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Children and adults splashing each other with buckets and hoses during a Songkran water fight in Thailand

Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Samui Water Color Songkran Festival 2019

Source
  • 12 - 14 April 2019
  • Chaweng Beach Road and Central Festival Samui, Chaweng
  • First quarter
  • Festivals and culture Koh Samui

By

The Samui Water Color Songkran Festival ran as a three-day, three-night event from 12 to 14 April 2019 on Chaweng Beach Road.

About this event

Songkran is the Thai New Year, celebrated nationwide from 13 to 15 April. Its older form is quiet: paying respect to elders, making merit at temples and pouring water over Buddha statues. Over time the water became the public side of the holiday and the festival turned into a national water fight. Chaweng Beach Road is the busiest place on Koh Samui for it, and people there use water guns, buckets and hoses.

The Samui Water Color Songkran Festival, as the 2019 programme was named, put the traditional ceremonies and the street party into one programme with the road as its main stage. The programme was published by the Thailandee blog and by hotel travel guides, and the official organiser is not named in those sources. Songkran dates are fixed, so this event follows the calendar and not the moon. Expect to get wet if you walk along the beach road on those days.

The facts

  1. On 13 April a parade and opening ceremony were held around Central Festival, with morning alms-giving at Phru Chaweng.
  2. DJ sets ran every day from noon to midnight at the Central Festival car park and the Solo bar.

Why it matters

Shows how Thai New Year water-fight celebrations were organised as a structured festival in Chaweng before the pandemic.

More nights like this

Festivals and culture on Koh Samui

Samui's cultural calendar follows the Thai lunar and Buddhist year. Songkran, on 13 to 15 April, is a water fight on the east coast, in Chaweng and Lamai, while west-coast villages keep a calmer, temple-centred version with blessings and merit-making. Loy Krathong falls on the November full moon, when people float small baskets on lakes and ponds. Chinese New Year brings feasting and temple visits. The Samui Festival has held a parade ending at Pru Chaweng Park. Expect restricted alcohol sales on holy days, and check dates a few weeks ahead.

Around Chaweng

Chaweng is the main resort town on Samui's east coast, with the longest beach on the island, roughly 7 km of sand. Soi Green Mango, just back from the beach, is the nightlife alley, and Central Festival Samui sits between the beach road and Chaweng Lake. Chaweng Beach Road is one-way northbound and slows to a crawl between 17:00 and 20:00 with taxis, scooters and pedestrians. Most club nights, pool parties and Muay Thai bouts are here, and Pru Chaweng Park hosts public festivals and races.

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