Thai new year is laced with traditions. There is so much symbolism and community in the holiday. The date of the new year is marked when the sun leaves Aries and enters Taurus, April 13th-15th. *fun fact: Thailand’s current year is 2569. I had noticed when I first arrived to Thailand that the posting year on all the Youtube videos I was watching was over 2026 and looked like random numbers in the 2000s, and thought it was just an error. Weeks after being in Thailand, I saw a video of someone saying this fun fact and then it all made sense!*

“Water is the most significant element for the celebrations of Thai New Year. People throw water on each other because they believe it can purify their lives and can bring blessings for them. So the craziest water fight became the biggest celebration in Thailand. Songkran is also a religious festival, so there are some other rituals during the 3-day holiday.

The rituals of pouring scented water on elderly family members’ palms to pay respect and receive their blessings.
Song Nam Phra is a ritual of bathing and cleaning the Buddha statue with scented water (traditionally scented with a Thai perfume called nam ob). This ritual is believed to be a way of paying respect to the Buddha statue and to bring good fortune to the person.”
 -www.umetravel.com

As I would walk the streets, everyone was involved and spraying each other with water guns or soaking each other with buckets of water. All ages participated and enjoyed the festivities. They also have a clay  called din sor pong (limestone talc mixed with water) that locals would smear on your checks. This symbolizes blessing, protection, and good luck for the new year.
What a fun day to have all these little interactions with people of another country by a quick water gun battle and then you just keep walking on until you encountered the next battle. Smiles and laughs were all around. Little kids would get so excited to spray you. During these 3 days, everyone was unified, locals and foreigners. The city would also put on a big parade ( I did not arrive early enough to see this), a drone show, and concerts in the park. There were full streets that were closed off for large water fights and dedicated for a gathering of many people and playing loud music ( more seen as the party streets). 

The temps are hot in April, so Songkran was also a great way to stay cooled off throughout the day. Walking the streets while everyone carries a water gun was fantastic and fun to see. Many people, including locals, also wear hawaiian shirts. The shirt and having a water gun signaled to others that you were participating in the water part of Songkran and ready to be drenched in water. Note that if choose not to squirt with water, it is easy to go to areas that are not full-focused on Songkran and you can stay dry. 

What a truly great experience that I will forever remember.