ID :
357572
Tue, 02/17/2015 - 11:59
Auther :

Chinese New Year Festival boosts goods prices, border trade in Thailand

THAILAND, February 17 (TNA) - Like previous years, Thais of the Chinese descent nationwide celebrate the Chinese New Year Festival 2015, starting on February 17 with doing their shopping actively on food, fruits and other products to be used for worshipping the Chinese Gods and their ancestors on February 18. In several areas in Bangkok and upcountry, fruits, especially good luck-symbolic ones, have become best sellers, shoring up their prices by 20-50 baht per kilogrammes. In Hat Yai, Thailand's southern business hub, people were doing their shopping for worship offerings, while workers were cleaning up shrines and making other preparations for public worships of locals and international visitors, most of them with the Chinese origin, on February 18. In Yala Province in the Thai far South, locals of the Chinese descent were also actively doing their shopping on consumer products for worships amid tightened security provided by local police, soldiers and even volunteer guards. The ongoing Chinese New Year Festival also boosts trade in Thai border areas, as people of the Chinese descent in neighbouring countries, including those from Cambodia, Myanmar and even Vietnam, were crossing the border to buy food, fruits and other products for worship offerings as well. In Chantaburi Province in the Thai East, bordering Cambodia, for instance, Vice Chairman of the provincial Thai-Cambodian border trade and tourism association, told reporters that border trade was particularly active in Soi Dao and Pong Nam Ron Districts, boosting the prices of products by about 30 per cent. People of the Chinese origin normally enjoy a few holidays during the Lunar New Year Festival after the yearly worship day. (TNA)

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