Songkran – top tips for enjoying Thailand’s New Year celebrations
Songkran is, without doubt one of the most popular of Thailand’s many festivals. This sometimes wet and always wonderful holiday is when Thai people travel up-country to be together with loved ones, to visit the local temple and celebrate by enjoying home-cooked dishes. And as Thailand is visited by so many tourists each year, news of Songkran has spread well beyond the borders of the kingdom. Now thousands of people come to take part in what’s become known as The World’s Biggest Water Party.
But the traditions of Songkran are a long way from the images shown in the world’s newspapers every year – powder smeared tourists armed with water pistols and wide grins. The Thai New Year, in its purest form, is a religious festival steeped in Buddhist and Brahman traditions. Marking the end of a 12 month cycle when the sun moves into April and there was traditionally a gap between rice harvesting and planting, Songkran is now held on fixed days, 13-15 April.
Songkran is a time when family comes first, respect is paid to seniors and people visit the temples to take part in age-old ceremonies. So visitors will get more out of Songkran if they take time to understand its origins and its traditions.
That’s why we’ve put together of Songkran tips to help everyone to enjoy this unique slice of Thainess.
Visit the temple
Like Christmas in the West and the New Year in China, Songkran in Thailand is when families travel long distances to come together. And on Songkran Day itself (13 April), Thais visit their local temple to pay respect to the images of the Buddha and seek good luck for the New Year.
The main activity is the pouring of scented water onto the sacred images of the temple – a ritual called Song Nam Phra. It seems that in past times, lustral water used to clean Buddhist statues was regarded as spiritually cleansing and…
