The Story of Songkran - All about the Thai New Year

The Story of Songkran - All about the Thai New Year

Songkran, or the Thai New Year, is the the largest and most famous of Thailand’s many traditional festivals. Known for huge water fights and water blessing ceremonies, it’s been celebrated for centuries and is rich in culture and tradition. Every year, the celebrations begin on April 13 and normally last three days until the 15th of April.

The name was inherited from ancient Sanskrit, a language that dates back thousands of years. Songkran combines the words “Song” and “Krant” and refers to the sun beginning a new Zodiac sign. Songkran translates to “entering” and “stepping into.” It’s when the sun exits the sign of Pisces and enters the sign of Aries. “Songkran month” is the event that occurs every month. But according to astrology, when the sun reaches Aries again after 12 months have passed, it’s known as “Songkran year” and will be the solar New Year’s Day.

The festival is highly dependent on water, which symbolically washes away the previous year, allowing people to prepare for the new year. It’s also a time of family reunion, when relatives who have moved away return for the holiday to spend time with their loved ones. During the festival, various traditions are celebrated; but the one tradition it’s most famous for is water splashing. Thai locals and travellers alike drench each other with water using hoses, squirt guns and any other water carrying container.

Locals believe that water is purifying and cleansing: it washes away negativity and problems, and brings good fortune and happiness. According to tradition, the festival began with villagers collecting water that had been poured over Buddha statues for purification. This was then used to bless leaders and family members who were well respected by sprinkling it over their shoulders. A similar tradition continues today with the water blessing ceremony, in which people fill shells with purified water and pour it on the hands of their elders as a sign of blessing and respect.

Songkran is a festival in which family members gather to express gratitude, love and respect, as well as to make merit and pay respects to their ancestors. Giving food to monks is a way of gaining merit. Visiting temples and listening to Buddhist speeches are also both considered a blessing during Songkran. Thais go to temples to pray and bring food to the monks. Locals splash scented water on Buddha statues when visiting different places. Many people also like spreading positive vibes by releasing caged birds into the sky or fish into bodies of water. This occurs throughout the country.

The northern city of Chiang Mai hosts the largest Songkran celebrations, with some events reportedly lasting six days. The infamous Khao San Road is the obvious centre of activities during Bangkok’s modern Songkran festival. The atmosphere in the backpacker zone is electrifying.

In a normal, non-pandemic year, it’s hard to leave your accommodation, whether a hotel or a condo, without experiencing the water soaking chaos and any resistance will quickly fade. On the streets, you’ll find multiple generations getting in on the fun, including children, adults, the elderly and trucks full of teenagers blasting loud music.

Songkran is a national holiday in Thailand. It’s a time for locals who have relocated to other cities or towns to return home and spend time with their families. So if you’re travelling to Thailand during this time, it’s smart to plan ahead because public transportation tends to be packed and accommodations fully booked — at higher than normal prices.

Source - The Thaiger

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Songkran 2022: Bangkok allows “traditional water sprinkling”

Songkran 2022: Bangkok allows “traditional water sprinkling”
No foam parties or powder smearing will be allowed in Bangkok during Songkran next month, but when it comes to water splashing on the Thai New Year, known for massive water gun fights, the rules are a bit vague. “Traditional water sprinkling” is allowed, but officials did not go into detail about what exactly that means.

The Bangkok Communicable Disease Committee decided to allow “water sprinkling” in specific areas that have sought permission, and organisers must abide by “Covid Free Setting” measures set by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Participants must stay at a Covid-safe distance of four metres and wear face masks. No alcohol is allowed.

The committee met yesterday to discuss petitions from local businesses to allow Songkran parties to beheld in popular tourist areas like Khao San Road. At the meeting, the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority decided to permit “traditional water sprinkling” activities within a “Covid Free Setting.” Water splashing in public areas and roads is prohibited.

If a Songkran event is expected to exceed a thousand people, the event organiser must obtain permission from the BMA’s Health Department, while local district authorities will grant permission for events with less than a thousand participants.

So far, the administration has received no more than eight requests from private firms and temples seeking permission to hold Songkran activities on their private grounds. Meanwhile, 46 out of Bangkok’s 50 district offices had declared they wouldn’t hold Songkran celebrations, and the other four district offices have not yet announced their decision, the Bangkok Post reported.

Earlier, the CCSA had agreed that water splashing and traditional water pouring as a blessing would be allowed at organised events — as long as there is no alcohol and events are under “Covid Free Setting” measures. Water splashing is not allowed on public areas, like roads. The government is focusing on allowing water splashing and pouring as a blessing at traditional Songkran events rather than the massive water fights the Thai holiday is internationally known for.

On Thursday, business owners in Bangkok’s popular walking street, Khao San Road, teamed up with tourism professionals from Pattaya, Phuket and Chiang Mai to draft and submit a joint petition urging the CCSA to repent of its party foul, fearing a loss of income.

The group has proposed a list of measures for screening and limiting Songkran party participants, according to the president of the association of business operators on Khao San Road, Sa-nga Ruangwatthanakul.

“We will put in place measures to handle party-goers on the 400-metre stretch of Khao San Road. We want to explain to the government that the country is trying to welcome tourists back, particularly in the summer when the Songkran festival will be held.”

“But the famous water splashing is banned. With such a ban, how can we attract them to the country? We ask the government to allow the activity on April 12 to 15 to promote the festival.”

Bangkok’s communicable disease committee met on Monday to consider their request and announced their decision on yesterday. Clerk Khachit Chatchawanit said the committee would “consider what is best for Bangkok residents.”

According to the law, provincial communicable disease authorities may ask the CCSA’s operations centre to remove the unpopular Songkran restrictions, which will then pass them on to the CCSA, according to the director-general of the Department of Disease Control, Opas Karnkawinpong.

The current Songkran precautions outlined by the Public Health Ministry say that festivities can still be held, albeit without the classic chaos of water fights and powder smearing in public, as well as no alcohol sales, according to a spokesperson for the CCSA, Apisamai Srirangson.

“Songkran events can still be held as long as the right precautions are taken, and people can travel to other provinces to visit their relatives and take part in traditional activities there.”

The CCSA’s current restrictions also encourage festival observers to practice traditional activities without water, such as bowing to elders at a distance of at least a metre, instead of pouring water on their hands as a sign of respect and blessing.

The restrictions, though well-meaning, fail to take into account the elderly’s desire to be blessed and honoured by their younger relatives, while also reflecting logical fallacies about the spread of Covid-19 among family members.

Notably, the water blessing ceremony usually takes place outside, where there is plenty of wind and UV light. Also, the ceremony only lasts for a moment, and everyone involved can wear masks, as is already normal practice in Thai society.

Source: Bangkok Post / The Thaiger

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Province in Western Thailand works to revive tourism in new scheme

 

Province in Western #Thailand works to revive tourism in new scheme

The governor of one Western Thai province whose tourism income plummeted this year announced yesterday the need for a “comprehensive strategy” to revive tourism. The province of Prachuap Khiri Khan made 1.85 billion baht in tourism in 2020, but that dropped to 36 million baht in 2021.
“We expect travel activities to pick up once Covid-19 is classified as an endemic disease”.

The governor says the new tourism strategy will mainly promote one-night and two-night stays in three target areas. The areas are Hua Hin-Pran Buri, Sam Roi Yot-Kui Buri-Muang, and Thap Sakae-Bang Saphan-Bang Saphan Noi. The governor says the campaign will try to appeal to a wide range of travel groups, including families, young people, and the elderly. He said the main target districts will submit their reopening plans to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration later this week, hopefully on time for Songkran.

Prachuap Khiri Khan is a coastal province, like many Thai provinces that have been gutted hard by Covid-19’s destruction of the tourism industry. Another province notably similar is Phuket. The number of tourists plummeted from 14,800 a day on average in 2019 to 500 a day on average in 2021. At one point, the average monthly income in Phuket fell to 1,961 baht per month.

Like Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phuket is also slowly making a comeback in tourism. Last week, the Tourism Authority of Thailand Phuket announced the province is ready to welcome back sea tourists, after the Test & Go scheme extended to them.

Source - The Thaiger

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Songkran in Thailand to go ahead next month - with some water splashing

Songkran festivities are set to go ahead next month, providing activities comply with measures put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand told Daily News that Songkran events will definitely be held in Thailand this year and that TAT plans to organize events to celebrate the Thai New Year.

The TAT chief said Songkran would take place between 10-15 April 2021.
Meanwhile, Sanook reported that the traditional water splashing activities will go ahead on Khaosan Road.  

Citing Culture Minister Itthiphol Kunplome, the event can go ahead providing strict disease control measures are in place.  

The government hopes the Songkran festival will boost domestic tourism and stimulate the beleaguered economy.

This is a developing news story.

Source - ThaiVisa

Govt offers July 27 as first compensation for Songkran

This year’s Songkran holidays will be tied in with the king’s birthday, government spokesperson Narumon Pinyosinwat announced on Monday (June 29).

The holidays will run from July 25 to July 28 (the King’s birthday), with Monday, July 27 marked as the first compensatory holiday for Songkran, which had been cancelled earlier this year due to the pandemic.

Decision on compensation for the other two days of the three-day festival is still pending.

The Cabinet has been postponing making a decision on new dates for Songkran holidays in line with measures to curb the spread of Covid-19. 

Source - Pattaya One News

#Thailand may hold a July Songkran event if Covid-19 situation remains stable

Thai citizens are being dangled a carrot – the chance to celebrate Songkran in July. Usually the annual water festival, traditionally the end of the dry season and the start of the wet season, is held on April 13. The event has become a big tourist magnet over the past decade as it’s morphed from traditional Buddhist festival into organised water fights in the streets of Bangkok and tourist towns.

This year it was cancelled as the country was busy being not busy; locked down in their homes instead of outside splashing water everywhere. But the government says they may still hold a Songkran festival in July instead IF the third phase of the easing of lockdown restrictions goes smoothly this month.

'Phase 3’ started rolling out yesterday and opens up just about everything excepting bars and pubs, and some other entertainment venues. 16 business types and leisure activities resumed yesterday. The curfew has also been reduced to 11pm to 3am daily.

Phuket seems to be trailing behind the rest of the country with a ban on its beaches and airport still in place.

CCSA spokesman Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin says the Government might declare special public holidays in July to celebrate Songkran. The festival, apart from all the water splashing, is the biggest family get-together of the year when people head back ‘up country’ for large family celebrations. The festival is also the most dangerous time on Thailand’s roads each year.

Dr. Taweesin says the CCSA will assess the results of phase three relaxations this month, adding that…”if the Covid-19 situation improves satisfactorily and people strictly observe the basic guidelines of social distancing, regular hand washing and face mask wearing, it might ask the Government to declare special public holidays in July”.

We’re not sure what “improves satisfactorily” means given that there have no recorded local transmutations of Covid-19 for over a week. All the latest cases are from Thais repatriating on specially organised charter flights from overseas whereby all arrivals must spend 14 days in supervised quarantine.

There is still a state of emergency in effect until at least the end of the June which provides Thai PM Prayut and his appointed committee in the CCSA sweeping powers to address the Covid-19 situation in Thailand without consulting parliament.

Source - The Thaiger

Thailand bans sexy dance moves, sexy clothes during Songkran holiday

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This Songkran, you may have to take it easy on the dance floor and opt for a turtleneck instead of a skimpy, smelly beer-logo tank top, because police will be out looking to arrest those with sexy dance moves and revealing clothing. 

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Songkran, aka the water festival, is becoming too sexy for the Thai police to handle. No more sexy girls dancing in the back of pickup trucks. No more sexy shirtless dudes in Silom. They will all be arrested. 

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The punishment for people who dance suggestively or wear suggestive clothing is a THB5,000 fine, about US$145. The news has been published all over local media. One of the reasons behind this campaign is simply to protect sexy people from crimes. Deputy Commissioner Pol. Maj. Gen. Sompong Chingduang even warned ladies not to “wear revealing clothes” or “be tempting because it will lead to sex crimes,” Daily News reported.

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So the logic here is, if there were no sexy girls, there would be no sexual assaults. Got it, sir.

It is not reported how police will define sexy dance moves. 

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Return to Thai tradition, saving water the themes for this Songkran

The Kingdom kicked off the three-day Songkran festival yesterday in a more traditional and frugal manner, as saving water appeared to be the main goal of authorities and event organizers.

Revellers during Songkran, billed as the world's biggest water fight, were urged to help conserve water since Thailand is experiencing its worst drought in decades.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Metropolitan Police have banned the sale of high-pressure water guns as they consume more water and pose a safety threat to targeted passers-by. Sellers of such guns risk a maximum prison sentence of six months and fines of up to Bt50,000.

However, many celebrants, most of them foreigners, were still seen carrying such guns in places like Khao San Road and Silom.

People have been urged to use small water guns or even spray bottles to conserve water. In some areas, revellers were given punctured plastic bottles that they can use to squeeze water at others.

Authorities have also geared up to scrub the celebration clean of alcohol, topless dancers and other such "indecencies", by threatening to arrest scantily-clad women and banning the sale of alcohol at raucous street parties in a bid to bring the festival back to its traditional roots.

In response to the government's policy to save water and conserve Thai tradition and culture this Songkran, the Culture Ministry and its allies have organised Songkran celebrations at temples and is inviting people to make merit. Thailand's first cross-country prayer for Songkran will be held at different temples, Culture Minister Weera Rojpojanarat said yesterday. 

He made these comments after presiding over the launch of "Songkran in Temples: Attending Thai-style New Year Prayers and Saving Water" activity at Wat Arun and another event highlighting the worship of nine sacred Buddha images at Wat Pathumwanaram. Weera said the prayer campaign, to run until April 17, has received cooperation from monastic sites and communities nationwide.

In Bangkok, six key temples joined the programme by holding Songkran activities and traditional shows. The temples involved were Wat Benchamabophit, Wat Phra Chettuphon or Wat Pho, Wat Rachathiwat, Wat Pathumwanaram, Wat Prayurawongsawas and Wat Arun.

The Khunnadhamma community at Wat Hongrattanaram also made arrangements for alms offering, water blessing of Buddha images and the making of pagodas from sand, he said, adding that people could call (02) 422 8812 for more information.

Traditional flair was also brought to Mahasarakham Hospital in the Northeast, with doctors and nurses at the emergency unit dressing in traditional attire. They said such clothing did not get in their way, while many visitors welcomed this gesture and asked to take photographs with them.

Many Thais as well as people in neighbouring countries joined merit-making events to usher in the New Year. In Bung Kan's Muang district, provincial governor Pongsak Preechawit led local residents and Laotian people to offer alms to 80 monks yesterday morning. Water-splashing celebrations also were joined by Thais and their neighbours alike, with nearly 10,000 Myanmar citizens from Koh Song crossing the border in Ranong yesterday to join the fun, make merit at local temples and to visit local attractions.

In the Northeast, owner of Buri Ram United football club Newin Chidchob set up a large tent with a sign reading "Morgue" in a move to control chaos-creating drunken youth at the grand Songkran party being held at the i-Mobile Stadium in Buri Ram. 

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