One of the more traditional events that took place during Songkran recently was “song nam phra“. This is the practice of bathing Buddha images with rose scented water. Most tourists, and even some Thai teenagers, seem to think that Songkran is only about throwing water at each other. However, it was originally more a...
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The Songkran Festival in Thailand is not all about water splashing and having fun. Thai people also take time out to visit their local temples to make merit and also to pour rose scented water over the hands of their elders. They do this in order to receive a blessing and good luck for...
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In Thailand at the moment it is the summer holidays for school students. At Sriwittayapaknam School in Samut Prakan they have just come to the end of Summer School. Next week marks the start of the Songkran Festival which is the start of the traditional Thai new year. As it is the hottest time...
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“Are you sure you could drive all the way from KL to Phuket?” Many friends thought I was insane to ever think of taking such a long overland trip. “It’s the journey and not only the destination that counts. If you take a flight, you will miss out a lot of scenery and the...
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Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year. The true dates vary every year as they are set by the movement of the stars but are usually between 13th and 16th April. However, the Thai government have now fixed the start of Songkran as 13th April. This usually then lasts for three to five days...
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The 13th April marks the start of the celebrations for the Songkran Festival, which is the traditional Thai New Year. In many cities around Thailand there is a parade. On one of the floats are the seven daughters of a mythical God who had his head cut off when he lost a wager. Every...
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This week sees the celebration for the start of the traditional Thai new year. From the 13th-15th April, Thai people will be dressing up in new clothes and visiting the local temple to make merit and to their grandparents in order to receive blessings. Afterwards, the youngsters will be out on the street taking...
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The water fights are continuing in Thailand for the second day in a row. At least three more days to go of this mayhem on the streets. Then, next weekend, the Mon people in Thailand celebrate their own Songkran so everything starts again. In Samut Prakan, our Mon community is mainly in Phra Pradaeng....
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Happy Songkran from Samut Prakan in Thailand! I hope everyone has a happy new year. Today is the start of the traditional Thai new year in Thailand. The pictures in this blog I took a few hours ago of a parade through Paknam city center. The picture above shows two of the seven daughters...
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In Thailand, like other countries in the region at this time of year, people are building sand stupas at their local temple in order to make merit. The people of Bangsaen in Chonburi have taken this to the next step. Every year, towards the end of Songkran, local residents take part in a chedi...
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Taking a break from the hectic Songkran celebrations, I went this afternoon to one of my local temples here in Paknam. It was like an oasis in the middle of a war zone. In the surrounding area, roaming pickup trucks, packed with people armed to the teeth, were patrolling the streets looking for people...
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Around the country, the start of Songkran is marked with a Miss Songkran beauty pageant and a parade. We had our parade today in Samut Prakan. It wasn’t quite like the parade I wrote about last year (Nang Songkran and her Parade). Back then they had the floats (see pictures) and lots of people...
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Just when I thought it was safe to wash the car and hang up the wet water gear….! I took the above picture this afternoon in Phra Pradaeng, a district in Western Samut Prakan. No, it wasn’t the results of a time warp. For some peculiar reason, the people of Phra Pradaeng, who are...
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The other day, I told you about two of the more traditional ways of celebrating Songkran. This involved going to the temple early in the morning to give food to the monks. People also bathed Buddha images and poured scented water over the hands of monks. Today I am going to tell you about...
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I spent the majority of my time today at the Ancient City here in Samut Prakan. For the first time they were holding a major Songkran Celebration with lots of things to do for all the family. By now you should know that I love going to the Ancient City. I have been there...
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The water fights in Thailand are continuing unabated. This is now the completion of the second full day and there seems to be no let up in energy the Thai people display when they are having fun. If anything, there were far more people on the roads compard to yesterday. I spent most of...
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This morning I went down to the City Hall in Samut Prakan to watch the Songkran Parade, though I must admit I was mainly going to take some pictures of Nang Songkran (which is a bit like Miss Songkran). Every year she sits on a different animal depending on the day of the week...
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Elephants spray water at Thai revellers during Songkran festival celebrations in Ayutthaya province, 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok April 11, 2005. The Songkran festival marks the start of the Thai traditional New Year on Wednesday. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang An elephant engages in a waterfight with locals as part of the Songkran festival in...
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