Festive Season of Traditional Thai New Year

Thai people across the country are celebrating the Songkran Festival, the traditional Thai New Year, which is sometimes referred to as the “Water Festival” among foreigners.

The festival is a time when Thais splash water over friends and other people to give them a New Year blessing. It is also a great time to experience distinctive cultural activities.

Songkran is an occasion for family reunions, as well, when all the family members living far from their hometowns visit their families. It is sometimes compared to the Indian Holy Festival, the Chinese Ching Ming, and the Christian festival of Easter. So it is the time of love and care within the family.

The Songkran holiday 2013 is set from 12 to 16 April, with the highlight of the celebration between 13 and 15 April. During the festival, people perform a religious ceremony in memory of their ancestors. Many of them go to the temple and heap up sand into mounds in temple compounds. Bringing sand to a temple is considered a great merit and is popularly practiced in northern Thailand.