Helped by her mother, three-year-old Nong Plare releases birds from a cage near a revered Brahmin shrine in downtown Bangkok on December 30, 1993. Thais celebrate the New Year by making merits, offering food to Buddhist monks and freeing animals from captivity as they believe the gestures would bring fortunes in the coming year.SCANNED FROM NEGATIVE REUTERS/Apichart Weerawong AVD/PN