2024/4/12 21:43 (updated at 4/12 21:56)
The Thai New Year Songkran Festival, commonly known as the Water Splashing Festival, will be held from the 13th to the 15th. On the afternoon of the 12th, tourists were already having water fights on the streets of Bangkok, kicking off the Songkran holiday.Photographed by Central News Agency reporter Lu Xinli in Bangkok on April 12, 113
(Central News Agency reporter Lu Xinli’s special report in Bangkok on the 12th) One of Thailand’s important festivals, the Water-Splashing Festival, is about to take place. This evening, a large number of people have gathered on the streets of Bangkok to have water fights, kicking off the Water-Splashing Festival holiday. The Thai government estimates that domestic and foreign tourists during the Songkran Festival can bring in 24.3 billion baht in tourism revenue.
Every April 13th to 15th is the Buddhist New Year Songkran, commonly known as the Water Splashing Festival. It is one of the important festivals in Thailand and is also a time for Thais to return home for the festival.
The Songkran Festival is not exclusive to Thailand. Neighboring Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia all celebrate the Songkran Festival. However, the Thai government was the first to apply to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to list the Songkran Festival as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (Intangible Cultural Heritage), and in December last year The application for World Heritage was successful.
The Thai government is gearing up to expand celebrations of this year’s Songkran Festival, hoping to revive the weak economic performance affected by the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) epidemic in the festive atmosphere. The government extended this year’s Songkran holiday from April 12 to 16, and announced that celebrations will be held in rotation across the country from April 1 to 21.
Thais traditionally go to Buddhist temples to donate money or items to the temple authorities or monks during the Songkran Festival. The monks then sprinkle holy water on the people to symbolize blessings. People will also pour water on the Buddha statue, which is called “bathing the Buddha”. . In addition, Thai people will also sprinkle water on the hands of family elders to symbolize respect and receive blessings from the elders.
However, the tradition of praying with water has evolved in recent decades to the point where people all over the street have water fights on the streets. Crazy splashing of water has also become a well-known scene of the Songkran Festival. Tourists from all over the world gather in Thailand just to enjoy this crazy water. battle.
Although tomorrow is the first day of Songkran Festival, from this afternoon to evening, crowds have begun to gather on the streets of Bangkok such as Silom, Khaosan, Nana and other districts to have water fights to unveil the Songkran Festival. Opening ceremony.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand estimates that tourism revenue during the Songkran holiday should increase by 49% compared with the same period last year. Thailand’s domestic tourism revenue can reach approximately 15.6 billion baht (approximately NT$13.7 billion); international tourists can attract approximately 510,000 It can contribute about 8.7 billion baht in tourism revenue. (Editor: Chen Huizhen) 1130412
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