Thais celebrate Songkran festival in Thailand – Photo by Austin Sakchai
This time of year brings about spring cleaning traditions across the Northern Hemisphere. For Thailand, the Songkran festival is a time when people cleanse their homes, their spirits and each other in a three-day water fight.
Austin Sakchai, born in Bangkok, has been living in Vancouver for the past seven years as owner-director of Smile Thai Wellness. He says Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and officially runs from April 13 to April 15. According to Sakchai, there are now a few thousand Thais living in Vancouver, and they will be celebrating Songkran across the city.
“It is one of the most important festivals of the year. It’s like Christmas day in the western world,” says Sakchai.
Thirty-year-old Chananchita Chumphonwong was born in Thailand and moved to Vancouver four years ago. She explains that Songkran has many water-based traditions, and the pouring of water is symbolic of the cleansing of the spirit, mind and body.
Pouring wter symbolizes the cleansing of the spirit, mind and body. – Photo by Chananchita Chumponwong
“The water is also supposed to wash away bad luck. It is believed that doing this will bring good luck and prosperity for the New Year,” says Chumphonwong.
To the largely Buddhist population of Thailand, Songkran is also a time for temple visits and religious rituals, says Chumphonwong. Bathing the Buddha with ritual water, both at home and at the temple, is an essential ceremony. And the cleansing doesn’t stop there. Songkran is also seen as a day for spring cleaning.
“Many Thais take the opportunity to get their houses spic and span for the New Year,” says Chumphonwong.
She says many international tourists plan their travel to coincide with the festival to join in the fun of Songkran water fights. “For three solid days in the middle of the hottest month of April, the streets explode with an all out soak festival,” she explains.
Sarah McNeil, a 24-year-old interior design student from Edmonton, stumbled upon the festival while travelling through Bangkok in 2008. McNeil hadn’t planned to be in Thailand for the festival and began to wonder why there were so many water guns for sale at the local markets. As the celebration escalated through the week, she realized people were arming themselves for a giant water fight.
McNeil says she was in her element running through the busy streets with her squirt gun and backpack full of water. “It was one of the best experiences of my life. I felt like a kid again.”
A Songkran procession in Thailand. – Photo by Austin Sakchai
Sakchai says the festival was not always like this and has changed dramatically over time. “The festival gets crazier and crazier every year. In the past they used a cute little bowl to wash their parents or elders gently and nicely in a more respectful way,” he says. “But now they use big containers, water guns or even garden hoses to soak people completely.” You’re guaranteed to get wet as soon as you leave your home, Sakchai says.
While some travellers like McNeil embrace the craziness, others are not so amused, says Chumphonwong. She’s grown tired of the strangers splashing in the streets and recommends participating in the more traditional aspects of Songkran such as the processions, beauty contests, cultural games and religious rituals.
Luckily for Chumphonwong, she’ll be free to enjoy the traditional celebrations of the festival in the much cooler climate of Vancouver where the only soaking she’ll have to worry about is the possibility of rain.
Songkran will be celebrated at:
Yanviriya Buddhist Temple at 2004 East Pender Street, Vancouver
Buddapanyanuntarama Buddhist Monastery at 4796 Canada Way, Burnaby
Dhammakaya International Meditation Society of B.C at
3331 Capella Place, Richmond
