This year, the Thai New Year Songkran will be celebrated all over the country from 13 to 15 April, but in a number of regions (for example, in Pattaya) the celebrations will begin on April 12 and finish in nine days. Traditionally, this colorful and cheerful holiday attracts many tourists.
It is customary to celebrate the New Year with famous water battles, which travelers like most of all. However, in recent years, regional officials have called on citizens to return to a proper celebration of the holiday and to hold it in prayers, attending worship services and building sand pagodas. The authorities of Pattaya this year on Songkran will hold a number of cultural events, food fairs will be opened, guests of the New Year’s festival will be invited to participate in the Buddhist rite – watering the statues of Buddha.
Institutions on the Walking Street, popular with tourists, will decorate in a traditional style. “If you visit Pattaya in this Songkran, you will see – we will return to the Thai way of life and the Thai traditions of the past” – representative of the Pattaya City Hall said at a meeting dedicated to the celebrations.
At the same time in Phuket, watering passers-by and each other this year is allowed, but in several places specially designated for them. Participants of the water slaughter are asked not to use dyes or ice.
