Festivals play an important role in the social and cultural life of Thai people.  The Thais look forward  to  and celebrate festivals through the collective efforts of the community for merit and fun, which are typical Thai values. 

Festivals are so deeply rooted in Thai life that they have become part of  its fabric.  As a matter of fact,  Thailand displays a remarkable talent for celebrating festivals since the earliest period of its history over 700 years ago. Even in this rapid changing society, most of the traditional features of Thai festivals such as music, dance and high spirits of the crowds as described in the stone inscription still persist.

Of all the feasts and festivals in Thailand, which are many, Songkran festival is the most striking. It is the merriest one for the people and particularly for the country folks who still retain much of their traditional customs, games and other pastimes. Songkran festival  has been  firmly established  as an integral part of Thai life.  In recent times, this traditional festival is on the list of tourist attractions and  enable to put Thailand as one of the most favoured tourists destinations of the  world. 

Historically speaking, Songkran festival is not originally an indigenous festival of this part of  Indo-Chinese Peninsula for the name plainly betrays itself as of Indian origin. It can be traced back to Lord Buddha's lifetime. The origin of Songkran and the birth of Songkran maidens are described in a chapter of Buddhist sermons called “Sermon on Maha Songkran,” generally known among the Mon, Thai, Burmese, Lao and Chinese Buddhists etc. As a matter of fact, there are five countries that celebrate Songkran festivals in Indo-China namely Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Southern China.  The Indian myth of Songkran and related ceremonies were diffused to Thailand through Burmese influence in the 11th century A.D. Since then, the traditional New Year has been observed in the ancient Lanna Kingdom with Chiang Mai as the prime site, from which it spread to other  regions of Thailand.

Songkran refers to the monthly change in the astrological solar calendar. Unlike other traditional festivals which are usually linked to the lunar calendar, Songkran is fixed by astrological calculation when the sun moves out of the sign of Pisces into the sign of Aries.  When the sun leaves Pisces to be in Aries, the occasion is described as Maha Songkran or Major Songkran.  But the Thais call it simply Songkran  for it is the only one they know and in which they take interest  The Thais use this heavenly phenomenon to mark the beginning of a new year.

In 1948, the government officially fixed the 13th of April as Songkran Day and officially made it a public holiday. In 1989, the government with General Chatichai Choonhavan as the Prime Minister proclaimed the 12th  of April, the 13th of April, and the 14th  of April  public holidays in order to allow  people  to return to their hometowns for making merit, offering of food and gifts to the monks, sprinkling of water over the Buddha images, bringing lustral water and other items to parents, senior relatives and respected persons to bathe them as tribute paying, and to ask for their blessings as a concession to the ancient tradition of celebrating the New Year. In 1997, the government with General Chawalit Yongchaiyuth as the  Prime Minister changed the dates of holidays on the occasion of Songkran festival to be  the 13th of April, the 14th of April and the 15th of April in accordance with the days traditionally observed  since time immemorial.

As for the myth relating to Songkran, there was once a young man named Dhammaban who was  prodigious in learning.  He understood even the language of birds. God Brahma, one of the gods of a higher heavenly realm, came down to meet the  young man and asked him  a question with the wager that if the young man  failed to give the right answer within seven days, he would lose his head but if he succeeded, the god himself would give his own. The question was “Where is the glory of a man in the morning, afternoon and evening?”   The young man was at his wit’s end to answer such a difficult question.  He ran away to a forest where he stopped under a large tree at the top of which was an aerie.  By chance he heard the female eagle tell the male about the bet. It happened that the male eagle could answer the question. The answer was that the glory of a man in the morning was on the face because one has to wash one’s face every morning. In the afternoon, the glory would be on the body or chest since one had to take a shower  and dab some powder on the chest. As for the evening, it would be on the feet because one had to  wash one’s feet before going to bed. Whoever could act this way would be admired as he could wash away bad things which might block the glory.

The answer made sense to Dhammaban, who  rushed off to see God Brahma. Keeping his words, the god was obliged to cut off his head. However, the head of  God Brahma was very sacred and powerful for if it touched the earth there would be a universal  destructive  fire and if it fell into the ocean, the ocean would dry up through its intense heat. To avoid calamity, God Brahma ordered all his seven daughters, who were angels of the day, to collect his severed head on a platter and keep it in the cave on Mount Krailas which was the Residence of God Shiva. Once a year, one of the seven daughters must take turn to carry the head in procession with millions of other gods and goddesses around the Mount for the happiness and prosperity of mankind on Songkran day.

The seven daughters have their own names, but they are called as a whole Nang Songkran or Songkran Ladies. When anyone of them appears on Songkran day, she rides on a certain kind of animal. There are actually four different postures according to the  time the lady first  shows up as a herald of the new year. If she comes in the morning, she will stand on the animal’ s back. If she comes in the afternoon, she will ride on its back. If she comes in the evening, she will recline with her eyes open. If she comes past mid night, she will recline with her eyes closed.  All these are based on calculations made by court astrologers. There are meanings to each year’s Nang Songkran as to the way she is dressed, the jewelry she is wearing, the diet she is supposed to take, the weapons she is carrying, the position she takes on the carrier as well as the animal she is riding on.

In the afternoon of the same day, there is a bathing ceremony of the Buddha images and also the abbot of the monastery.  This bathing is done as ritualistic ceremony, but it is no other than a New Year’ s purification.  After this begins the water throwing feast. Also on this day or the succeeding days, younger people go to pay their respect to and ask blessings from their elders and respected persons.  They pour scented water into the palms of the old people and present them with a towel and other bathing requisites. In Chiang Mai province, it is called Dam Hua ceremony. 

It has been a custom to build sand pagodas as a community effort during Songkran.  This takes place on an open space in the monastery.  People bring along a handful of sand, which they throw upon the ground upon their entry.  The pagoda builders, mostly women and children, come to the monastery in their best clothes with candles, joss  sticks, flower and banners. The merit makers then start building their sand pagodas. The size of the pagoda is optional. The sand is mixed with water  to make it lump together when used to build the pagoda.  A coin and a leaf of the religious fig tree  are buried inside the sand pagoda.  When finished, the pagoda is sprinkled with scented water and decorated with flags and banners.  The base of the pagoda is then covered with a small piece of yellow or red cloth. Lighted candles and joss sticks and flowers are stuck around the sand pagoda as an offering.  In this way, the sand is accumulated and serves to raise the level of the ground which normally is too low during the flood season. As the open ground in the monastery also serves as a meeting place for the community during religious and festive occasions, it is ultimately the public in general who benefit by this religious occasion. Besides, it is believed that when a person leaves the monastery, some earth or sand in the sacred compound sticking to his feet may be taken out of the monastery, thus depriving the monastery of its property. To make reparation for such a possible sinful deed, a good Buddhist brings with him a handful of earth or sand every time he calls at the sacred ground. The building of the sand pagodas is seen as an atonement in a way. Moreover, there is a widespread belief that whoever builds a monastery, casts a Buddha image,  erects a pagoda, makes copies of the scriptures or does anything pertaining to the upholding of the Holy Faith gains great merit. The building of sand pagodas inserted with valuable things such as a coin or sacred things such as a leaf of the sacred fig tree which even people of small means can afford to do has the same merit as the building of real pagodas. 

During Songkran Festival, Buddhist devouts make merit by providing props to Bo tree branches that overarch precariously. Bo  trees are known as sacred trees for  Buddhists as Lord Buddha has meditated in a cool shade under a Bo tree until achieving enlightenment.  Propping up Bo trees has developed into prayers for longevity. In addition, there is a religious service known as Bangsukun dedicated to the ancestors. The ceremony is usually officiated by monks in the  monastery. The guardian spirits of the villages and towns receive also their annual offering.  In Chiang Mai province, some families have also  prepared cloth ceremonial flags called “flags of victory.”(Tung Chai) These are usually associated with mortuary rites and dedicated to the dead because Songkran is a special occasion for the Thais to make merit to their ancestors.  The flags of victory have two tail-like appendages, by which helpless ancestors who have been reborn in hell can hoist themselves to a higher level of existence.  Some people do special merit makings by releasing birds and fish. In the hottest month of April,  fish in small streams which are generally dried up cannot survive unless they are released in the rivers or canals. By doing such meritorious acts , people can naturally preserve fish. A story behind this virtuousness is retold in the Mon communities that there is once a young novice who is destined to die shortly. He happens to come across small fish floundered helplessly in drying marshes. He rushes the dying fish  to nearby water so that they may live.  In saving the fish lives, the young novice has managed to rid himself of certain doom.

During the three days of Songkran, most of the people amuse themselves by throwing water at one another. If a stranger passes by, he is sure to get soaked too. Everyone is happy with the water throwing. Indeed, drops of water bring fresh and fun during the height of summer in April. Songkran is not a mere amusement, but a fertility rite to procure an abundance of rain by a magical way on the principle of “like produces like” of imitative magic.The idea of celebrating the traditional Thai New Year among older generations is  to safely apply scented water on one another’s hands. 

Songkran is the day for considerateness marked with the sprinkling water over the Buddha images, the bathing of revered persons, the water throwing at each other and the blessings. These activities reflect the caring spirit among members of the Thai society.  The transmission of Songkran festival from generation to generation is actually  to preserve and protect the typical Thai values particularly sincere consideration for others as embodied in the virtue known as namchai, the spirit of giving  and forgiving, the paying respect as well as the feeling of gratitude to others including the love and care  for nature and environment. 

The true values derived from Songkran as showing respect to the elders and enhancing the capacity of the family and community to care for the elderly are in line with the ASEAN vision 2020 issued in the Second ASEAN Informal Summit/ASEAN 30th Anniversary Commemorative Summit, Kuala Lumpur, 14-16 December 1997  as well as the Hanoi Plan of Action issued in the Sixth ASEAN Summit, Hanoi, 15-16 December 1998. Prior to this ASEAN vision to uphold strong family ties and care for the old people,  the Thai government used the Songkran Festival to revitalize these good old  values in response to the international campaign by WHO in the Senior Citizens Health Promotion Year in 1982 and the proposal made by the Women and Youth Affairs Commission of the National Assembly to solve problems of juvenile delinquency and other related problems by strengthening strong families as the basic units of society to tend to their members particularly the children, youth, women and elderly.  As a result, the 13th of April has been  chosen as National Senior Citizens Day  since 1982 and since 1989, the 14th of April  is recognized as Family Day.Besides, the 13th of April has also been designated since 1984 as National Fishery Day in accordance with the value of taking delight in releasing of fish to promote the preservation of fish on Songkran day. Of course, the releasing of fish as well as birds is thought to have a symbolic and practical significance in the agricultural society. It makes the Songkran period more meaningful to the people, reviving the old values which have been the basis of Thai society. Songkran festival is undoubtedly the embodiment of traditional Thai values.

               To end this feature, a few significant points of Songkran festival in Thai society are highlighted as follows:

1. Songkran festival plays a vital role in an agricultural society like Thailand, where regular and adequate rainfall is essential to the well-being of the people. Traditional people who believe in fate and the unseen forces behind it are constantly looking for a deeper meaning and significance to Songkran, which appears in the official Songkran announcement  giving the exact time and date of each year’s Songkran Day when one of the seven daughters takes turn to lead the procession of God Brahma’s head. There are predictions attached to the New Year, which refer to the harvest, the rainfall and the auspicious day of the week. Hence, hopes and aspirations for a better life.  In the mean  time, one can prepare one’s self to face the  harsh condition caused by natural phenomena.
2. Songkran festival reflects a harmonious blend between animistic belief and Buddhism as embodied in the case of religious service to the deceased ancestors. The Thais traditionally believe in spirits including the ancestors spirits. With the introduction of Buddhism in Thailand, they are trained to always be grateful to their parents and benefactors. The traditional belief is found in combination with Buddhism. Hence,the dedication to the ancestors during Songkran festival through the mediation of Buddhist monks. The offerings to the spirits are replaced by food offerings to monks as a kind of making merit which is transferred to the deceased ancestors. And by this way, the ancestors live happily in their realm. 
3. Songkran festival reflects local wisdom in connecting  the links between family and society.  The Dum Hua ceremony in the Northern Songkran celebration represents the kind of society in which seniority prevails. The elders must behave in accordance with the standard of conduct as pillars  of the society. A cordial relationship between the older and the younger generations is normally needed. The elders are expected to always be compassionate and  a source of strength to the young ones.  The young ones should reciprocate by paying respect to them. The bathing of revered persons and the sharing of homemade dishes unfold good wishes and a close kinship among all members of the society. Such is an agricultural society which requires the support and cooperation from everybody.  It is to be noted that Songkran festival in the ancient Lanna kingdom with Chiang Mai as the prime site renders an  equal opportunity to all walks of life in  joining the festive celebration with no distinctions of ethnicity and religion. In fact, it serves as a springboard for people of different faiths and races to become adaptable to a society. 

Songkran festival thereby represents the time when all the children and youth   appreciate the traditional Thai values and choose what they consider the best way to uphold and maintain Songkran festival as one of the most cherished Thai cultural heritage.

Written by Suttinee Yavaprapas