Fears about the Omicron variant of Covid-19 forced the cancellation of Chinese New Year celebrations, however, Yaowarat Road was flooded with a wave of red-shirt tourists last Tuesday.
Chinese shrines were festooned with red lanterns to mark the arrival of the Year of the Tiger while both sides of the street were lined with vendors selling street food, popular Chinese delicacies, souvenirs and fashion gear with auspicious motifs and colours.
Due to worries about PM 2.5 dust pollution, Chinese-Thai descendants have made an effort to decrease the burning of joss paper and incense sticks, while igniting firecrackers has also become less of a spectacle in recent years.
However, I do enjoy meandering around the century-old Charoen Chai community and Phlap Phla Chai Road, which is recognised as Thailand's largest wholesale market for joss paper and other ritual-related goods. The stores here are vibrant, with a mountain of joss paper in various designs, which Chinese descendants would have burned in prayer to their ancestors, expecting them to be used in the afterlife.
Buying joss paper has always been a favourite pastime of mine since a young age. It's as if we're seeking presents to give to our loved ones while also keeping up with current fashion and technology trends from world-class brands and IT manufacturers.
Louis Vuitton bags, pricey gold watches, stunning clothing, iPads, and iPhones are among the most popular items. Miniatures of supercars, luxurious homes, electric massage chairs, mahjong and whiskey are also available.
This year, the newest product line seems to be healthy gift boxes including fah talai jone, krachai khao and other Thai herbs that can help ease Covid-19 symptoms. This year, I wondered if individuals in the hereafter had experienced the same outbreak as we have.
It's interesting to see a copy of something we use in daily life. This illustrates the development of joss paper designs related to the actual world. For my grandparents, I once spent more than 500 baht on paper apparel, trip packages, fashion gear, money and other everyday necessities in various styles. I used to think that learning to make them on my own would be a better way to save money, but it's not easy for someone like me, who lacks artistic and craftsmanship skills.
I also visited the Baan Kao Lao Rueng museum in the Charoen Chai community, which was established by the Charoen Chai Conservation and Rehabilitation group. Here, visitors come to see a display of colourful joss paper and learn about the community's history and Chinese culture.
Originally, Chinese people utilised simple folding paper techniques to make a pile of gold bars and other offerings, but nowadays creative joss paper is largely imported from China employing paper cutting techniques to produce a variety of layered lanterns and replicas of everyday items and fashion gear.
Phumsith Purithongrat, a member of the Charoen Chai Conservation and Rehabilitation group, said that many Chinese temples have encouraged people to minimise the burning of joss paper and incense due to PM2.5 dust pollution in recent years. This situation has impacted businesses. In December, Yaowarat is usually packed with both local and foreign shoppers as they gear up for Chinese New Year celebrations.
Meanwhile, the Qing Ming and Ghost Festivals will return in April and August, respectively. We've managed to maintain our traditions and also learned to adapt ourselves. Many families attempted to limit the number of people gathering to prevent virus spread, while auspicious offerings were downscaled as a result of the economic condition.
Thailand is now also suffering from African swine fever, which is causing pork prices to rise. So, folks are saving money by not serving roasted and boiled pork and expecting our forefathers would understand.
When it comes to religious beliefs, these rituals are a mechanism for building and strengthening family relationships by allowing members of different generations to spend time together.
After conducting a ritual at home to pay tribute to ancestors, people customarily go to the Chinese shrine the next day and pray to the gods for wealth, luck, good health and commercial success. According to Chinese astrology, those born in the Year of the Monkey, Tiger, Snake or Pig may have difficulties this year, and they are recommended to pray to Tai Sui (God of Age) and other deities for protection.
I'm one of them, so my mom took me to the Tai Hong Kong Shrine, where we wrote our names and ages on pink paper and prayed to the gods for blessing. The shrine also handed over some auspicious treats to pilgrims. Nobody knows what we will go through or how our lives will change in the future. This is merely a gentle reminder to live life carefully.
These celebratory practices reflect a cultural charm and local wisdom, regardless of how quickly the world has changed.
Pattarawadee Saengmanee is a feature writer for the Life section of the Bangkok Post.
