Songkran Festival, April 12-15, is the traditional Thai New Year. This is the time for Thais to pay homage to Buddha images, clean their houses, and sprinkle water on their elders in a show of respect. Anyone who ventures out on the streets is likely to get a thorough dousing of water, all in good fun, but also quite welcome at the peak of the hot season.

The festivities at school started with a small sketch to show the students the real meaning behind Songkran. In the picture to the left, a "daughter" is sprinkling water over the hands of her "parents" in order to show respect.

Afterwards, the students lined up to pay respects to the Buddha image and then to the teachers by pouring rose scented water over their hands.

Even the teachers took part in the ceremony. During Songkran, all of the offices and schools were closed and people celebrated for almost a week in some places. Many of our students went out on the back of pick-up trucks armed with buckets of water and water guns. Others stationed themselves on strategic intersections in order to douse motorcyclists or any motorist with their windows wound down. No-one complained about getting wet as April is very hot.

View some more pictures we took of our Songkran Festival for our Thai Culture at School web site. We have also taken many pictures of the water fights in Bangkok and also in Paknam which is our local province. If you want more information about the origins of Songkran and the different ceremonies then visit our Thailand Life site. These links will open in a new window.