By Tulsathit Taptim

 

Songkran is an elephant and everyone can be one of the blind men fumbling around for its shape. Road accidents make it a nightmare festival for related authorities or rescue workers. Old folks in rural areas count the days for the time when they can see their beloved youngsters again. Teenagers long to be extra-playful with the opposite sex. Foreigners yearn to let loose.

 

UNESCO has approved the inclusion of the Songkran festival in the tentative list of Intangible Cultural Heritages (ICH) for consideration in December this year. On the one hand, it can be understood why. On the other, it’s somewhat hard to pinpoint the cultural or artistic values that make Songkran deserve it more than, say, some other exotic shows in Thailand or abroad that wow foreign visitors.

 

Understandably, UNESCO declared the “Khon”mask dance, Thai massage and the Nora dance performance to be Intangible Cultural Heritages, in 2018, 2019 and 2021 respectively. There is no specific Songkran dance so “Khon” outperforms Songkran in this regard. Nora is the same as “Khon”. Thai massage is world-renowned but try asking the old folks to choose between the services of the “best of the best” masseuses and inexperienced kneading of their grandchildren who went to work in Bangkok.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/its-called-water-festival-just-because-april-is-hot/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2023-04-14

 

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Rubbish! its not Songkran just because its hot, its a change of season, when the Sun moves into Aries from the zodiac or the last day of the year. Something similar to the pagan festival that is just one of many that Christians stole and called it Easter.  Also water goddess of which there are many world wide.