Talk:Songkran (Thailand)

Who know starting which year Songkran was fixed to April 13
Who know starting which year Songkran was fixed to April 13? Accoring to Holidayfestival in 1997 it was on April 14-16 instead - can anyone disprove this? Ahoerstemeier 21:17 Jan 30, 2003 (UTC)

The name songkran appears to be a corruption of Sankranthi...is it?

I have more photos on my web site (including higher resolution versions of the two on this page). I don't want to add a link to my site to the main page. If anybody else feels it's worth it then put it on there: http://www.kirit.com/สงกรานต์—Songkran. I can upload any other pictures to Commons if anybody wants to use them in the article. KayEss | talk 05:18, 14 August 2006 (UTC)


 * A picture of the traditional ceremony would be nice. I see there is one on your site, but it's not clear to me what's happening in it. HenryFlower 19:12, 15 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I was trying to get some better pictures of that, but they didn't come out well enough. It'll have to wait until next year now KayEss | talk 04:20, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Move to Songkran or Songkran Festival?
The celebrations are commonly known as such in English, especially in tourism, and the new year aspect of the festivals is somewhat diminished nowadays. Paul C 21:29, 16 August 2006 (UTC)


 * The first day of the Khmer New Year is also called Songkran, which may be a problem. Of course if we were really being fair then Songkran wouldn't redirect here. So I'm neutral. HenryFlower 23:11, 16 August 2006 (UTC)


 * I think we should. User:Ethanfeng308.10719User talk:Ethanfeng308.10719 13:53, 21 March 2021 (UTC)

Sawatdi pi mai
I really doubt that sawatdi pi mai is really traditional new year greeting. The word sawatdi, from sanskrit svasti, as a greeting began only in mid-20th century, during the regime of Plaek Phibunsongkhram. -- KINKKU  •  ANANAS  16:45, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

Annually for 70 years, has a ring of tradition to it. TheHamburger (talk) 06:51, 4 December 2017 (UTC)

fix subhead and photo?
I don't know how to move the subhead "Greetings" or the photo so that they do not overlap. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ed8r (talk • contribs) 17:33, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Google Chedi Sai Songkran
2011 April 15, I accessed Google from Thailand, which automatically sends me to the Thai version. I requested the standard English version, and got a start page with GOOGLE rendered in Indic script. Clicking on the image returned ก่อเจดีย์ทรายวันสงกรานต์ search for sand chedi songkran. Chedi is the usual Thai term for stupa, and เจดีย์ทราย chedi sai is a Buddhist form of sand art and play. I don't know that users outside Thailand get the same image (and search result) so won't post it to the article. The 'sand play and art' involves bringing river sand to a wat at the end of the Dry Season, to renew sand carried away on feet during the year, lest the wat become a hole in the ground. The sand is formed into Buddhist motifs, which are then washed away by the coming rains, giving a lesson on the impermanence of life.

Except for the Sand Chedi, Ban Plab T.Duthung +15° 53' 29.26" +104° 4' 55.29" A.Meuang Yasothon, that the local people say is over 400 years old. It is near, but not on, the grounds of the village wat. Its lesson is the persistence of the local people, despite everything modern trying to wash them away. Since it is not appropriate for Wikipedia, I suppose I should write it up for Wikitravel. But GOOGLE's 15 April start page, at least when accessed from Thailand, beat me to it. --Pawyilee (talk) 15:37, 13 April 2011 (UTC) --Pawyilee (talk) 13:20, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Public nudity
...fined THB500 each... I strongly suspect that the abbreviation "THB" is not commonly understood by speakers of English; I recommend spelling-out "Thai baht." A rough conversion to a more familiar currency like "around $15" or "around £10" or even "around 14½€" might also be helpful. ☺ Dick Kimball (talk) 12:26, 13 April 2015 (UTC)

THB is commonly used as the abbreviation for Thai Baht much like USD, GBP or Eur. It is the ISO 4217 standard. The symbol is ฿, which has subsequently appropriated by the Bitcoin community. I don't think a rough conversion is necessary. The THB is not pegged to any other currency. TheHamburger (talk) 06:44, 4 December 2017 (UTC)

Not a lunar New Year
Why does the link to other articles at the top of this one imply that Songkran is a "lunar" new year?

"For other traditions of celebrating the lunar new year, see Lunar New Year." implies that it's lunar or at least lunisolar, but the description of the calculation of the date doesn't involve the moon at all, it involves the sun entering a specific place in the zodiac, making this a solar calendar. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.114.46.209 (talk) 01:13, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

Meme

 * SuS*

😗 103.165.115.77 (talk) 15:30, 26 March 2022 (UTC)

Citation issues
Some of the citations like 3 and 6 return document not found or just put you on the home page of the website, is there any archive of these or is it a lost cause? Bean guy2 (talk) 08:29, 22 February 2024 (UTC)


 * The citations are well-formatted references to print sources, so they remain valid as offline sources. Anyway, I've replaced the Thai Royal Institute link. --Paul_012 (talk) 09:53, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

Origin of the world "Songkran"
I found out that Wiki Songkran said "The word Songkran is a  Thai  word". But in Wiki Songkran (Thailand) said "Songkran is a  Khmer  word". Which one is the right one? Utopiabandish (talk) 08:20, 14 April 2024 (UTC)


 * @Utopiabandish The word Songkran is  Thai  word as citations states;
 * V. S. Bhaskar, Government of Assam, India. (2009). "Festivals: Songkran", Faith & Philosophy of Buddhism. New Delhi, India: Kalpaz Publications. 312 pp. pp. 261-262. ISBN 978-817-8-35722-5 . "Songkran is a Thai word which means 'move'..."
 * Anouska Komlosy. "Procession and Water Splashing: Expressions of Locality and Nationality during Dai New Year in Xishuangbanna: Songkran", The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 10(2). (2004, June). London: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. JSTOR #i370994. p. 357. " The term Songkran is a Thai word meaning ' to move ', and it refers here to the Sun, which moves into the sign of Aries at this time of the year."
 * Prakong Nimmanahaeminda, Academy of Arts, Royal Society of Thailand. "Myth and Ritual : A Study of the Songkran Festival", The Journal of The Royal Society of Thailand, 29(1–2), (2004, January–March). pp. 345–350. " Songkran is a Thai word which means of movement."
 * Malaysia, Jabatan Perpaduan Negara Dan Integrasi Nasional (JPNIN). (1985). Festivals and religious occasions in Malaysia. (First series). Kuala Lumpur: The National Unity Department of Malaysia, Prime Minister's Dept. 36 pp. p. 26. "‘SONGKRAN’ is a Traditional New Year of the Thai people and this day normally fulls in the month of April. 'SONGKRAN' is a Thai word meaning change of exchange ."
 * Sir. Philip John Newling Ward, Maj. Gen. (1974). "THE SONGKRAN FESTIVAL", Bangkok: Portrait of a City. Cambridge, United Kingdom: The Oleander Press. 136 pp. p. 111. ISBN 978-090-2-67544-5 . " Thai word ' Songkran ' literally means a move or chang e".
 * James Hastings, John Alexander Selbie, Louis Herbert Gray. (1912). "FESTIVALS AND FACTS (Siamese)", Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics Vol. 5. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 886.
 * I also did research many books, no information of "Songkran is a Khmer word". Thanks Quantplinus (talk) 03:43, 15 April 2024 (UTC)

Arrest section importance?
Does the current section warrant keeping on the page under "Controversies"?

For starters, the link for the second arrest is dead.

The first one mentions a 300 baht fine, which is tiny, even for Thai wages. That's basically under an hour's minimum wage for a local, and equivalent to $1 USD for a foreigner. I'm not sure it rises to the level of the "controversy" section it's under. SashaBerkman (talk) 14:32, 15 April 2024 (UTC)