Description: This Tourism Authority of Thailand ((TAT) sponsored event was started by the king’s oldest daughter, Princess Ubol Ratana, and is quite a sight at night. The show plays for 12 nights on the Chao Phraya River (River of Kings) next to the Grand Palace. With music, light and sound, a large cast reenacts important aspects of Thailand’s history. You may not learn a lot of history, but the show is spectacular.

 

Description: The two annual fairs organized by the Thai Gem & Jewelry Association have become international in size nowadays, competing with the Hong Kong show. The March fair is generally bigger, bringing in more than 30,000 visitors and hosting about 1000 booths. The event is also supported by the Ministry of Commerce in a country that is a global gem center. Public admission tickets available at the fair. (Admission restricted to age 16 and older.)

 

Description: Although not an official public holiday, with the bars closed, no alcohol for sale anywhere and most Thais paying respects at wats (temples), Magha Puja certainly feels like one. Falling on the full moon of the third lunar month of the year, it commemorates when Lord Buddha preached to 1250 disciples on the cardinal doctrine. It is celebrated nationwide and in the evening the wats come alive with people walking around chapels, candles alight.

 

Description: The traditional Thai New Year tops Bangkok’s list of annual events. It is a unique, three- to four-day festival when the city – and the country for that matter – stops and celebrates, bringing in the new year chiefly with water. The event is centuries old, but in recent decades has turned into a huge water fight on the city’s streets. Be warned: no-one is safe from water pistols and even buckets of water. Visitors either join the festivities and get wet, or stay inside. In Bangkok, Songkran falls April 13-14, but the date varies around the country.

 

Description: Held in Sanam Luang next to the Grand Palace, this ceremony marks the beginning of the rice-planting season with a Brahman ritual. Thousands watch as farmers run after the seed rice to see if the coming year will bring them a good harvest or not. In recent years the Crown Prince has overseen the ceremony in place of the King.

 

Description: Thais celebrate the birth of the Lord Buddha on the full moon of the sixth lunar month. Wats are once more the center of activity and the city and nation come to a standstill for the occasion, with no alcohol sold.

 

Description: Also Mother’s Day, this is a national holiday with the emphasis on cleaning up the country. Community groups collect litter in honor of Queen Sirikit. Many buildings are lit up with small white bulbs, albeit not quite as spectacularly as for the King’s birthday on December 5.

 

Description: Hosted by one of the city’s top hotels, the Four Seasons Bangkok, this is a culinary delight and one of Bangkok’s best food events. For ten days the hotel calls on a string of international chefs to cook up their best. And this during the same month as the vegetarian festival!

 

Description: A festival more famous in Phuket island in the south, but this ten-day event is followed by Bangkok’s huge Chinese population as well. Many Chinese and some Thai restaurants, particularly the street-side variety, change their menu to all vegetarian fare. The best place to experience it is Chinatown.

 

Description: Temple fairs remain common in some parts of the country but are rare in Bangkok, and this is a good one by any measure. The grounds within the wat and Golden Mount come alive with stalls selling holy items and other more commercial goods. The celebration is for pilgrims to respect the holy items in the wat and dates back many years. Temple fairs are a time to catch Thais at their best “sanuk,” enjoying themselves.