Songkran 2023: Thailand celebrates New Year with huge water festival
- Published
Tens of thousands of people in south-east Asia have been celebrating Songkran, Thailand's largest and most important annual festival which marks the beginning of the Thai New Year.
An important event on the Buddhist calendar, many families wake up early during Songkran and visit temples. It is tradition to pour scented water onto sacred statues of Buddha - which symbolically represents purification and good fortune.
People also prepare by cleaning houses, schools and other public spaces. However the festival has now become famous around the world for its huge water fight which takes places in towns, villages and cities around the country - in fact, it's so big it's thought to be the world's largest water fight!
The festival lasts for three days and is celebrated each April, Thailand's hottest month of the year. As well as being a handy way of keeping cool in the heat, splashing each other with water is said to wash away bad luck from the previous year.
People use everything from hoses, buckets, bowls and water pistols to spray family, friends and even strangers.
Songkran has become a major tourist attraction, with thousands of people from around the world travelling to Thailand especially to be there for the event!
Animals have also been getting involved with the celebrations! Children and elephants in northern Thailand's Ayutthaya province have been getting in on the action by splashing each other with water.
Songkran is also widely observed in other south-east Asian countries including Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.