Songkran, Thailand’s New Year April 13–15

Story by Vivienne Mackie

Photographs by Vivienne Mackie & from Thai-American Insight

A time for prayers, fireworks, dancing, and lots of water.

Many thanks to Paul Bunsongsikul of Thai-American Insight, a student organization at the University of Illinois, USA, for sharing some of his memories of Songkran. And to my friend, Caroline W, who lived for many years in Thailand.

The old Thai New Year comes in April and is celebrated as the Songkran Festival, April 13–15. Songkran is hugely popular all over Thailand but reaches its peak in places around Bangkok. Like all Thai festivals, it is a ritual mingling reverence for Buddha with general merry-making, as everyone can participate. “The Thais love having a good time,” remembers Caroline.

On the eve of Songkran, April 12, housewives spring clean their houses and burn all trash and worn out clothing because they believe anything bad belonging to the old year will be unlucky if it is left to be carried over into the new year. More recently, the Thai government also declared this a public health day, so people work together to clean up their communities.

Early on the first morning of Songkran, children and adults dress in their best clothes—new ones if possible—to visit the local wat (temple) to pray to Lord Buddha and offer New Year gifts to the Buddhist monks who live there in the monastery. A long table is set up in the compound of the wat with the alms bowls of the monks in a row down each side. People put boiled rice into the bowls and other foods, fruits, and candies into the covers of the bowls. Musicians entertain the monks while they eat this feast.

That afternoon, one of the most important parts of the holiday takes place. With great reverence, images and statues of Buddha are all carefully washed with holy water, as a kind of purification. Later in the day, children and young people pay their respects to their parents, to the monks, and all older people, and ask for their blessing for the coming year. This is the Respecting-Elders Ceremony. The custom is for the young people to pour perfumed water into the palms of the older people, who are usually elevated in some way, and then present them with towels for drying. The children bow their heads and put their hands together in a wai and the elders will bless them with “good luck for the future.”

Another duty during Songkran is to hold a religious service, called Bangsuken, in memory of those who have died. Monks preside over this service at the chedis (pagodas near the wat) where the ashes of the ancestors are entombed.

Paul remembers another tradition, a kind of lottery. “Many notes with fortunes written on them are put on strings in trees. The monks have special sticks with hooks, and they use the sticks to pull down a fortune message for you.”

Peddlers sell caged birds at temples and on the streets. Pay your money, open the basket, and the birds fly away free. This custom is a way of gaining merit, as is setting fish free from their bowls to swim in the river or canal. This also symbolizes a wish for the fish to multiply in the rice paddies in the monsoon season. In some districts, young girls in colorful costumes form a procession to the river to do this.

Because the Thai New Year falls at the beginning of the hot dry season, water plays an important part in the celebration and people are happy to cool off. This custom may have its roots in an old Thai story about serpents called nagas. The serpents brought rain by spouting water from the sea. The more they spouted, the more rain fell on the land, and so good crops would be assured. You won’t see any nagas today, but young people take their place. They take great pleasure in throwing water at each other, and everyone is likely to get soaking wet. Many kids come prepared with huge water guns. Everyone laughs and shrieks during the water fights. Even a stranger will get splashed, as Caroline and her husband discovered on the city streets, and the monks are not even safe from the water throwing. Everyone takes the soaking in good spirit and just thinks it’s fun.

Young people also enjoy dancing, singing, and playing games and women are happy to have a break from their regular domestic chores. Everyone can enjoy boat races, parades, and concerts, and a huge fireworks display over the temples in many cities, especially Bangkok. In Chiang Mai, in the north, there’s a spectacular parade, with dancers, floats, and bands. A Songkran Queen leads the celebrations through the city streets, as spectators throw water at everyone.

This is such a popular festival that Thai people outside of Thailand try to stage a celebration at that time too. At many university towns around the world, the Thai students will host a Songkran Festival. We attended one in Brisbane, Australia, a very lavish, colorful affair with some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. As any Thai will tell you, “Thai food is a big part of the culture.” At the University of Illinois festival last year, there was also heaps of wonderful food, a fortune tree, and a lottery with gifts of traditional Thai handicrafts. The students wore special Thai costumes for a traditional Thai dancing show, which also had a modern component: lip-sync dancing with glow sticks.

The neighboring Buddhist country of Myanmur has a similar water festival at this time of year to welcome the new year. The people also play practical jokes and tricks, so it’s a light-hearted celebration.

Check out www.uiuc.edu/ro/thai-am or www.tourismthailand.org.