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