Bangkok - Event

Prepare to get soaked with the crowds on Khao San Road and elsewhere in the city at the traditional Buddhist New Year festival of Songkran. The watery celebrations go on all night and through much of the next day.

It starts gently enough. A few sprinkles and a dusting on the cheeks with fragrant sandlewood paste greet arrivals to Khao San Road. But by noon on the first day, buckets of water are flying, double-barrelled water pistols are aimed and even water trucks serve as formidable reinforcements, blocking off the end of the street. Market stall-holders stay away and even a tactical retreat to one of the many restaurants or bars is no reprieve - just hold your drink away as the buckets are poured over you...

Though it might sound like warfare, Songkran in Khao San Road is a lot of fun. It's no coincidence that the festival occurs at the hottest time of the year, so no one minds getting soaked.

This Sangtip (Thai whisky) fuelled marathon is the opposite of the gentle and reverent activities taking place in other parts of the land. In Sanam Luang park, for example, close to Khao San Road, the Phra Buddha Sihing image is displayed and devotedly bathed.

Please contact the Thailand tourist office for further details of all the celebrations in Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand.