The traditional Thai New Year of Songkran, the biggest and most important of Thailand’s annual festivals, has been celebrated for centuries and is full of tradition and culture.
The word Songkran is derived from ancient Sanskrit, a language dating back thousands of years, and means to ‘step into’, ‘enter’ or ‘pass into’. It describes the monthly movement or ‘astrological passage’ within the zodiac from one sphere to the next; in April the sun leaves the sphere of Aries and enters that of Taurus, a period known as Maha Songkran or the Great Songkran. This signifies the start of the Thai New Year.
The festival is said to have its origins in a Hindu spring festival that marked the arrival of the new harvest season in ancient India. While other Southeast Asian countries celebrate a similar traditional new year holiday, Thailand’s Songkran is the most well-known around…
