Songkran Festival (The Water Throwing Festival on Thai-New Year)
Songkran is the old New Year's Day for the Thai people. The Songkran Celebration takes place on April 13th. On Songkran day, early in the morning, food is offered to monks. Later people make merit by freeing birds, fish and turtles, and by donating money to temples and the needy.
One of the important activities Thais do is visit and pay respect to their parents, the elder members of their family, and other people they respect. Traditionally, they will present them with flowers or small gifts and pour scented or perfumed water over their hands while asking for their blessings. This is to show respect, appreciation and love and to extend best wishes for the coming year as well.
Here we are having some fun at ISB. Dern Gala (Dern=walk and Gala=coconut shell) is one Thai game that uses coconut shell tied with ropes. When young Thai children don't go to school, they run around the house looking for something to do. What they always see in great number is "Gala" or "Coconut Shell", because coconut are used extensively in Thai kitchens. One way they can have fun is to have a gala race or relay. One thing that the players have to remember is that they are out if their feet touch the ground. Glong Yao (Glong=drum and Yao=long) is a long drum which originally came from Burma during the Ayudhaya Era. The Thais were fascinated by the shape and the sound of it, so they adapted the shape and tones to fit Thai melodies. Nowadays, people play "Glong Yao" in processions such as Songkran procession, Ordination procession etc. Maa Khaeng (Maa=horse and Khaeng=race) is a racing game that use the stems of banana leaves. There are more than 50 kinds of bananas in Thailand and the Thais use bananas for many things. The fruits are eaten, the leaves are used to wrap things instead of paper, and the trunks are fed to animals. Children find a way to make good use of the banana stems. They make banana horses and have races or "Maa Khaeng" in Thai. Another Thai word for this game is "Maa Gaan Gluay" which means banana-stem-horse.
This page was written by Siriluck Hiri-O-Tappa, Thai Language Teacher and
prepared by Pimolpun Burapharat, ISB ES Tech Coordinator