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Songkran Festival: A Wet & Wild Good Time

Songkran Festival Chiang Mai Thailand

Songkran Festival in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai, Thailand

To celebrate the traditional New Year, Thailand’s crazy Songkran water festival is held every April all over the country. But the best place to be is Chiang Mai.

Picture tens of thousands of men, women, and children roaming the streets armed with squirt guns, water cannons, and buckets of icy cold water searching for their next victim.

They travel on foot, piled onto scooters or in the back of pickup trucks.

No one is safe from their wrath. If you’re dry, you won’t be for long!

Songkran is Thailand’s craziest holiday, and the whole country comes to a stand-still for a couple of days while everyone cools off during the hottest month of the year.

Songkran Festival Chiang Mai

Songkran Street Party

Songkran Water Fight Chiang Mai Thailand

Mobile Swimming Pool?

Traditional New Year

The official Thai Buddhist calendar begins with the death of the Buddha 543 years before the start of the Christian calendar.

It’s also celebrated in April according to sun & star alignment rather than the beginning of the lunar year.

Originally, scented water was poured over statues of Buddha for good luck. This water was then saved and gently sprinkled onto loved ones as a blessing.

Eventually, that time-honored and holy tradition has morphed into filling giant super-soakers full of dirty moat water and blasting it into the faces of complete strangers!

Songkran Thai New Year Chiang Mai

Anticipation is the Best Part…

Songkran in Chiang Mai

While big celebrations are held all over the country, the northern city of Chiang Mai is the best place to be. The old city is surrounded by a large square-shaped moat. Four miles of it to be exact.

This moat is used as a refill station. Most people congregate around it for Songkran. Families lower buckets on strings into the moat, filling them up to be unleashed on the crowds passing by.

Pickup trucks and tuk-tuks inch their way around the loop loaded with 55-gallon barrels full of water.

Massive blocks of ice rest inside these containers for an extra kick.

The festival lasts longer in Chiang Mai too, with at least 4 full days of madness compared with only 2 in other cities.

Songkran New Year Chiang Mai Thailand

Songkran is Fun for All Ages!

Possibly the Best Festival Ever

I’d heard stories about Songkran from many other travelers who claimed it was the best festival they’d ever been to. After experiencing it for myself this year, I have to agree. Why is it so special?

  • All ages participate, from 3 year olds to senior citizens.
  • Tens of thousands of people take to the streets.
  • You get to act like a kid again without judgment.
  • Everyone is smiling and having a blast.
  • No tickets to pay for (well, aside from the cost of a water gun).
  • It’s both brutal and incredibly polite at the same time.

I can’t tell you how many times someone poured a bucket of freezing cold ice-water down my back, then apologized for it!

Everyone is your friend during Songkran. I frequently just hopped up on the back of a truck and joined a group of strangers who happily welcomed me onto their mobile splash assault vehicle.

Songkran Water Festival Chiang Mai

Endless Party in the Streets

Songkran Festival Cars

Drive By Soakings

All Kinds of Entertainment

In addition to the roaming hoards of water soldiers, you’ll also find stages and tents sponsored by local and international companies. They usually include professional dancers dressed in skimpy outfits, spraying water from hoses onto the crowd.

Large machines sporadically spew mountains of bubbles into the street creating an impromptu foam party.

Religious processions march through town with statues of Buddha on beautifully decorated floats. Spectators try and spray water on the Buddha’s shoulders in the traditional fashion, for good luck.

You may get splattered with a muddy mixture of white chalk too.

Kids randomly pop out of barrels on the back of trucks shooting you in the face, others run around in full costumes or Halloween masks.

Songkran is a complete shock to the senses.

Songkran Moto Chiang Mai Thailand

Beware Flying Buckets of Water

Getting Into the Action

To prepare for Songkran I donned my best Rambo gear and picked up a fully automatic water-uzi. It even had a removable clip for a reservoir. While the little blue & orange gun didn’t have the best range — I could hold down the trigger and spray to my heart’s content.

I proceeded to conduct drive-by soakings all over town on my moped.

Now riding a scooter in Thailand is already pretty dangerous, but during Songkran, it’s a bit suicidal. Alcohol flows freely for 4 days, and no one thinks twice about throwing large buckets of water into your face as you drive by.

So I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have plenty of scooter experience, a motorcycle license, and are as stubborn as I am!

But most of the festival was spent teaming up with fellow farangs like Ryan & Liz, Gillian & Jason, Jill & Josh, Diana, and Rikki & John in an attempt to defend ourselves from the Thais.

The Chiang Mai Songkran experience is a wild good time. I would love to go back again in the future if I can. Until I find a contender, it’s the coolest festival I’ve ever attended.

And with all that ice-water flying around, I mean it. ★

Watch Video: Songkran Water Festival


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Festival Dates: Usually in April

Packing Guide

Check out my travel gear guide to help you start packing for your trip. Pick up a travel backpack, camera gear, and other useful travel accessories.

Book Your Flight

Book cheap flights on Skyscanner, my favorite airline search engine to find deals. Also read my tips for how I find the cheapest flights.

Rent A Car

Discover Cars is a great site for comparing car prices to find the best deal. They search both local & international rental companies.

Book Accommodation

Booking.com is my favorite hotel search engine. Or rent local apartments on Airbnb ($35 discount!). Read my post for tips on booking cheap hotels.

Protect Your Trip

Don’t forget travel insurance! I’m a big fan of World Nomads for short-term trips. Protect yourself from possible injury & theft abroad. Read more about why you should always carry travel insurance.

Recommended Guidebook: Lonely Planet Thailand
Suggested Reading: Sightseeing
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READ MORE THAILAND TRAVEL TIPS

I hope you enjoyed my article on Thailand’s famous Songkran festival. Here are some more wanderlust-inducing articles that I recommend you read next:

Have you ever celebrated Songkran in Thailand before? Did you like it?

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