In Thailand this week, the Thai people will be breaking out their squirt guns for the Songkran festival. The festival, which used to mark the official Thai New Year before the government changed New Year to January 1, is celebrated as a national holiday for four days.

The most written about activity related to this holiday is the throwing of water (sometimes mixed with mentholated talc and often mixed with other colors). But what is even more striking about the entire festival is how the Thai people integrate modern infusions into their own time-honored traditions.

The tradition of throwing water predates Buddhism

While many people associate the water festival with Buddhism, its association with Buddhism didn't solidify until statues of Buddha were paraded through the towns and cities. The Thai people began throwing water on the statues because the act of throwing water has long been held as a sign of good luck for harvests.

The festival, in general, is a sign of cleansing the old and renewal, which is why some towns and villages also release small birds into the air and small fish into the streams. Shop owners clean their restaurants and markets; monks clean and cleanse their temples. And it is also an important time to visit and pay respects to elders — including family members, friends, and neighbors — to renew bonds with them.

At the same time, the Thai people have always been quick to renew their celebrations with modern technologies. When garden hoses and buckets of water weren't festive enough, young people (and then everybody) began roaming the streets with squirt guns. It is impossible to go almost anywhere in Thailand without getting wet! Even police officers carry squirt guns.


"There is no other festival that quite compares with Songkran in Thailand," says Alan Wong, general manager of Kung Fu Plaza in Las Vegas. "There are variations of it all over the Asia and it does have a resemblance to the Indian festival of Holi, but the Thai people's love for celebrations adds an energy unlike any other in the world."

Wong says that his family's restaurant celebrates the Songkran festival in Las Vegas, but in a much quieter fashion. He says they do wash their statue of Buddha, honor traditional spiritual aspects, and make it about family. However, he adds, sometimes he is tempted to start the largest water fight in Las Vegas.

"Once you have seen the way Thai people celebrate first hand, it's hard not to carry the experience with you," smiles Wong. "However, I do not think our patrons in Las Vegas would understand the meaning if we splashed some water on them. Maybe in the hot months of July and August they would appreciate it, but not in tamer April. In Thailand, April is the hottest month."

Songkran is held April 13-15. Visitors are often reminded to leave cameras or anything that might get damaged by water safely in their hotel rooms. As one publication recently warned, it is not uncommon to have buckets and containers of water thrown at you by teams of merry makers in the backs of trucks.

Happy New Year! Kung Fu Plaza is the oldest and most authentic Thai restaurant in Las Vegas. It was opened in 1973, after the Wong family immigrated from Thailand. My family, like many Thai people, has both Thai and Chinese ancestors.