Songkran Festival or the Thai New Year

April 12 is Wan Sungkharn Lohng. This is a day for house cleaning and general preparation for the New Year. In the evening it is traditional for Thais to dress up as a signal of the coming new year.

In Chiang Mai, the Songkran procession is held on this day. This is a parade through Chiang Mai comprised of Buddha images and attendants on floats, which are accompanied by minstrels and the town's people. Here is the streaming video of the Songkran Parade and waterfights. Today we load up the pickup truck with 50-gallon drums filled with water. After the parade we go to the ice house for a large block of ice to put in the water barrel. We then travel around the city joining others in the largest water fight on the planet.

Click on the thumbnail (left) to see the video of the Songkran Parade and water fights in Chiang Mai Thailand.

April 13 is Wan Nao. On this day people prepare cooked meals and preserved food for the Buddhist merit-making that takes place on the following day. Activities at Wat Prasingh templecontinue on this day and in the evening local residents go to the banks of the Mae Ping River and gather sand to be deposited in piles topped by flowers in the temples. This practice is the ancient "raising the temple grounds" ritual, which was necessary in the old days because then Thai New Year was held at the end of the rainy season in the first month of the old Thai Lunar Calendar.

Click on the thumbnail (left) to see the largest water fight on the planet. I took this video in Chiang Mai Thailand on the pedestrian bridge. From here you can see a mile of packed pick up trucks and people throwing water. This festival is every year April 13- 15. You have to see this.

April 14 is Wan Payawan. On this day a grand new year begins with early morning merit-making at the temples. Preserved and cooked foods, fresh fruit, monks' robes and other offerings are made at the temples. In the home, people do the final cleaning of Buddha images using scented water. Traditionally this is the day that the pouring of water begins. It was once the practice to pour gently, but the fun-loving Thais have transposed this into a relative water free-for-all.

Click on the thumbnail (left) and watch us at Chiang Mai Gate in Chiang Mai Thailand during the Songkran festival or Thai new year. Live music, water fights, bar-b-que and beer, loads of fun. Also see the lady boys during the parade, very funny.

April 15 is Wan Parg-bpee. On this day homage is paid to ancestors, elders and other persons deserving respect because of age of position. This is called 'Rohd Nam Songkran', meaning 'The Pouring of Songkran Water', and the water is sprinkled on the elder persons while uttering wishes of good luck and a happy future.

In Chiang Mai, this is the final day of the celebration and the day on which people have built up to a crescendo of water throwing. It is the day when all family and religious obligations have been completed and the people are totally dedicated to having fun.