In Thailand, HPAI H5N1 may spread faster during the 15 days preceding the Chinese New Year festival because of
the important increase of live backyard chicken trade when compared with normal period of the year. However, in comparison with China and Cambodia, where distances and trade volume increased widely during the Chinese New Year festivities (Van Kerkhove et al., 2009; Soares Magalhaes et al., 2012), the risk for long distance spread of avian influenza
viruses through informal poultry trade networks is probably much less in Thailand.