April. Next year will be 2553, as Buddha was born 563 BCE. However, all Buddhists over the world do not celebrate New Year on this day. The Chinese for example celebrated their New Year on 14th February, when we were in Langkawi.
There are also a lot of Muslims in this part of the world, particularly in Southern Thailand and Malaysia which adds their New Year to the mix, last time was around 18 of December 2009. And finally throw in the Hindu version, which also appears to take place any day now, around the sun’s entry into any sign of the Zodiac, similar to the date of the Christian Festival of Easter.
As a result of the ethnic and religious mix of the population, there are a lot of public and other holidays over here. Quite a few times we have been forced to change our plans or found doors closed because of these various holy days. It appears that very often a particular day, when we have made plans to do something (banking, shopping, clearing customs etc), happens to be either a Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or other sacred day. Adding to other holidays is the custom in Langkawi where Muslims have their weekly day-off on Friday. The civil servants love all these holidays of course – they are free from work regardless of which faith they obey, and if they happen to be at work they can charge overtime fees!
Here’s a couple of New Year’s quotes:
– “Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits.”
– “Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account” (Oscar Wilde)
