Asia - Chinese New Year

So just noticed that Chinese New Year will be Jan 26, 2009. Was planning to do HKG or BKK before heading to MNL in February. Was planning to arrive Jan 28ish.

What will be the impact on travel in either HKG or BKK a few days after?
-effect on prices, crowds, safety, tourist sites open/hours???

Should we try to go early to make it there for new years?

Know nothing about Chinese New Year celebrations, so any thoughts are appreciated!
Thanks!

Bad time of year to go to HKG (or anywhere Chinese), I'm afraid. It's just like Christmas in the West: transport is jam-packed in the days before, and then on the day itself, everybody is celebrating with their family indoors, so virtually everything is closed and deserted. The days before are kinda fun though, with bustling bazaars, firecrackers, lion dances and whatnot.

Bangkok, though, will be business as usual (except maybe in Chinatown), as Thai New Year is celebrated separately.

This is simply not true in Hong Kong (where I have lived for the last 10 years). Smaller family-run places may close for the first and second days. The malls will be open, public transport runs as normal. Coming on the 28th (CNY+2) has the advantage, if you get here earlier enough) of being able to see the big firework display that evening over the harbour. On the 29th everything will be normal.

How about hotel prices?

Right now, HKG is certainly the better option, given political situation in BKK and the flights are about US$300 cheaper...

This is simply not true in Hong Kong (where I have lived for the last 10 years). Smaller family-run places may close for the first and second days. The malls will be open, public transport runs as normal.
Sorry, I think my "virtually everything" was a bit misleading. Yes, public transport will keep on running, and yes, the McDonaldses, 24-hour convenience stores etc will stay open. But the places that can do shut down, and the city loses the frenetic Hong Kong bustle that (IMHO) makes it feel like Hong Kong.

Having said that, at least according to this guy, we may both be right, but you're more right than me: until fairly recently, "everything" was closed, but post-2000 this has become less noticeable. And quite a few suggestions on what to do as well:

http://www.batgung.com/chinese-new-year-hong-kong

The chinese New Year is frankly nothing like the west. First night they have dinner at the mans parents house, 2nd night they go to wifes parents, which usually involves a lot of men getting urgent phone calls to go back to work and spend the night with their workmates. Then they all pile in their cars and jam the roads for a day out and after that they find a reason to go back to work. The political situation in BKK is nothing more than a protest, but if you read western media then it could be dangerous, or so they would like it to be so they have something to report.

You will have no problem with travel in HKG or BKK at this time and forget the worries about crowds and saftey, its more easy to move around in the first two days than any other time of the year.