MUSINGS FROM A WEIRD MIND: AT THE DROP OF A .........

My friend Jack T. in an email asked, "Do they celebrate anything like New Year’s in Thailand?"

For those of you that don't know, the Thais will celebrate anything at the drop of a chilli. In fact I heard that National Thai Chilli Dropping Day will be held sometime next month. Thais love to party and sometimes tend to overdo it. It can take a toll on the highways. This holiday weekend the accident rate dropped 27% from last year but there were still 562 recorded accidents with 76 dead and 600 injured. Drunk drivers, no seat belts and no helmets on motorbike drivers or their passengers are the problem. You'll sometimes see 4 people on one bike with only the driver wearing a helmet, if at all.

New Years eve here is primarily a family affair and Noni and I celebrated with some of her family at the most famous Chinese Restaurant in town. We've had good meals there before but the place was packed (all 3 floors), the service was slow and the food not up to par. However, the beer flowed freely and Noni and I polished off almost a complete bottle of wine that her brother presented to us as a new years gift. After dinner Noni and I walked home enjoying the happy crowds along the way.

Once we arrived here, at about 2330 the countdown began. There were drums beating and bells tolling every five minutes. Just a few minutes before midnight the fireworks started. The official city fireworks were sourced about 200 metres up the river from us so when they went off it was just about at eye level up here on the 17th floor. However, there were other displays being set off at every quarter of the city that we could see - south, east and west - from every park, every hotel and all the big pubs and night clubs. It was a sea of light, smoke and sound and it went on for a good half hour before sputtering but not stopping. It was well into the wee hours before some sort of quiet ensued.