It’s that time of the year again where we celebrate the Thai New Year through a 3-day long festival known as Songkran.

A time of happiness, joy, togetherness, and spiritual observances, Songkran is a huge part of Thai tradition and culture.

Tourists and expats can even (and are often encouraged) to join in the festivities of Songkran. 

Here are some of the ways you can celebrate Songkran this year. 

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Spend time with family

Most young Thai people move away from their families in small towns to go work in big cities. During Songkran, many like to go back and spend time with family and relatives.

As there are 3-5 days of holiday, take the time to go back and visit your families. Or invite them to Thailand to experience Songkran with you.

If you live in Bangkok, you could even take a trip to other parts of the country where there are mountains and beaches.

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Make Merit

You might know of Songkran as the time to have water fights on the street but actually there are a lot of conservative traditions involved as well. 

This includes giving food and offerings to monks as well as making prayers for good fortune.

The symbolism of water and washing of homes, items and body is to wash away misfortunes and to welcome the new year, clean and fresh.

You can do the same if that is something that you believe in. 

Even if you are not religious, it might be a good time to reflect on your life. You can even visit a temple during songkran to simply observe their culture and rituals.

Before reading on, you might also want to check out 10 interesting facts about Songkran.

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Party at Music Festivals

Now we mentioned that Songkran is a time when Thais and foreigners love to splash water on each other. Well, there are no bigger water splashes than the big water cannons at music festivals.

This year, while there are dozens of small to medium water festivals across the country, these are the four biggest ones happening. 

Rolling Loud Thailand (13-15 Apr) - biggest hip hop festival in the world is coming to Thailand during Songkran featuring the biggest names such as Travis Scott, Cardi B and Chris Brown as headliners. There will be water splashed there. 

Water Bomb (13-14 Apr) - water music festival featuring Korean and Thai artists.

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Siam Songkran (12-16 Apr) - massive 4 day festival with water cannons and a huge lineup of EDM DJs.

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S20 (13-15 Apr) - biggest and longest-running water EDM festival in Thailand.

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Pool Parties

This Songkran, many of Bangkok's (and tourist destinations) are going to host pool parties to beat the heat. Some of the pool parties in Bangkok include:

TW#RK IT x SWAY SONGKRAN Pool Party at HYATT REGENCY BANGKOK SUKHUMVIT - 03 pm, Sat 15th Apr 2023

Sindhorn Midtown’s Pool Party - 13, 14, and 15 April 2023 from 2 pm – 9 pm at Horizon Pool

Songkran Splash Away at W Bangkok - 02 pm, Fri 14th Apr 2023

Street Water Fights

If music festivals aren’t your thing, then you can also party at any of the touristic and major streets of Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket. Places like Khao San, Sukhumvit, RCA, and Silom are ground zero for the best Songkran parties all the while getting constantly splashed with water.

To experience a local water fight, get away from the main strips and go in any direction in any of the smaller alleys, you are bound to come across someone wanting to throw water all over you. There is just no avoiding it.

Where will you be this Songkran? Wherever you are, have fun but be safe.

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