[Photo from bangkoktourist.com]

The Songkran festival is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 15 April. It coincides with the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia.

The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed.[1] If these days fall on a weekend, the missed days off are taken on the weekdays immediately following. If they fall in the middle of the week, many Thai take off from the previous Friday until the following Monday. Songkran falls in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season. Until 1888 the Thai New Year was the beginning of the year in Thailand; thereafter 1 April was used until 1940. 1 January is now the beginning of the year. The traditional Thai New Year has been a national holiday since then.

Songkran originally was celebrated only in the north of Thailand, and was probably brought there by the Burmese, who adapted it from the Indian Holi festival. It spread across Thailand in the mid 20th century and is now observed even in the far south. However, the most famous Songkran celebrations are still in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where it continues for six days and even longer. It has also become a party for foreigners and an additional reason for many to visit Thailand for immersion in another culture.

The Activities On Songkran Festival

In the morning, people go to the temple to make merits by offering food to monks and novices, observing the precepts, Five or Eight precepts and listening to the Dhamma talk. In the afternoon, they perform the bathing ceremony of the Buddha images and monks and novices who live in a temple. During this time, the younger people ask blessings from the elders. This is known as Water Splashing Feast. It might be said that the Songkran festival is the Respected festival to the elders or the Family Day.

Songkran on Khao San Road

Although Chiang Mai is likely Thailand's most popular destination for Songkran (probably because of its 'no holds barred' mentality towards the festival), a close runner up, and certainly a favourite amongst foreigners, is Bangkok's Khao San Road. Traditionally the capital's backpacker and budget tourist area, Khao San Road has gone a bit up market over recent years and to some extent taken Songkran with it.

Not so long ago Songkran on Khao San Road was typified by massive crowds drenching each other, smearing talcum powder into each others' faces and dancing round to the sounds of massive sound systems. Good fun - but a bit on the extreme side. The "Social Order" policies of the last Taksin government made it to Khao San and there was a bid to calm things down a bit. You could witness curious sights of female officials marching up and down the street advising bemused foreign women on what to wear in the run up to the Songkran festivities. During the festival itself, the ends of the street were blocked off to control access and revelers were given plastic replicas of traditional silver bowls in a bid towards getting people 'sprinkling' each other again as per the original tradition. Vans with loud speakers were also seen to patrol the area spreading a message of the advantages of the traditional Songkran festival.

Of course, the efforts of the authorities did not fully reform Khao San Road's Songkran; instead the traditional Thai quality of compromise kicked in! Songkran on Khao San Road is now a more ordered and less frenzied affair. Talcum powder is no longer allowed on the street (although you do see it on surrounding streets), the venue is well policed and it's a much friendlier, calmer (and safer) affair. As a result, there's now no better place to experience Songkran than on Khao San.