The modern Songkran festival is a day filled with fun and a whole lot of water throwing, spraying, squirting and blasting (if you're lucky enough to have a fire hose in close vicinity, which surprisingly enough happened to us - being blasted that is, not blasting others).
The origins of this day were the traditional New Year celebrations, as you see in many religions and places there is a special day around the time of April; Christianity's Easter holiday, India's Holi colour festival and China's Ching Ming ancestral worship. All these special holidays occur around this time because in the past, celebrating New Year at the time of the Vernal Equinox was very common. Some people believe April Fool's was borne to mock the people who refused to accept the change of the New Year from April to January in the 16th Century.
Songran's date was originally set by astrological calculations, however it has since been set to the 13th of April each year. Songkran is celebrated over three days and is extended to five days if the dates fall over a weekend. This time of year usually marks when most Thai people travel back to their home provinces to visit and celebrate this special time with their families and loved ones.
Today Thailand officially celebrates New Year on the 1st of January, like most countries, although it wasn't until 1940 when this official change was made.
If you are planning a trip to Thailand I highly recommend to visit during one the many amazing festivals and celebrations this country has.
Unfortunately I don't have any water housing for my camera and was unable to take any photos for myself, but here are some I found which truly represent what the day is like.
This year it rained most places in Thailand, but that didn't stop anyone from splashing more water on each other.
Songkran is one of my favorite festivals in Thailand... although it's actually really hard to choose, they are all so fun and unique, I'll be writing more about them as they come around :) Living on the island of Koh Samui, I usually get asked by people when is the best time to come. Well that really depends on what sort of a holiday you want, and what you like, but if you really don't know then I would definitely suggest to time your trip over a traditional festival like Songkran, it will really show you more of what Thailand and Thai culture is about. Songkran shows the 'fun' side of Thai life, we love to have lots of that here :P
Side note about the great photos I have featured: My boyfriend, Nek is from Langsuan in the Chumphon province and he introduced me to this facebook page showcasing local Langsuan photographers' beautiful images of the life around his hometown. There are some really interesting photos there of Thai traditions, festivals, celebrations, attractions and food. It's all written in Thai, but I'm sure you'll like the photos!
สวัสดีหลังสวน - Sawasdee Langsuan
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