Thailand is celebrating the country’s traditional New Year, Songkran. This three-day festival is usually celebrated by splashing each other with water guns and indulging in fun water fights. Despite the record-high temperatures and concerns of a water crisis in the country right now, Thailand is still celebrating the festival with a blast and lots of water. After reports of water shortage in Samui broke out, it was expected that Thailand would issue some restrictions on this year’s celebration. However, the Songkran celebration kicked off in the country on Saturday with no such warnings or caution by the authorities. Here’s everything you need to know about this.
Despite Heat Waves & Water Crisis, Songkran Celebration Goes On In Thailand
Songkran is Thailand’s traditional New Year festival. Formally, it is celebrated for three days, although the informal celebration goes on for a week. This allows people to travel and meet their families and loved ones. The festival is not just famous amongst the locals, but also the tourists. Thailand is expected to welcome more than 5,00,000 tourists and generate more than $655 million (₹54,64,90,08,000) in revenue this year. This is probably one of the biggest reasons why the Thai authorities did not wish to dial down the festival celebration despite heat wave warnings and water crises in various parts of Thailand like Samui.
That’s why, since Saturday, Thailand has been seeing Songkran celebrations in full gusto – complete with water guns and tanks. The festival usually falls during the hottest period of the year and the temperature goes above 40° C in Thailand. Playing with water, traditionally, helped locals cool down and enjoy the celebrations. This year, however, there are unusual heat wave warnings in the country and it is likely to see record temperatures in the coming months. This has triggered apprehensions over water shortage and crisis in the country. Furthermore, extreme heat will also mean less water for hydropower dams, which will in turn hamper the production of energy.
Also Read: Not Just Beaches & Parties, Thailand’s Ban Thung Hong Is Home To 18th-Century Indigo Craft, Mo Hom
Why Is Songkran Now Referred To As ‘Seven Dangerous Days’?
Thailand has a predominantly Theravada Buddhist population. That’s why Songkran is celebrated with such fervour in Thailand. The festival was originally celebrated to pray for a rainy season that could help crops grow better. As part of the celebration, people also cleansed images of the Buddha and washed the hands and feet of elders. Slowly, over the years, playing with water, water guns, and wasting large quantities of water became a part of this festival.
In fact, it has now also been dubbed the “seven dangerous days” in Thailand. This is because people tend to get publicly drunk and cases of sexual assault as well as traffic fatalities rise during these celebrations.
This situation reminds us of Holi in Bengaluru this year! While we understand the urge to forget all our worries and celebrate festivals in full spirit, it is always great to tone down the celebration if it will affect you in the long run.
Cover Image Courtesy: Canva
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