Songkran is the celebration of the traditional New Year in Thailand, a Buddhist holiday, and one could argue the world’ biggest water gun fight. Most travelers to Thailand that want to experience water festival come for the latter. For three days, up to a week in some areas, people take to the street with buckets of water, super soaker water guns, hoses, and anything else that will help them delight in dousing people with water.

It is a huge celebration and national holiday in Thailand and great fun. There is a party like atmosphere throughout the cities and many festivals and events taking place throughout the celebration.

The Songkran festival used to change dates based on the solar calendar. In recent years the date has been codified and the public holiday is always April 13 – 15 every year. Songkran day is April 13th. This is the day where Thai and Buddhist traditions are observed.

The Thai Water Festival, as Songkran is also known, can last longer than 3 days in areas like Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Pattaya. Some people even get started soaking people a little early, so be on the look out a day or two before the holiday officially begins.

The Songkran festival started out as the traditional Thai New Year’s celebration. It was based on the solar calendar and the date often fluctuated. In 1940, Thailand adopted January 1 as it’s official start to the New Year but the Songkran holiday continues to be celebrated as part of the cultural and Buddhist tradition of the country.

While most people are familiar sights of the water fights raging on the city streets and the festivities and revelries associated with today’s festival, the origins are from more stoic Buddhist traditions that date back hundreds of years and still practiced today.

It is a time of cleaning, washing away the bad luck, misdeeds, and misfortunes from the previous year and starting anew. The Thai’s pour scented water over the statues of Buddha and the shoulders of each other and on the hands of their elders in a symbolic gesture of this belief.

This tradition still continues is the homes and temples around Thailand. It’s only afterward that people take to the streets and start soaking each other with water and celebrating for days on end.

While any attire you don’t mind getting wet is appropriate, many people dress up for Songkran. The ‘Songkran Shirt’ is a colorful flower print reminiscent of Hawaiian shirts, and many people will be wearing them. Some take it to another level and get dressed up in costumes and masks.

You can expect to be splashed with water as soon as you start walking down the street. Another Songkran tradition is to wipe a white chalk mixture on people’s faces. It’s a symbolic nod to the chalk used by Buddhist monks for blessing. Don’t be surprised if someone comes up and smears some white goop on your face, though it is impolite for someone to do so without asking first.

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