Thailand celebrates New Year's Eve with fireworks over riverside

Thailand welcomed 2026 with an eco-friendly fireworks spectacle and a 4D aerial show over Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, drawing crowds to celebrate the New Year. The display at Icon Siam honoured the late Queen Mother Sirikit, illuminating the city’s skyline in a tribute of remembrance.

Juarawee Kittisilpa and Anita Kobylinska

1 January 2026 at 01:25:26

Bangkok rang in 2026 with an eco-friendly fireworks and drone spectacle along the Chao Phraya River, as crowds gathered to watch a dazzling countdown show honoring Thailand’s late Queen Mother Sirikit.

Athit Perawongmetha

Thailand stepped into 2026 on Thursday (January 1) with a countdown and an eco-friendly fireworks display that lit up the Bangkok sky along the Chao Phraya River over department store Icon Siam.

The show, which spanned 1,400 metres (4,593 feet) across the Chao Phraya River in the heart of Bangkok, also included a 4D aerial performance, a fusion of drone and pyrotechnic displays, under the theme 'In Eternity Reverance' to honour the late-Queen Mother, Sirikit, who passed away in October.

In other parts of Bangkok, people gathered at shopping malls and along the river to watch the fireworks light up the city’s skyline, with the Royal Grand Palace offering a view from across the river.

-Juarawee Kittisilpa and Anita Kobylinska