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Of all the feasts and festivals in Thailand, which are many, the Songkran Festival is the most striking, for it is widely observed not only in this country but also in Burma, Cambodia and the Lao State. Songkran is a Thai traditional New Year which starts on April 13 every year and lasts for 3-days.It is one of the biggest and brightest celebrations in Thailand making it a great time to visit the country to participate in this fun and friendly event. Songkran Festival on April 13 is Maha Songkran Day or the day to mark the end of the old year, April 14 is Wan Nao which is the day after and April 15 is Wan Thaloeng Sok which marks the New Year’s beginning. Families and friends gather to celebrate by visiting temples, sprinkling water on Buddha images in reverence and sprinkling water on each other’s hands as an act of wishing good luck.

The Songkran tradition is recognized as a valuable custom for the Thai community, society and religions. The most obvious celebration of Songkran is throwing of water, it is also known as “Water Festival”. People roam the streets with containers of water and water guns, or post themselves at the side of the road s with a garden hose and drench each other and passersby. Remember if you are in Thailand on these days leave your camera and anything likely to suffer water damage behind in your hotel room, because you will get wet.

Songkran is the Public Spring Cleaning Day, supported by religious belief that anything old and useless must be thrown away or it will bring bad luck to the owner. Many Thai take this opportunity to give their home a thorough cleaning. In some ways Songkran resembles Christian holiday of Easter. Young and old dress in new clothing and visit their temples, where they offer food to the monks, listen to sermon and practice Dhamma… It is a feast day for monks as well and music is often played as a backdrop to the festivities.

During the afternoon of the 13th, Buddha images are bathed as a part of a ceremony. In a popular town with tourists, Chiang Mai, the Buddha images from all over the town monasteries are paraded through the streets so that people can toss water on them. During this period people from all parts of the country flock to Chiang Mai to enjoy the water festival, to watch the Miss Songkran contest and beautiful parades. Young people pour scented water in to the hands of elders and parents as a mark of respect and present them gifts while seeking the blessing of the older people.

While the water splashing will flourish, the traditional values of Songkran are the focus of the 2010 celebrations as it is without doubt the most popular of all Thai festivals. Flights to Thailand during the days of the festival remain busier than ever so it is suggested that if you want to book some cheap flights to Thailand than book it with no further ado. For ongoing sales on Thailand flights and special offers by leading airlines flying from UK see cheap flights to Thailand.