Songkran or as it is now known
as the Thai New Year started
in Lanna around 700 hundred
years ago. Then the Lanna
Kingdom comprised of North and
Northeast Thailand, parts of
Laos, Burma and southern
Yunnan Province China.
Songkran today is still
celebrated in these areas
except Burma where it has been
banned by the militarymore

Songkran or as it is now known
as the Thai New Year started
in Lanna around 700 hundred
years ago. Then the Lanna
Kingdom comprised of North and
Northeast Thailand, parts of
Laos, Burma and southern
Yunnan Province China.
Songkran today is still
celebrated in these areas
except Burma where it has been
banned by the military
government there.Songkran was
not celebrated in the rest of
Thailand until around the
1950?s. In Bangkok then most
of the workers, as today, came
from the north or northeast
part of Thailand. When
Songkran came around, April 13
? 15, most of the workers just
left work and went to their
villages for the New Year. For
this reason the government and
most businesses had to shut
down for Songkran. For this
reason this is now an official
holiday in Thailand.The
meaning of water during
Songkran is very important.
Pouring water on each other
and Buddha statues is to wash
away the past and a cleansing
for the future year. This
started as just pouring water
on the hands or on the
shoulder of others with a
small cup of water. This has
now grown into the largest
water fight on the planet.Here
is a short streaming video of
the festival over a two day
period. The first day, April
13, is the Songkran parade,
which takes place on
Muangchareon and Thapae roads
at 2 PM and lasts around 3
hours. We then hit the streets
to join the water fight mostly
concentrated along the moat in
the city center.

Category Travel & Places

Tags Chiangmai, Thailand, Songkran, Thai, New, Year, parade, festival, waterfight