Songkran marks the traditional Thai New Year on 13 April, and the water began as a blessing — sprinkled gently over Buddha images and the hands of elders to wash away the old year. The blessing still happens every morning of the festival at temples such as Wat Pho and Wat Arun, where families bring sand to build merit chedis and pour scented water. In the afternoons, on the streets, the blessing becomes a soaking: water pistols, buckets, hoses from pickup trucks, and a rule that everyone is fair game except monks, the elderly and people obviously working.
Bangkok's two epicentres are Khao San Road, where the backpacker district becomes a wall-to-wall water battle with foam and music, and Silom Road, closed to traffic for a kilometre of high-pressure hoses and a more local crowd. Siam Square and the RCA club district run sponsored stages with DJs. The Sanam Luang field near the Grand Palace hosts the traditional celebration with parades and the ceremonial procession of the Phra Buddha Sihing image.
Dress for it: quick-dry clothes, sandals with grip, a waterproof pouch for phone and cash, and goggles if you are serious. Talc paste on the face is traditional and friendly. Alcohol sales are restricted in parts of the city and the police enforce the 'no water on motorcycle riders' rule after dark. Many businesses close for the holiday, and this is the week Bangkok's own residents travel home, so flights and trains out of the city fill weeks ahead.
Book a hotel that is either in the middle of it (Khao San, Silom) or deliberately out of it (the riverside, Sukhumvit's upper sois) — there is no in-between. A chauffeur from Suvarnabhumi will get you to the door dry, which is the last time that will be true until the 16th.
Three things to get right
- Silom for the local crowd, Khao San for the international one, Sanam Luang for the tradition.
- Waterproof pouch, quick-dry clothes, grippy sandals — and no valuables.
- Flights and trains out of Bangkok are full that week; book both ways early.
Book it
Nearest featured destination: Bangkok — hotels, airport and activities on one page.
