Travel Haiku - Thai New Year The Songkran Poem by john tiong chunghoo

songkran
between shivers their
roaring laughters

songkran
their warm laughters break
through the chill

songkran
the water breaks the ice
between the city folk

songkran
her lotus lamp floats out
to sea

songkran
amid the sea the lotus lamp
flickers

foreign land
roaring joy as the lotus lamp
floats out to sea

as her songkran lamp
floats out to sea
her silence and tears

Songkran
water too cleans
away bad luck

Songkran - water
laughter, and jeers
make the day

the tourists say
splash us
splash us

Songkran
he laughs 'the bad year
is now washed away'

Thailand's traditional New Year's festival, Songkran, will be celebrated from April 12 to 15. Though Songkran involves making food offerings and participating in religious rituals, it entails one especially fun tradition—the water fight that occurs on Khao San Road in Bangkok. As it's considered good luck to splash water on others during this celebration (and it's also the hottest time of year in Thailand) , people bring water guns, buckets, and even trucks full of water to join in on the fun.