For many centuries Songkran, the Thai New Year celebrated in April, had a special meaning for Thais, one that drew on both religious belief and tradition. But today, with a much larger population, both society and ways of thinking have changed.
A wide gulf has opened between the way Songkran is celebrated between people who still stick strictly to tradition and those who see it as just another calendar holiday. These two groups are in strong opposition. How do they view each other?
The first of them, the conservative, tradition-conscious group, feel that most people who take a more progressive approach to the New Year have little understanding of its real significance.
For the second group, it is only an extended holiday when people from the provinces are obliged to return home to visit parents and relatives. After visiting the family they go out and get together with friends to eat, drink and have a good time. The chief importance of the holiday is that it provides probably the only chance in the course of the year to get together with old friends to get drunk.
People who live in Bangkok or other big cities do not have to go anywhere to spend time with parents or relatives, but take advantage of the long holiday to get out of the city and into the provinces or, if they have the budget for it, to go abroad. Those who don’t go anywhere stay in the city and have fun by splashing water on each other at places around town — in Bangkok there are Silom and Khao San roads, for example — where it is officially permitted. The water-throwing has little to do with traditional Songkran, however. It is just a way of cutting loose to have fun.
Many people set themselves up next to roads with a basin or tank of water to throw water at passers-by, even bus passengers, or they load everything onto a pickup truck and ride around splashing anyone in range. The roadside becomes a stage for dancing, drinking and generally letting go, while less-used city roads are recruited for motorcycle races.
The whole scene could suggest a teenage zombie apocalypse to an unprepared newcomer. The strange thing is that Buddhist temples, which should be the focus of traditional Songkran activities, remain quiet and empty.
This is the way that people who retain the traditional attitude toward Songkran see those who take a looser view.
Conversely, the more progressive Thais who celebrate Songkran in a modern way view the traditionalists as old-timers stuck in the past and unreceptive to new things, dead wood who don’t have much time left and are only interested in religion. They see them as finding no pleasure in the idea of having fun, anchored to the old ways of doing things and unaware of the fact that society and its lifestyles change and evolve with time. They take a dim view of those less devoted to doing things traditionally, especially when it comes to Songkran activities.
Both groups with their opposing attitudes go their separate ways as they celebrate the Thai New Year, enjoying it in the manner they prefer.
Rites: villagers pour water over Buddha images and monks.
Traditional offering: ‘khao chae’ prepared for visitors.
Old ways: Sala Daeng Nuea is a quiet riverside village.
But what is Songkran, actually? Originally it was the Thai New Year according to the lunar calendar, the same lunar standard used by the Chinese in determining the Chinese New Year. When Thailand adopted the international calendar they designated January 1 as New Year’s Day and April 13 as the Thai New Year, so there were two different new year’s days.
Celebrating the original New Year in the past, a housewife would prepare food to offer to the temple. In the morning people would listen to monks’ sermons at the temple, and if any of their ancestors’ bones were there they would take some of the same food as an offering to them. Holy water from the temple would also be sprinkled on the stupa containing the bones.
When they returned home and the family were all together, they would wai, or pay respect to, the eldest one or to the parents. They would offer them a new set of clothes and ask for blessings from family elders. None of this took a lot of time. Respects were paid to monks, ancestors and elder family members. It was a simple way of observing the New Year that was practised everywhere.
Another well-known and accepted way of celebrating the New Year is that observed by the Mon people. Thais see Mon monks as being very strict, and the Mon as devout Buddhists who conduct their lives rigorously according to their faith.
The Mon prepare food in advance for Songkran Day, a special dish called Khao Songkran, as an offering for the divine being Nang Songkran who, according to legend, brought the head of her father down so that people on earth could make offerings to it. Mon households set their offerings of Khao Songkran for Nang Songkran on a shelf outside the house early in the morning, before dawn. Later the same dish is given to the elder family members who live in the house compound, and then taken to the temple for the monks.
At home, respect is paid to the household Buddha image and in the afternoon to the bones of ancestors in stupas at the temple. After the monks have chanted and the people have listened to a sermon, holy water is poured over the temple’s main Buddha image and also over the monks.
The water is poured in a special way, using a long waterspout which extends into a cabinet that is completely enclosed. The monk sits inside of this enclosure so that the holy water can be poured over him. People of both sexes and all ages join in, while inside the cabinet a male assistant stands by to help the monk. Afterwards it is time to celebrate and have fun, although the Mon do not permit alcohol or intoxicants of any kind to be used.
Khao Songkran, also known as khao chae, in its authentic Mon form, uses rice that has been cooked so that the grains stay separate, fully cooked but not allowed to burst open. The rice grains are placed in water that has been perfumed using a scented candle with jasmine flowers scattered on top. The side dishes served with it include dried fish that has been pounded to a fine consistency and then fried with sugar, Chinese radish chopped and fried with seasoning to make it sweet and salty, sweet-salty fried semi-dried pork, pickled garlic fried with egg and salted eggs. These are the basic features of the Mon New Year celebration.
The Mon in Thailand are spread through many communities, but one of the cleanest and quietest, where tradition and Buddhism are observed with the greatest strictness and respect, is Sala Daeng Nuea, centred around Wat Sala Daeng, on the bank of the Chao Phraya River at Amphoe Chiang Rak Noi in Pathum Thani. Sala Daeng Nuea has been cited as the area’s model community since 1995. It is small, clean and orderly, with no drunkenness or disruptive behaviour. Every afternoon at 4pm the residents gather at the temple to chant, and although this activity does not require much time, it is a daily event that has been passed on for centuries.
After Songkran Day has passed there are three more days of observances. After the daily chanting, holy water is still poured over the image and the monks. Some members of the community continue to observe the five precepts for many days afterward. When visitors come, the aura of Songkran remains in the air, and the guests are treated to meal of khao chae — a beautiful tradition.
One reason why Sala Daeng Nuea is calm and cool is that it is located on the bank of a river. But the real calmness and serenity is in the minds of its inhabitants. It may be a conservative community whose values and ideals are unchanging, but it is anything but dead wood. It is alive and thriving in a way that many given to more active and updated ideas might well envy. n
