12/04/2016
Are you ready for Songkran?
Songkran is the Thai New Year and is the biggest water-fight festival in Thailand. It is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. Prepare to get wet. Just because you are a farang, doesn’t mean you will get spared. On the contrary, as a foreigner you will most likely be the Thais favourite victim.
Songkran is a Buddhist festival and the most important and longest public holiday for the Thai people and many of them are returning home to celebrate with their families and friends. Conveniently, it is celebrated during the hottest month of the year and marks the end of the dry season and the beginning of the monsoon season.
Traditionally, Buddha statues and coins were doused in water. This water was then considered as blessed and was gently poured over the hands and shoulders of family members and friends to honour them and to whish good fortune, luck and prosperity. It also symbolises a time for cleaning and renewal and many Thai people clean their house in preparation for Songkran. Buddha coins and statues on house shrines are also cleaned. Today, the festival has become a three day water fun fight. Locals and tourists alike will splash each other with buckets of water, water hoses or water guns. It’s all good fun. The entire country turns into a water fight zone.
So, go to your nearest supermarket or convenient store and buy a water pistol and join the fun. Your options are very simple, either join in the fun and exciting water fight or stay in your hotel room. Wear as little as possible as clothes will get soaked and might get ruined as the locals also throw coloured talcum powder on passers-by.
The downside of these celebrations is that a lot of Thais and tourists get drunk which leads to a large number of fatal traffic accidents. So, if you are on the road, be careful.
Local versions of Songkran are also celebrated in Cambodia, Laos and Burma and it is believed that the Burmese brought Songkran to Thailand. Therefore, it is more celebrated in the North of the country than in the South. The biggest Water Festival parade takes place in Chiang Mai, where statues from local temples are paraded through the streets and people take part in the celebrations by gently pouring water over the arms and legs of the Buddha. In the Northern provinces Songkran is celebrated for three days to one week, whereas in most Southern provinces the celebrations are only for one day. Major celebrations are also held in Bangkok, Pattaya, Puket (mainly along Patong Beach), Hua Hin and Khon Kaen.
Happy Songkran (suk san wan Songkran) and a Happy New Year (Sawatdi pi mai)!
