Experience the Songkran Festival or the Thai New Year

Get the chance to experience and participate on Thai people’straditional activities during the Songkran Festival or the Thai NewYear, a four-day activity that happens in the month of April everyyear. Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike are welcome to go to the templeand witness various activities, eat, drink, and throw water. Thefour-day activity consists of the following:

April 12 – it is called as the Wan Sungkharn Lohng. Thai people on thisday do the house cleaning and general preparation for the New Year.

However, if you are in Chiang Mai, this is the day wherein the Songkranprocession is held. The procession consists of Buddha images andattendant on beautifully floats with beautiful décors accompanied bythe locals and minstrels. After the procession or parade, the waterfight will follow. April 13 is the day Wan Nao. This is the day where people cooked foodsand preserved it for the Buddhist merit –making that is happening onthe following day. On the other hand, activities happening at the WatPrasingh temple continue and locals go to the banks of the Mae PingRiver in the evening to gather sand and deposit it in piles topped withflowers in the temple.

April 14 is the third day of celebration and is called as the WanPayawan. On this is day is when the grand New Year celebration beginsat early in the morning with people doing some merit-making  at thetemples. Those preserved food that are cooked the other day are beingoffered. Other than preserved and cooked foods, offered items at thetemples are fresh fruits, monks’ robes and other offerings. People fromhome on the other hand, do the final cleaning of Buddha imaged with theuse of a scented water,

April 15, the fourth and final day of the festival is also called asthe Wan Parg-bpee. Homage is made during this day wherein locals paidto ancestors, elders, and other person that deserves the respectbecause of their age of position. This is also called as the ‘Rohd NamSongkran’, which means “The Pouring of Songkran Water”. Whilesprinkling water to the elderly, wishes of good luck are also uttered. People in Chiang Mai during this day are celebrating the final day ofcelebration and are throwing water with each other. Residents of ChiangMai on this day are dedicated to have some fun.

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Having able to join with the Thailand local residents in celebratingthe Songkran Festival will surely be a memorable experience for you.

Songkran is one of the festivals in Thailand that you should not missbecause of its abundant religious and fun activities, and it onlyhappens in Thailand. Other places might have their own festivals aswell but will be very different from Songkran. If you want toexperience the Songkran Festival, plan ahead, reserve youraccommodations and festival tour early so that when the day of thefestival comes, you won’t be having any problems with hotelreservations and festival tour packages, because for sure, many of thetourists will be coming to Thailand to witness the Songkran Festival.