BANGKOK – Thailand is ready to welcome visitors from around the world to celebrate Songkran in the country, after Unesco officially designated the festival as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The listing was announced on Dec 6.

This is the fourth such recognition for Thai cultural heritage, following the Khon dance drama in 2018, traditional Thai massage in 2019 and Nora dance in 2021.

Songkran, the traditional Thai new year, falls on April 13.

Thai government spokesman Chai Watcharong said Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin thanked the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) for the listing on behalf of the Thai government and Thai people.

Mr Srettha also thanked the relevant agencies for promoting the festival.

“Songkran is a New Year festival which is celebrated across Thailand in the middle of April every year,” Mr Chai said, citing the prime minister’s remarks.

“It is a tradition which has been inherited by Thai people for generations,” Mr Chai said. “This beautiful and meaningful tradition reflects their gratitude to ancestors, as well as generosity, goodwill and unity.”

Mr Srettha said activities during the festival are sacred and comprise many cultural elements.

These include offering alms, watering Buddha figures and traditional performances about the origin of Songkran.

“Hence, Songkran in Thailand has become a representative of the intangible cultural heritage as it reflects cultural diversity and human creativity,” Mr Chai quoted the Thai premier as saying.

He added that the festival was crucial for sustainable development.

Mr Srettha also emphasised that the government was ready to promote the festival globally, while hoping that discussion and understanding each other would lead to peace and security among all parties, Mr Chai said.

“The government is ready to smilingly and warmly welcome visitors from all over the world to celebrate and experience the Songkran festival in Thailand,” Mr Chai said, citing Mr Srettha.

Pheu Thai Party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who chairs the national soft power committee, had announced plans on Dec 1 to extend Songkran celebrations throughout April 2024.

The aim is to elevate the event as the country’s soft power.

Songkran, usually celebrated from April 13 to 15, is known for its water-splashing traditions, which symbolise cleansing and purification.

It is also a time for paying respect to elders, giving alms to monks, and enjoying traditional Thai food and music.

Songkran has a colourful past, which some scholars believe is rooted in an ancient Hindu festival marking the harvest season and the arrival of the new year.

This festival, called Makara Sankranti, celebrated the sun’s entrance into the water sign of Aquarius, marking a new astrological period.

The water element, significant in both Hinduism and Buddhism, played a central role in rituals like making sacrifices to deities and the symbolic washing away of sins.

The festival was adopted by the Khmer Empire, which ruled parts of present-day Thailand around the 11th century.

They called it “Sangkran” or “Songkran”, derived from the Sanskrit word “samkranti”, meaning “astrological passage”.

According to the traditional Thai calendar, the first new moon day of the fifth month is New Year’s Day. It usually falls on April 13.

Although Thailand has observed the international calendar’s New Year’s Day for over 80 years, Songkran Day remains the more important festival for most Thais.

Water splashing is at the heart of festivities these days, with water guns in all shapes and sizes filling the shelves in shops.

However, the roots of this tradition are a mystery.

Some experts believe the water fights were encouraged and adopted in modern times to promote tourism, while others say it began after Thai King Chulalongkorn began celebrating the traditional Thai New Year in 1989.
THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK