Chinese new year revellers will be pretty in pink

Pink will be a special colour for Chinese New Year this month, making it different from previous years.

And since gold ornaments are one of the most popular presents for the senior members of the family, and gold prices are down from year-end, gold shops are expected to see more traffic, Jitti Tangsithpakdi, president of the Gold Traders Association, said on Monday.

Due to Chinese New Year falling on the same day as Valentine's Day this year, next Sunday, unsurprisingly you'll see many people celebrating them together by dressing in pink, apart from red, which is the usual colour for celebrating Chinese New Year.

Also, many people are expected to wear pink on the auspicious day to wish His Majesty the King good health, as such a colour is considered astrologically significant in helping make the monarch fit again.

Many people are inviting others to dress in pink during the festive event.

Amorn Apithanakoon, head of a Thai-Chinese association, told a Thai news website he supported the idea of wearing pink clothes to wish His Majesty good health during Chinese New Year. Pink will not defy Chinese tradition, as both colours are similar, so it will be good to wear pink for the sake of His Majesty, he said.

Last week in the Yaowarat area - Bangkok's Chinatown - was the scene of crowds of people busily shopping for necessities used in welcoming Chinese New Year.

Leng, 57, manager of a factory in Suan Luang district, went to Sampeng Market located near Chinatown to order more than 200 pink T-shirts.

"I heard on TV many people were inviting others to wear pink, in order to wish His Majesty good health for Chinese New Year. So I came here to order pink T-shirts and give them to my relatives and employees as presents," Leng said while choosing Chinese New Year designs for the shirts.

"I usually dress in red to celebrate Chinese New Year, but this year I'll be in pink for His Majesty's sake."

Natrudee Kaewkhenma, 26, a vendor of Chinese-style clothing in Chinatown, said she sold more pink clothes prior to this year's Chinese New Year than last year.

"Many more pink clothes have been sold - about 60 pieces a day - just as many as red ones. Only red clothes were popular for Chinese New Year in previous years," she said.

"My customers told me they bought pink Chinese-style clothes because they also wanted to celebrate Valentine's Day, and some told me they would dress in pink for His Majesty the King."

She said she'd had more customers since about the middle of last month.

Thirasak Sawaengwitchayaphong, 49, a seller of pink T-shirts, said he used to sell all kinds of colours but later decided to sell only pink T-shirts, for those wanting to wish His Majesty good health.

"As I wanted to avoid political colours, like yellow and red, I sell only pink T-shirts. Apart from the trend of wishing His Majesty good health, the celebration of Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year on the same day helped me get more customers," he said.

"The stocks of pink T-shirts with Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year designs that a factory supplied me with will run out, as more and more customers have bought T-shirts from me since January."

Jitti said the price of gold ornaments had dropped, from Bt19,200 per baht weight early last December to Bt16,900 early this week.

"Prices of gold ornaments will likely range between Bt16,000 and Bt17,000 during the week of Chinese New Year. Although the prices are a little higher than during the same period last year, when 1 baht weight costs more Bt16,000, I expect more people to buy gold ornaments," he said.

"This is because the prices of gold ornaments during Chinese New Year last year were higher than in October 2008, at only Bt12,000 per baht weight, so people felt gold ornaments were more expensive than in 2008, and many decided not to buy.

"But this year, people feel prices are cheaper than late last year, so more people have been seen buying gold ornaments since January."