How to Celebrate Songkran in Thailand

Considered to be one of Thailand’s most important national festivals, Songkran is a traditional Buddhist water festival that rings in the Thai New Year. The meaning of the word Songkran is “the coming of” or “approaching.” The Songkran Festival is held on the 13^th to the 15^th of April. If you are looking to celebrate Songkran in Thailand, head over to the country around spring to get the most out of this fascinating time. Each city celebrates with gusto and welcomes all to the festivities.

JJ Harrison (https://www.jjharrison.com.au/), Songkran 8 - Ayutthaya, CC BY-SA 3.0

How is Songkran Celebrated in Thailand?

It is only recently that water has become an integral part of the Songkran festivities. Nowadays annual celebrations have turned into a massive water throwing time of fun where streets are crowded with people who flock into the city from the suburbs. Thai people are welcoming in general, but during Songkran, they go an extra mile and will likely splash you with water even if it is the first time they are seeing you.

What Happens on the Day of the Festival?

When you are in Thailand, Songkran is the annual celebration that has been dubbed the water festival. People mill around the city with water pistols, buckets and other devices that can be used to douse other people on the streets with water. It is a time where the family is gathered together and focuses on each other. This is something that you will see often in Asian festival times for it is at its core, a time for family. Thai people would either head home to their respective hometowns during this holiday or have all their family come to a certain city where they could be together. This is why many a hotel in Chanthaburi finds an influx of local guests around the second week of April.

What is Wan Nao?

Since the new year in Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist festival, locals would begin the festivities by visiting the temples or the villagers where their ancestral home is located or older relatives reside. The tradition of water is carried on here as well where statues of the Buddha are anointed with water as are the hands of Buddhist monks. On the day of the festival which is dubbed Songkran Day, images and statues of the Buddha are paraded around the city while Thai people also focus on spring cleaning their households and preparing to start anew. This is usually set for the 13^th of April. The day after, 14^th is Wan Nao. In Thai, this would roughly translate to New Year’s Eve. In the setting of Songkran, people visit the temples and build sandcastles that look like Buddhist dagobas or chedis. You would also head for a family vacation at a resort the likes of Chatrium Golf & Resort Soi Dao Chanthaburi where you can relax as a family and take a much-earned break.

How Do Different Cities Celebrate Songkran?

So, the 13^th and 14^th are used to cleanse one’s self with the water and clear out your home and buy new clothes. New Year’s Eve is used to look inwardly and renew yourself with spiritual reconnection. On the 15^th New Years is celebrated lavishly. In Bangkok, the festivities and water fights would start on the 13^th and go on to the 15^th. Most of the celebrations are held on Khaosan Road. In Chiang Mai, the festivities begin earlier, on the 12^th and features a lot of cultural and traditional celebrations as well as a plethora of street food. In Phuket, on the other hand, the streets are packed as thousands descend on the beach for the water fights. Celebrations go on well into the night.