Chiang Mai Songkran Festival (Water splashing)
While the water splashing will flourish, the traditional values of Songkran are the focus of the 2008 celebrations.
Songkran is without doubt the most popular of all Thai festivals and rightly so. It marks the beginning of a new astrological year and its exact dates are determined by the old lunar calendar of Siam. This year the three-day festival falls on 13 to 15 April.
Traditionally, April 13 is known as “Maha Songkran Day” and marks the end of the old year, April 14 is “Wan Nao”, while April 15 is “Wan Thaloeng Sok” when the New Year begins.
While the festival has its roots in Buddhist heritage, the washing of Buddha images, merit making, traditional family values and the sprinkling of water in respect for elders, it is best known for the fun and “sanuk” everyone gains from splashing copious quantities of water on all who happen to pass by.
There are 26 provinces that make up Central and Eastern Thailand, and Bangkok is one of them. Geographically, this is Thailand’s heartland, extending from Lop Buri in the north and covering the rice bowl of the Central Plains around the Chao Phraya River. Further south, the area embraces the east and west coasts of the upper Gulf of Thailand.
The North is the birthplace of the earliest Thai civilisation and has many sites of archaeological and cultural interest. Northern people are famous for their courtesy and hospitality, and the region is also noted for its variety of cultural traditions. Many tourists from the surrounding provinces converge on Chiang Mai for the annual Songkran Festival, and to Sukhothai for Loi Krathong.
The Northeast of Thailand, a vast plateau covering nearly one third of the country, is usually known as Isan. It extends northwards to the Mekong River which divides Thailand from Laos, and to the south and it ends at the Dong Rek mountain range along the border with Cambodia.
This region extends southward along a narrow peninsula lying between the Andaman Sea its west side and the South China Sea on the east. It is a rich land in terms of the abundance of its natural resources, the fertility of its soil, the diversity of its people and its commercial viability.