Fun festival makes a splash
By Itsarin Tisantia
Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
The Songkran festival, which is Thailand’s famous traditional New Year, is on again from April 13 to 15. On this occasion, locals and foreigners always enjoy splashing water on one another.
For this week’s Freeze Frame, SW takes a look at some of the joyful Songkran activities held throughout the kingdom during last year’s celebrations.
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A woman decorates a 15-metre-tall sand pagoda in the compound of Jetrin Temple in Chiang Mai in preparation for Songkran celebrations. |
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Buddhists pour water onto Buddha images at the Ancient City in Samut Prakan province, while praying for prosperity and good luck in the coming year. |
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Foreign tourists enjoy using water guns to wet other revellers in central Chiang Mai. |
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Teenagers riding on pick-up trucks gleefully splash water on one another in Khon Kaen. |
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A Songkran beauty pageant contestant in traditional costume aims a water gun at a passer-by while sitting in a procession heading for City Hall in Bangkok. |
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Teens in drag make their way to celebrate Songkran on Khao Niew Road in central Khon Kaen. |
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Highway police distribute coffee to drivers at a checkpoint in Chum Phon to keep them awake and encourage them to drive safely during the Songkran holidays. |
Exercises
Read through Freeze Frame. Then, find words used in the article that can be used to fill in the blanks in the following sentences.
1. Beauty pageant contestants join a _________________ to City Hall.
2. The police __________________ coffee to drivers during Songkran.
3. The dancers were dressed in traditional Thai _________________.
4. A tall sand ________________ was decorated at Jetrin Temple.
Vocabulary
- water gun (n): a toy gun that shoots water
reveller (n): a person who is having fun in a noisy way, usually with a group of other people
gleefully (adv): in a very happy and fun way
