Ring in the New Year by Getting Soaked at Thailand’s Songkran Festival Starting April 13

By MOOK Travel Life Network, Reported by Chen Guanxin

 

Thailand’s Songkran Festival, also the country’s traditional New Year, will take place from April 13 to 15 this year. Celebrations will be held in areas such as Khao San Road in Bangkok, the Old City of Chiang Mai, Ayutthaya, and Phuket, as people prepare to welcome the New Year with luck in Thailand’s hottest April.

The Thai word “Songkran” originates from the Sanskrit word meaning “passing,” entering a new zodiac sign and ushering in a new year. For Thais, Songkran (also known as the Thai New Year) is the most joyful traditional festival of the year. During this long holiday, many city dwellers return to their hometowns to celebrate with family, while fun-loving youths engage in water fights to collect good fortune for the year ahead.

 

Across the various celebrations, Chiang Mai in northern Thailand sees the entire Old City and surrounding streets drenched in water. Eye-catching parades and trucks packed with people armed with water guns spray water at other vehicles and pedestrians, resulting in major traffic jams. On Bangkok’s Khao San Road, beloved by backpackers worldwide, the area becomes a splash zone where young Thais and foreigners douse each other with water. Strangers with wide smiles soak you with water and smear you with powder until you’re completely wet and dirty. In Ayutthaya, food is offered to monks on their alms rounds. Water is poured over the hands of elders to wish them good health, and following tradition, Buddha statues are bathed, bodies are purified, traditional attire is worn, and traditional parades are enjoyed along with local delicacies.

In Pattaya and Phuket, activities include alms-giving to monks, blessing Buddha statues with water, and building sand pagodas—all to pray for a great start to the new year. People also pour scented water over the hands of elders to wish them good health. There will also be bartender competitions, motorcycle parades, various musical performances, and opportunities to sample local cuisine. In Sukhothai, there will be sand pagoda-making contests, Songkran beauty pageants, and parades of vintage carts. Meanwhile, in Khon Kaen, the city center along Sichan Road will be closed to vehicles during Songkran, turning the area into a giant water fight playground. Local youths will splash water freely, throw powder at each other, dance, eat, drink, and celebrate in full swing. For more details, visit: www.tattpe.org.tw.

 

 

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