Songkran Festival- Parade Time!

 April 14, 2026

Yesterday was probably the BEST cultural experience that I've had across my three Fulbright projects.  This week is the 3-day Thai New Year.  It coincides with the Songkran Festival which celebrates renewal, purification and the transition in a new year and water is the center piece.  When I say water, you do not go out onto a street almost anywhere in Chiang Mai that you do not get doused at least once during this time.  


On Monday afternoon, there was a large parade celebrating the Songkran Festival in which each Wat (Buddhist temple) had a float in the parade with various organizations and groups filling in between. Though there are 300 Wats in Chiang Mai proper, there were probably 100 represented in this parade which had a 3+ mile route. 


 




Chiang Mai University supported one of the floats and behind it a number of faculty from each of the university's colleges walked behind sporting signs for each college.  As a visiting professor for the Faculty of Nursing (what they call a College of Nursing), I was asked to join them. A significant part of being a US Fulbrighter is embracing and learning the culture as well as executing the actual project.  So, I agreed.  First challenge, finding a large enough navy jacket for me to wear! :-)  Plus, each college wore a different style straw hat, which I was given along with instructions to wear black pants, a black shirt and shoes.  My only black shoes are velvet flats and a pair of sandals, obviously a no-go for parade walking so I went with my white sneakers, which in the end, many of the faculty wore white sneakers as well. 
 

   
                          The lovely lady to my left holding the bowl is the one who graciously
                          brought me a waterproof bag for my camera and my squirt gun!
                        
Now, I've not been in a parade since Fall 1975, when I was Homecoming Alternate for the psychology club, Psi Chi. Yep, at Troy University (BSN 1979). I was 17 years old and rode on the hood of a hot convertible with the club's Homecoming Princess riding on the top of the back seat. A pretty cool memory to have!

However, THIS parade was like nothing I've ever seen nor experienced. The streets were lined with thousands of people with squirt guns, buckets, hoses... all with the intent of "purifying" us with water.  Oh, I was also issued a bazooka style squirt gun to spray the crowds as well.  Given the parade began at 2:30PM and it was HOT, getting hosed down with cool water wasn't so bad.  But the buckets?  THAT water came from the moat that surrounds the ancient walls of the Old City Center constructed in the 1200's (yep, you read that right) and much of which still stands today! Let's just say that is water I would not want to swim in much less inhale nor swallow. An upside to all this water throwing is that it actually cleared the air somewhat.

 

I know!  I know!  I'm sounding like the Progressive commercial "Don't sound like your parents." (perseverating on a topic). However, yesterday- the air quality indicator placed Chiang Mai at a 201- extremely hazardous and Chiang Mai is currently ranked as #4 in the world for the worst air quality.  No wonder I'm coughing up my lungs.  (I'll live.)  But back to the story.... because of all the water thrown into the air- including the water sprayed from 4 Chiang Mai fire trucks (!!), it was not unpleasant. 

   

"Grannies" to toddler had buckets and squirt guns.  I rather stood out among my Chiang Mai colleagues, which made me a target but all in fun.  There are more pictures pending, but parents would encourage their little ones to squirt us, so I would take off my sunglasses and do my "Gma" thing= encouraging the little ones to squirt me and then I'd cover my face in mock horror and squirt their feet in response.  The parents seemed delighted by this and it was probably my favorite part of the event. 

 

   Getting "doused" by buckets of water                    A little one having fun giving me a go with the                                                                                             water gun

Oh, in addition to water, everyone gets din-sor-pong (a paste made of talic from limestone and water) applied to their face. Some sources says that it is just fun without meaning whereas others state that it in celebration or respect for an elder. One bystander came racing up to me and looked in askance if she put some on my cheeks to which I readily agreed.    

I have purchased enough groceries that I am pretty well hunkered down in my apartment until Thursday AM as no way can I get a taxi to take me to a restaurant or more to the point, get a taxi BACK to my apartment. Not a problem.  I live on a quiet street and have enjoyed sitting outside under the building's portico later in the day when the air levels are better. Now, this is a wise thing.  Think of the pictures of Times Square on New Year's Eve in NYC.  That is exactly what happens come nightfall- Sun- Wed nights here this week.  The crowd numbers swell to monumental numbers, tens of thousands of people clog the streets of Chiang Mai around the Old City.  Chiang Mai and Bangkok are holiday destinations due to Songkran Festival.  Because of gas prices (now $6/ gallon here), people who would typically go home to their villages remain in town which also contribute to this year's crowds.

  

The parade was quite tiring. I was picked up at 12:15PM, arrived at the college at 1:15 and by 1:45PM we were in line at the parade route and about 2:45PM our float began to move.  At 5:15PM we finally made it to the parade's end, and we then hoofed it to the college about a mile away where the van driver brought me back to my apartment.  I wore my FitBit and by the time I made it back to my apartment, it was showing 6 miles.  After the parade, I wanted and did indulge in two things- a cold beer and a bubble bath!  Sigh.  Slept the best I have since being here.  

More to share, but this gets my journal moving forward again. Swaidi Pi Mai- Happy New Year from Chiang Mai!!!

Stepping Off the Sidewalk.... Into New Adventures,

Karen

 

Disclaimer: The content of my writing strictly represents my personal views and not those of the University of Florida, the U.S. government, the Department of State, or partner organizations.

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