Songkran

Songkran is a national holiday in Koh Phangan, which takes place on April 13th. From the 13th to the 15th of April, the rest of Thailand normally celebrate Thai New Year. In some parts, particularly in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Songkran can last up to a week.

The Thai New Year, is a Buddhist celebration that is also the country’s most important public holiday. Songkran is a Sanskrit term that means “Astrological Passage” in English. The dates of the celebration were once determined by Brahmin priests, but they are currently determined by the government.

Songkran, which falls in the fifth month of the Thai lunar calendar, symbolises the end of the dry season. A large number of Thais visit their local temple to pray and clean their Buddha statues. Buddhist sculptures and house shrines are also cleaned. This cleansing practice is intended to bring good luck and prosperity in the next year.

The festival’s major attraction is now throwing water. For the entire day, Koh Phangan is transformed into a joyful war zone. Children with enormous water cannons run the streets or sit in the backs of their parents’ pickup vehicles, which are loaded with buckets of water and flung at anyone who gets too close.

Tourists are a particular target during the festivities, and young Thais will go to great lengths to pour ice cold water down the back of your shirt if they spot you going by. The market area of Thong Sala is the place to go for all-out street brawls, with hundreds of Thais and foreigners fighting the heat and each other with water guns and buckets.

Do you intend to travel to Koh Phangan during Songkran? Have you ever been to Thailand during Songkran? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!