Christmas in Bangkok: Jingle all the way

Bangkok is going to jingle all the way this Christmas. The Thai capital is shaking its tail feathers in preparation of the merriest of all seasons and the arrival of an anticipated record number of visitors. Weather prophets might not be predicting snow, and Santa will undoubtedly have great difficulty navigating his reindeer-pulled sleigh through the city's notoriously gridlocked traffic, but that's no reason not to get into the spirit of giving, twinkling lights and stuffed turkey. Besides, with New Year short on its heels, Christmas provides the perfect excuse to get the party started a week before the time!

Christmas in Bangkok, like everywhere else, means big business. This is the time of the year when the city's hotels enjoy maximum occupancy, and when shopping malls dazzle and delight visitors with decorations, displays, events and promotions that are designed to make consumer goods fly off the shelves. Shopping, in fact, along with eating and partying the night away, takes high prominence on everyone's agendas. The newly-revamped CentralWorld, which also happens to be Bangkok's official New Year countdown venue, is sporting the biggest (tallest) Christmas tree in Southeast Asia this year - and the fact that it is of the artificial kind in no way makes it any less of a spectacle to behold.

Bangkok's hotels take the festivities pretty serious too, and the competition is fierce among the city's finest to sport the most beautiful, tallest, most twinkling or unusual Christmas tree. The impressive seven-meter tree in the lobby of the posh Peninsula Bangkok at the riverside is very much the real deal, specially flown in from Canada, and an annual tradition that is combined with an innovative UNICEF fundraising initiative.

Spending New Year in Bangkok?

The real show-stopper, however, is the Christmas lights. Buildings, trees, bridges, lamp poles and sometimes even tuk-tuks and pavement food stalls are adorned with colourful, twinkling lights, turning Bangkok into a fairy wonderland. In fact, if you stand still for long enough, chances are good that somebody might even decorate you with lights (kidding!). But that Thai people's love of creative lighting and festivities get the better of them, that's a fact. A stroll along Rachadamri Road (get off at Rachadamri Skytrain station), past The Four Seasons Hotel (great tree!), The Peninsula Plaza (the most photographed Christmas lights feature in the city) - complete with a gingerbread house and reindeer barn - The Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, The Erawan (mall) and Amarin Plaza, is a delightful 'Christmas lights walking tour' for the whole family to enjoy.

From the intersection of Rachadamri and Rachaprasong Roads, make a right turn and continue walking for about 100 metres (past Amarin Plaza and McDonalds) until you get to an escalator which will take you up to the skywalk. From here you can gawk at the impressive tree in front of the InterContinental Hotel on the other side of the road, before making your way (still on the skywalk) past Gaysorn and down the stairs to CentralWorld Square, where both Heineken and Singha have set up giant beer gardens. Late-night live entertainment is provided by up-and-coming young Thai musicians and performers, and meals are also served.

With refreshments out of the way, make a note to have a look at the Christmas tree inside CentralWorld as well (the largest one, mentioned earlier, is at CentralWorld Square in front of the mall and next to the beer garden). Then it's time to continue our do-it-yourself walking tour. With the skywalk connection between CentralWorld and the Offices at CentralWord, you can walk all the way to Siam, above the traffic, until you get to the so-called 'Pride of Bangkok', the massive Siam Paragon. The palm trees in front of this gigantic mall are beautifully illuminated with purple lights, making for quite a contemporary, space-aged effect. Right next to Siam Paragon are Siam Centre and Siam Discovery, with another beer garden set up between the latter two. The whole area around Siam Square is drenched in a festival mood with more Christmas trees and lights to check out.

If you have any energy left at this stage, the famous MBK can be reached with another skywalk from the second level of Siam Discovery, with equally impressive decorations adorning the outside and inside of this shopping monument. This 'walking tour' is just one of Bangkok's areas that undergo a seasonal metamorphosis. Other areas worth taking a taxi to are Chinatown, Khao San Road, Ratchadamnoen Road and, of course, the famous riverside. Here, it is not so much the area that is all 'tarted up' with lights, but the floating restaurants and party boats that transport revelers up and down the Chao Phraya River.