Songkran: Thai New Year Meaning, Traditions & Phrases

Songkran (สงกรานต์sǒng-graan) is the traditional Thai New Year, celebrated on 13-15 April. Families make merit at the temple, pour fragrant water over the hands of their elders to ask for a blessing, and then the whole country turns into a giant, friendly water fight. Songkran 2027 runs from Tuesday 13 to Thursday 15 April; all three days are public holidays.

What the word means

สงกรานต์sǒng-graan comes from the Sanskrit saṅkrānti, "passing" or "moving into": the sun moving from one sign of the zodiac into the next. The big one, มหาสงกรานต์má-hǎa sǒng-graan ("great Songkran"), is the sun entering Aries, which began the year in the old solar calendar. Thailand moved its official New Year to 1 April in 1889 and to 1 January in 1941, but for most families Songkran is still the New Year that matters.

When is Songkran 2027?

Tuesday 13 to Thursday 15 April 2027. Many people take the whole week off, and millions travel back to their home provinces, so Bangkok goes quiet while buses, trains and flights fill up. Book early if you're travelling. Some places start a day or two before the 13th, and some seaside towns hold their own water days a few days after the 15th.

Traditions: why Thais throw water

• Merit-making (ทำบุญtam-bun): on the first morning, families go to the temple and give food to the monks.
• Bathing the Buddha (สรงน้ำพระsǒng-náam prá): gently pouring scented water over Buddha images. In Chiang Mai the revered Phra Buddha Sihing image is carried through the streets from Wat Phra Singh, and people pour water as it passes.
• Blessings from elders (รดน้ำดำหัวrót-náam dam-hǔa): younger people kneel and pour fragrant water (น้ำอบnáam-òp) over the hands of their parents, grandparents and respected elders, who wish them luck, health and a long life. For many families this is the heart of Songkran.
• Sand chedis (ก่อเจดีย์ทรายgàw jee-dii saai): people bring sand to the temple and build little stupas, to return the sand they carried away on their feet during the year.
• Chalk paste (ดินสอพองdin-sǎw-pawng): a cooling white paste dabbed on cheeks as a blessing, now mostly part of the fun.

Water runs through all of it: it cleans away the old year, it carries good wishes, and in mid-April, the hottest time of the year, it's simply welcome. In 2023 UNESCO added Songkran in Thailand to its list of the world's intangible cultural heritage.

Songkran in Chiang Mai, Bangkok and the islands

Chiang Mai calls the festival ปี๋ใหม่เมืองbpǐi mài mueang, the northern New Year, and has one of the biggest water fights in the country: thousands of people line the moat around the Old City and fill their buckets straight from it. The northern days have their own names. 13 April is วันสังขานต์ล่องwan sǎng-kǎan lâwng, when the old year "floats away" and families clean their houses; 14 April is วันเน่าwan nâo, when you carry sand to the temple and mustn't quarrel or swear, or your mouth will "rot" all year; 15 April, วันพญาวันwan pá-yaa wan, is New Year's Day proper, for merit-making and blessing your elders.

In Bangkok the classic water-fight spots are Silom Road and Khao San Road; on Phuket it's Patong. Villages are gentler: more ceremony, more family, and kids with buckets by the roadside.

How to join the water fight respectfully

• Don't splash monks, older people who aren't playing, babies, or anyone riding a motorbike.
• Leave people in work clothes or on their way somewhere alone. A gentle pour on the shoulder with a smile is the traditional way.
• Aim at the body, not the face, and skip ice water and high-pressure water guns.
• Keep your phone in a waterproof pouch, and keep your mouth shut near the moat: that water isn't clean.
• Wear a floral shirt (เสื้อลายดอกsûea laai dàwk), the unofficial Songkran uniform, and nothing see-through.
• Never drink and drive. Thai media count the holiday's "seven dangerous days" (เจ็ดวันอันตรายjèt wan an-dtà-raai) because road accidents soar.

Thai phrases for Songkran

• สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์sùk-sǎn wan sǒng-graan Happy Songkran!
• สวัสดีปีใหม่ไทยsà-wàt-dii bpii-mài tai Happy Thai New Year! (add ครับkráp or ค่ะkâ when you say it to elders)
• ขอเล่นน้ำด้วยคนkǎw lên náam dûay kon Can I join in?
• อย่าสาดนะyàa sàat ná Please don't splash me!
• เปียกหมดแล้วbpìak mòt láew I'm soaked!

Songkran songs

Every April you'll hear Suntaraporn's classic Songkran Day ramwong, which walks through an old-style Songkran: merit in the morning, games in the afternoon, dancing at night. Learn its key lines in the Songs section, then practise the festival Thai in Unit 19 of the free course, where you spend your first Songkran in Chiang Mai with Fon's family.