You know us, we don’t need an excuse to celebrate. Brand new month? Hooray! Sun’s finally out? Whoo hoo! New restaurant opening? Let us at it, we’re ready!

Needless to say we’re psyched for the upcoming Thai New Year celebrations going on at Thai restaurants across the capital. It might be a fair bit removed from Auld Lang Syne-ing at midnight your fellow drunken revellers, but hey – a party’s a party, right?

Regular festivities at Thai New Year (also known as Songkran) celebrations include throwing water (hoses and water guns optional), praying at monasteries and giving food to monks. There’s not exactly a surplus of Thai monks in London, but there are quite a few Thai restaurants and luckily they’re opening their doors so that you can feed yourself in honour of the ancient festival.

One of our favourites, Blue Elephant, is offering a traditional menu of Thai delicacies including hot and sour soup with rainbow trout and chicken curry with aubergines, spices and fresh coconut milk. This place is enormously popular and fills up quickly despite its large size, so don’t wait too long if you want to book.

One of our other Thai favourites (can there ever bee too many good Thai restaurants, really?) is Mango Tree, and they love celebrating – whether it be film festivals, ladyboy competitions or New Years. Besides the special menu, you also get to watch parades, fire lantern shows and a sword fighting finale. Flaming lanterns, sword fighting and Thai food? Count us in.

East Londoners aren’t left out either as Thai Room in Bow is also getting in on the New Year act. There’s a special menu (with Champagne for that official New Year feel) plus musical performances, games and a prize draw.

And what’s our resolution for Thai New Year, you ask? To get up to that mystical three-chilli level, of course. Happy New Year!