Next: 13 to 15 Apr 2027
Songkran
Flowered shirts, white powder paste on cheeks, jasmine garlands and a great deal of water for the Thai new year.
The colours of Songkran
Songkran is the traditional Thai new year, kept in the hottest month. Its older side is quiet: people pour scented water over Buddha images and over the hands of parents and grandparents to ask a blessing, and give them garlands of white jasmine. Its public side is the world's largest water fight. People dress for it in loose shirts printed with bright tropical flowers, which have become the uniform of the holiday. Friends dab each other's cheeks with din sor pong, a white paste of soft chalky clay, as a blessing. The golden shower tree, Thailand's national flower, hangs with yellow blossom at just this time. Laos and Cambodia keep their own new years on the same days.
#F5F2EAPowder whiteDin sor pong paste dabbed on faces as a blessing.#FFFEF5Jasmine whiteGarlands given to elders.#EE5C8FShirt pinkFlowered Songkran shirts.#F6CF2FRatchaphruek yellowThe golden shower tree in bloom.#3FA7D6Water blueWater, poured as blessing and thrown in play.Values are fair approximations, not official shades.
Read about the colours
Written by the EveryRang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Songkran (Thailand)" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.