Songkran: Thai New Year

Songkran at Khao San Road in Bangkok, April 2011

Which city do you think holds the record for the craziest party? New York City for New Years? Las Vegas during, well, anytime of year? New Orleans during Mardi Gras? Let’s take a trip miles away for what I think is the world’s craziest party….Songkran in Thailand!

Songkran, or the Thai New Year, takes place during the hottest time of year in Thailand and is the perfect time for a country-wide waterfight!

Although it is also a party, the Thai people also use this time to pay respects to Buddha, as well as elders, clean their homes and even cleanse themselves spiritually for the new year. Women, children, grandparents, and maybe even some monks bring their best waterguns and crowd the streets of Thailand. The Thai people aren’t only armed with ice cold water guns but also a thick paste that they use to rub on your face. This is the same paste used by monks to make blessings.  

Scented water filled with flowers for blessings.

If you’re looking for a crazy party try travelling to Thailand and experiencing the world’s largest water fight – don’t forget your waterguns!

Loy Krathong Celebration (In Pictures)

This belated blog (Loy Krathong was months ago...) is dedicated to the Loy Krathong festivities in Thailand. We celebrated Loy Krathong through activities at my school and followed that up with the festival at the river. Loy in Thai means "float" and the Krathong is what we put in the river and let float away. We took the Chao Praya river boat for around $2 ands stopped right in front of the beautiful lit-up Wat Arun. One of my favorite Thai celebrations thus far :)

Krathongs similar to the ones we bought (about $2 USD).

Some of the more interesting Krathongs for sale, made of ice cream cones!

Putting my Krathong into the water for good luck!

In front of Wat Arun after floating my Krathong away and hoping for good luck! Too bad when I put it in the water it immediately tipped over. You could hear the people on our boat collectively "awww" when it happened.