Also known as the "Water Fight Festival" in Thailand.
This event is celebrated throughout the country and its neighbouring countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar who have Buddhist roots. This festival is a very important event in the Buddhist calendar, marking the beginning of the traditional Thai New Year. Songkran is celebrated every 13th day of April in Thailand and was considered to be their official New Year until 1888 when it was switched to a fixed date of April 1st. Then in 1940, this date was shifted to January 1st. The traditional Thai New Year Songkran was instead transformed into a national holiday where friends and family gather to pay gratitude to their elders and visit temples for prayers and offerings.
Traditionally, on the first day of Songkran which is also "National Elderly Day", young people pour fragrant water into the elders’ palms and ask for their blessings. On the third day which marks the first official day of the Thai New year, we witnessed locals pour fragrant water over Buddha statues both at the temple and at home which represents purification and the washing away of one's sins and bad luck. This is where the massive water fights had started as they believe pouring (or blasting) water over someone is a sign of being cleaned from your impurities. In Phuket, I find it quite ironic and funny how the most aggressive water fight happens in Bangla Road, which is also the same street where bars and clubs are situated.
Unlike other cities in Thailand, Phuket seems to only have the water fights the night before April 13th and all day of April 13th while other cities such as Chiang Mai and Bangkok had water fights on the streets for 5 full days which can get really annoying for some people. We stayed at a hotel close to Bangla Road and Patong Beach. These are the central areas of the water fight zones. We really liked the set up for Phuket as we didn't find 1.5 days of water fight to be excessive. It was just enough to get in with all the water fun with everyone. By everyone, I mean EVERYONE and EVERYTHING. Store and restaurant owners have big buckets of water outside their shop ready to be thrown at anyone that will walk pass them. If you have a baby or a kid on a stroller, they will also get wet but people will be more gentle towards them. The drivers on the road are also not exempted - if the windows of your car are rolled down, you car seats will get wet. If you are on a motorbike, you will get wet and more or so a main target. If you are on a tuktuk ride coming from the airport, you and your luggage will also get wet. Even the police and traffic officers are not an exemption - they are soaked in their uniforms by the end of the day but still with beaming smiles on their faces. So if you don't want to get bombarded with water, try to avoid travelling to those cities during the week of Songkran especially Chiang Mai or Bangkok where the fight could last up to 5 days straight.
You can buy a water gun on the streets for about $15 CAD, there are cheaper ones but they do not have enough power. You can also pay 10 baht (50 cents) to get your gun filled with ice COLD water, which makes the fight more fun. I would only recommend paying if they have ice-cold water. Otherwise, there will be water stations along the street where you can fill up for free but the water wouldn't be cold. Another thing you could buy is powder for 10 baht (50 cents), which is mainly bought by the locals. They mix the powder with water and it turns into clay-like material and they will smear it onto people's faces as a sign of protection and promises to get rid off bad luck. Don’t shy away from this as this paste is water soluble and will wash off. Some of the powder also have some menthol substance - it is rather tingling and cooling for your skin which feels nice during the day when the sun is at its peak and it's 30C degrees hot.
Here's a little snippet of our festivities in Phuket, Thailand during Songkran:
Our recommendations: Stay in Phuket for the weekend (Friday-Monday) during this festival, this would give you enough time to explore the island and enjoy the festival. If you are planning on doing excursions like going to the elephant sanctuary and island hopping, you might want to add another 2 days. We find Phuket very expensive for Thailand, most restaurants and activities here are at a mark up due to the massive influx of tourists. It was still a cool island to check especially if you are looking to party it up.
We stayed at Silver Resortel which is a 5-minute walk to Bangla Road. The hotel is quite central so definitely recommended if you are looking for a cheap private room to stay at during Songkran Festival. We paid about $25 CAD per night. The room was nothing fancy - there was a comfortable bed and a clean bathroom which is all we need for this trip.
If you have any questions or need help with planning your travels, feel free to reach out to us on our instagram page: @wokthroo