The biggest recent event was of course Song Kran, a wonderful festival held every year in the second week of April to celebrate the Thai New Year.[...]In Chiang Mai, untroubled by the protests down in Bangkok and other places, the waterplay around the moat kicked off proper on Sunday the 12th.[...]It was a great atmosphere this year. Indeed I think that the slightly reduced crowd made it more enjoyable. Last year I spent very little time around the moat because of the massive numbers of people giving very little space to swing your water bucket.[...]the best day for me was the next one. We had been invited to join Roz, Glen and the children at Roz’s Mums’ village home[...]Luckily I managed to join in with the traditional walk around the village where everyone goes to the houses of the elder villages and gives food or money,( similar to what we used to do on Harvest Festival).[...]

Loi Kratong…an age old Thai festival,where the Thai people pay respects to the spirits of the water at the end of the rainy season and place beautiful decorative floating ‘baskets’, adorned most often with intricate flower designs, incense sticks and a candle, onto the nearest waterway in a symbolic gesture to float away that years [...]

It is said that many farang give Thailand a miss in April because of the extreme summer temperatures, and as my first April here began, I could understand why. But just as it was becoming unbearable, along came Song Kran.
It means ‘ to pass’ or ‘move forward’ and is the celebration of the Thai New [...]

Loi Kratong 2008
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Read about previous years events here
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