Celebrate Chinese New Year 2016 in Bangkok The Chinese New Year is actually part of a 16-day festival, and its cause for some major celebration in Chinese communities around the world. This is certainly an exciting time of year to be in Bangkok, as theres a large Chinese-Thai community with roots going back several generations. With that in mind, weve put together some information to help make this Chinese New Year even more enjoyable for you. Chinese New Year: Background This is an ancient festival, indeed, and its tied to the ancient lunar calendar. This means that the actual dates of the celebration change from year-to-year according to the Gregorian calendar. Every year, the actual day of the New Year falls on the day of the new moon between 21 January and 20 February. In 2016, Chinese New Years Day occurs on 8 Feb, but the festivities begin long before that. Youll see red lanterns and other festive decorations in front of shops in the days leading up to the New Year. Enter the Year of the Monkey Every year of the Chinese calendar is assigned a specific animal based on the Chinese 12-year zodiac cycle. Chinese tradition holds that each person is assigned a zodiac symbol based on their year of birth. So everyone born on or after 8 February this year (and before next years Chinese New Year) will have the monkey as their symbol. One of five elements (metal, water, wood, fire and earth) also accompanies the symbol based on the year. So, technically, this is the year of the Fire Monkey. Much like the Western zodiac, a persons animal symbol is supposed to offer insight into their personality and future prospects. Thai people “ and especially those of Chinese descent “ are eager to have their fortune told when the New Year begins. With that in mind, we thought wed share some Chinese Horoscope predictions for the coming year.