Tomorrow marks the official start of the Songkran Festival in Thailand. It is a time of year when families come together to enjoy the extended holiday. In towns and cities throughout Thailand, people will make merit at the temple and Buddha images from local wats are paraded through the streets and doused with lustral water by crowds of onlookers. In the midst of the hot season, Songkran revellers throw water at each other and wish each other good luck for the forthcoming year. Celebrated nationwide, the Songkran New Year Water Festival is the most exuberant of all Thai festivals. People wear colourful Songkran shirts, street parades take place and good-natured water fights break-out. It’s a time for sanuk and the young and the young-at-heart have an excuse to let their hair down and enjoy the party. If you are in Thailand at the moment, be prepared to get wet! The photos below are ones that I have taken in previous years during Songkran in Chiang Mai.
