Songkran – Celebrate the New Year with a Splash!

songkran

By JJ Harrison ([email protected]) (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

One of the best and most popular tourist destinations of Southeast Asia is the city of Bangkok. Serving as the capital city of Thailand, Bangkok is one of the most vibrant and diverse cities in the world, and is home to a wide range of attractions and highlights. Thus, Bangkok promises to offer its visitors an exciting, exotic and truly memorable experience. There are many ways to explore the many amazing features of this city, but one of the most unique ways is by embarking on a Bangkok cruise tour with Anantara Cruises.

Each country has its own unique way of celebrating the dawn of the New Year, and the way it is celebrated in Bangkok and in most parts of Thailand is truly unique. Songkran is the name given to the New Year celebrations that take place in Bangkok. The festivities and celebrations are so popular that regardless of locals traveling back to their home-towns, Bangkok still remains crowded due to the mass number of tourists and visit Bangkok to partake in the celebrations!

Songkran is formally celebrated from the 13th to the 15th of April each year, but in reality the celebrations go on for a few days after the 15th of April as well. Much like many South and Southeast Asian countries, Thailand celebrates its traditional New Year on the 13th to the 15th of April. These celebrations are vibrant and colorful affairs and full of fun. The main highlight of the celebrations is the major water-fights that take place. That’s right; the New Year is celebrated in Bangkok with all-out water fights by both locals and tourists. In locations such as Shilom and Khao San Road it is common to see people frolicking by throwing water at each other, which is supposed to be symbolic of washing the evils of the previous year away. Other celebrations include religious rituals at temples, family meals, beauty pageants, street parades, and exchanging of gifts, making the entire Songkran experience truly amazing.

Pushpitha Wijesinghe is an experienced independent freelance writer. He specializes in providing a wide variety of content and articles related to the travel hospitality industry.Google+