India, Nov. 5 -- I touched down in Bangkok in the last week of October excited to see how a nation already celebrated for its festivals would bring out its luminous charm during the Amazing Thailand Grand Diwali Festival 2025. Around 2.1 million Indian tourists visited Thailand in 2024 so it didn't strike me as particularly unusual that the pan-Indian festival, Diwali, though pegged to tourism, was being celebrated with verve at India's favourite holiday destination.

The opening ceremony on October 19 began with a light-and-sound show and a three-act Thai-Indian classical dance performance that enacted scenes from the Ramayana drawn from both traditions. Thai Khon dancers in elaborate masks and gilded costumes moved in synchronised perfe...