Songkran Festival By Paveena Kaewla-ied No. 10 Kamonwan Jabjai No. 13

Present TeacherJantanaKhamanukul Kanchananukroh School

Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year celebration which starts on April 13 of each year and lasts for 3 days. Songkran is a Thai word which means "move" or "change place" as it is the day when the sun changes its position in the zodiac. It is also known as the "Water Festival" as people believe that water will wash away bad luck.

The Songkran festival on April 13 is Maha Songkran Day or the day to mark the end of the old year, on April 14 is Wan Nao which is the day after and April 15 is Wan Thaloeng Sok which is when the New Year begins. At this time, people from the rural areas who are working in the city like Bangkok usually return home to celebrate the festival.

The Songkran tradition is recognized as an important custom for the Thai community, society, and religion. The value for family is to provide the opportunity for family members to gather in order to express their respect to their elders by pouring scented

water onto the hands of their parents and grandparents and to present them with gifts, including making merit to their ancestors. The elders in return wish the youngsters good luck and prosperity.

The value for community is to provide the opportunity to create unity in the community so as to jointly acquire merits, to meet each other, and to enjoy the entertaining events. And the social value is to create awareness of the environment and to create a spirit of cooperation

to clean houses, temples, public places, and official buildings. Thais value the religion by means of merit acquisition, offering alms to monks, Dhamma practice, listening to sermons, and monks-bathing.

Thank you