By far the most important and well-know of Thailand's holidays and festivals is Songkran, the Thai New Year. This takes place from the 13th to 16th of April but preparations begin earlier. In the preceding days, people clean their houses and burn any garbage to be sure that nothing bad remains from the old year to be carried forward into the new bringing bad luck.

On New Year's Day, everyone will go to the local monastery bearing food gifts for the monks. A long table is set up with the monks' bowls into which the people place rice, fruit and other foods. By giving alms in this way, the people earn merit. While the monks eat the food offerings, music is often played.

Later in the day, all the Buddha statues and images are brought from the monastery and ritually washed – as is the abbot. Young people who follow tradition will also pour scented water into the hands of their grandparents and elders to obtain their blessing. This is followed by Thailand's notorious water fights. What was originally a gentle spraying of water on friends and neighbours has turned into a full scale water throwing spectacle. Water cannons and large barrels are employed to make sure everyone gets totally soaked.

Particularly in the countryside, the final duty to be performed at Songkran is a ceremony to remember the dead and in some places offerings are made to the guardian spirits of the village or town.

The most beautiful and second most important festival for the Thai people is Loy Krathong which celebrates the end of the rainy season usually in November, to thank the river god. Loy means 'float' and krathong means 'leaf cup'. The cup, usually a banana leaf, is used to hold a candle and either incense sticks or a small coin are also added. After lighting the candle and incense, people then place the cups on any running stream or river. As the cups float away, the people often offer prayers. As the candles burn out, children will swim out to retrieve the more attractive cups and to pocket the small coin, if any. The sight of the cups and candles floating under the full moon is very moving.

Among the many religious festivals is Makha Bucha Day which commemorates a gathering held by Buddha for 1,250 monks after his enlightenment. During this meeting he set out his teachings. This too is a day for the people to give alms to the monks in the form of food or robes, incense or candles. The festival is calculated by the lunar calendar but usually falls in February.

October marks the end of the three month long Buddhist Lent. Devout Buddhists will make merit by offering alms to the monks and many Thais like to make wax models of the temples and other religious artefacts.

At the same time, on the banks of the Mekong, at Nonkai, hotels are booked months in advance for the Bang Fai Phaya Naga which is believed to be a natural phenomenon. Fireballs can be seen rising up from the river at night. There is usually also a friendly boat race between Thailand and Laos across the river which forms the border.

Finally, the reverence which Thai people show to their royal family can be seen in that Fathers' Day is celebrated on the King's birthday, the 5th of December, while Mothers' Day is on the Queen's birthday, August the 12th. You can visit Indochina Odyssey Tours to get more information about Thailand Festivals.

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