Countdown to Songkran

Posted by admin on April 5th, 2010 filed in Andaman Coast, Bangkok, Culture & customs, Expat life, Island life, Phuket & Krabi, Samui, The Gulf of Thailand, The North, The South, Top attractions

The country is gearing up for the biggest festival of the year, and I for one am finding it difficult to contain my excitement. This year’s Songkran new year spectacular is a chance for the Kingdom, so divided in recent weeks, to get back to the business of having a brilliant celebration.

Tourists in Thailand during this period will have the time of their lives and the traditional April waterfight will be indelibly etched in their memories for years to come. In Bangkok, the Songkran Grand Celebration is being held around “Old Bangkok” or the around the Rattanakosin Island district from April 10 to 15 April.

The capital’s main celebrations focus on the bathing rites of revered Buddha image replicas coming from the different provinces in the north, east and south of the country. Phra Chetupon Wimol Manklaram (Temple of the Reclining Buddha) will host the important opening celebration next week and then the party will spread to the four corners of the city.

Ayutthaya is having a massive festival in the Old City while Chon Buri, Suphan Buri and Chiang Mai all have massive events planned including food, drink, music and of course plenty of water being hurled around. Phuket and Koh Samui are also great places to get into the swing of things with plenty of tourist-orientated events being planned.