Maximising Songkran for Thailand’s small accommodation providers

Songkran is set to be a busy period for local businesses, as the water festival returns in full for the first time since 2019. Here is some up-to-the-minute information about booking activity among Thailand’s properties: Businesses are receiving plenty of bookings — 8% more than at this point in 2019. About 75% of reservations are from international guests (compared to about 50% last Songkran).

This is less than in the first months of 2023, highlighting that domestic bookings are increasing for Songkran, however the majority of current reservations are from abroad. Bookings continue to come last-minute. Despite the gap between booking and check-in increasing all the time, in the last two weeks 12% of bookings made were for March, and 46% of bookings were for April.

Room rates are higher on average than at the time of 2019’s festival. For small properties, rates are…