Starting the New Year off in Thailand includes a water fight to cleanse the neighborhood, BYUH students say, while in Kiribati they dance to bring good fortune
BYU–Hawaii students from Thailand, Palau and Kiribati said for New Year’s celebrations they have unique cultural traditions such as water fights and avoid picking mangoes. However, they also celebrate customs done around the globe like eating delicious food, noise-making, fireworks, and singing and dancing. While there are differences from country to country, they shared, they celebrate New Year’s with things that are signs of making a new, fresh beginning.
Superstitions & traditions
Water fights and honoring grandparents are both part of the fun of New Year’s in Thailand, said Supicha Autamakul, a sophomore majoring in accounting. “We go to our grandparents’ house to wash their hands and feet, and in turn, they bless us,” she said. During Songkran, another name for Thai New Year’s, she said they have traditional water fights in the streets, symbolizing the washing away of sins and eliminating bad luck for everyone.
In Palau, picking mangoes on New Year’s will bring bad luck, said Gonrod Ngirchemat, a sophomore majoring in communications from Palau in Micronesia. He noted this superstition has been passed down for generations, and so no matter how drunk or silly a person may become during New Year’s in Palau, they still remember not to grab mangoes.
Another superstition in Palau, Ngirchemat said, is giving away an Udoud er Belau (stone money necklace) to the female relatives on the father’s side. The necklace symbolizes wealth, status and other cultural ceremonies, and the beads are passed through generations as traditional treasured gifts, Ngirchemat explained.
Tutera R. Boata, a sophomore from Kiribati majoring in TESOL, said in Kiribati on New Year’s, they will dance the Te Eitei to have blessings of prosperity and good fortune for the upcoming year. Before the spread of Christianity to their islands, Boata said her ancestors used to worship the goddess Nei Titubine, and Tabwakea, goddess of the sea. Some of this traditional belief still remains, she said.
Feasts & celebrations
Autamakul said people in her country celebrate public and traditional New Year’s. “We celebrate the usual New Year’s on Jan. 1 and Chinese New Year in Chinese-Thai locations such as Bangkok and Phuket between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20, depending on the lunar calendar,” she said. They also celebrate Songkran, or Thai New Year, from April 13 to 15 with colorful or floral clothes, she said. All three New Year’s celebrations are spent with family and older relatives, she explained, as well as paying devotion and respect in temples.
Compared to most countries, New Year’s is celebrated simply but meaningfully in Kiribati, said Boata. They have no fireworks or loud music, she said, but celebrate by dancing, singing, listening to country music and having a big seafood feast. “Since Kiribati is composed of several islands in the Pacific Ocean, it is rich with seafood like crabs, shrimp and lobsters,” she said, “which is our usual food for celebrations.”
In Thailand, “Ngirchemat explained, “A famous spot in my country to hang out and celebrate the New Year is by the bridge called Eungel a Idid, which means Japan-Palau Friendship Bridge.” He said he would gather there with others to watch fireworks, camp out and go paddle boarding. He added they create firecrackers out of soda cans that mimic the loud fireworks bangs but without the colorful explosions.
For food, Thai people prepare barbecue, Beldak el Ngikel (fish soup), Kukao (taro), aho (coconut dessert), local vegetables, fruits like mangoes, coconuts and many more, said Ngirchemat.