Photos: The Songkran Water Festival in Chiang Mai
Wow, the Thais really know how to celebrate New Year. In the US, we drink and maybe dress up a bit, then watch a ball drop from a tower. Here, they spend three days drinking, partying and dowsing each other in water. And no place does it better than Chiang Mai, where the entire city is packed with thousands of people waging friendly war on each other with water guns and buckets of ice water. Ages ranged from 2 to 90, but for three glorious days, we all acted like giddy children.
{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }
as usual — great photos. I love the spirit that is so apparent in the kids’ eyes.
no social media or RT buttons on your posts??
Oh how I miss the peace/V for photos, really nice upbeat photos Wes.
Thank you Ayngelina!
Excellent shots! We’re in Bangkok ~ I was afraid to take my camera out for Songkran (good, because I was soaked through and covered in chalk for days…) love your photos.
Yeah it was nerve-wracking. Didn’t shoot nearly as much as I’d liked but made up for it by having crazy fun slinging water.
Happy songkran!
Happy songkran! Thanks.
Nice photos! I celebrated on Ko Phi Phi-things got a little crazy but it was a majority of foreigners celebrating. Happy Songkran!
Happy Songkran! Glad you got to have some fun.
I love the one of the girl spraying water in the face of the guy sitting next to her… so playful! This celebration looks like a blast. :)
She was hilarious and a total backstabber. She doused me with several buckets even though we were on the same team.
I really feel how energetic and fun those 3 days were.
Loving this new format, it really lends a nice presentation to your photos. What camera are you using? I’m thinking of shopping around for a new one and okay, maybe I want to be you (talented photographer). And how did you manage to not get your camera soaked?
Thanks, Jeannie! I’m shooting a Canon 550D, (Rebel T2i in the US). I’ve really been happy with it. Would love a full-frame body and fancy lenses, of course, but it’s not gonna happen anytime soon. I would have loved to shoot more during Songkran, but was really worried about the equipment. My waterproof housing was a plastic bag from 7-11, wrapped around the camera and held with a rubber band ;)
Wow! I really have no idea on how to wrap camera with plastic. I should learn this as I want to take pictures of Songkran badly! :)
Nice! It’s really active. I love the layout of photos too. Shame I just missed that! But I read many Songkaran celebrations through blogger friends. What a nice world. :) Happy Songkaran Johnny!
Happy Songkran, Juno! Thanks for the RTs too :)
Wes, great photos as always. These make me yearn to be back in Thailand, and I’m loving NZ at the moment. I stumbled it and was getting ready to write my comment, “Fantastic photos as always from Wes,” and noticed @Ayngelina’s comment was, “Stunning photos as always from Wes.” :-) Safe travels mate
Ha! Thanks, brother. Have fun out there.
Amazing photos! This looks like so much fun. I wanna go!
Next year! I really can’t recommend it enough.
great stuff!
Fab pix… Was in Chiang Mai too and this really captures the essence of the festival. A lot more playful in Chiang Mai than Bangkok in my opinion. Everyone gets involved!
Agreed. It’s hilarious having a 60 year old woman pour a bucket down your back.
Great job capturing the feel and flavor of a local celebration, with a modern eye.
Thank you :)
Great photos! You really seem to have captured the spirit of the event. And everything is so colorful! It looks like a lot of (soggy) fun.
It’s a blast. I wish I’d taken more photos but was having too much fun.
Nacho Libre masks and super soakers! That is my kind of party! Great photos
I love Chiang Mai. Planned to stay four days there and ended up there for two weeks. I can only imagine how awesome it is during Songkran. Looks like an incredible time.
Beautiful town, isn’t it?
Great pics! The guys with the masks and water guns looked hardcore :)
They were!
Very cool! Nice Shots Wes. The celebration looks like a lot of fun. My fingers are crossed that Beth and I might be in Chiang Mai for the holiday.
Thanks, Randy. You won’t regret it, I promise.
So much life and movement in these shots!
Thanks so much, Kyle. It’s hard to take a bad photo during the event.
You’re an amazing photographer! Love them all
Thanks so much :)
Daring to get so close with such a nice camera! A rain cape is a nice substitute for that plastic bag that is still not expensive like a housing (overkill) but pretty effective for non-submersion water protection. But hey, whatever works!
Love this! I’ve always wanted to do Songkran, but never been in the right place. This really catches the spirit of it, for me. Must have been soooo much fun.
Next year! I suspect I’ll be back.
Great shots Wes. That second truck one takes me right back to the action. Next time we will have to rent a truck. Great meeting you over the past few weeks.
Dude, I totally agree on the truck (or an open-top tuktuk. I had so much fun — huge thanks to you and Jessee for being part of it.
Great pictures! We should totally do that here in the US! In fact…I think I will have a water fight new years party…XD Thanks for the idea and the pictures!
Ha! That sounds like fun :)
Awesome Wes! The best Songkran photo collection I’ve seen… it’s like I was there… hey, wait a minute!
Ha! And I think you were the only person who *didn’t* put a bucket of water down my back. Good on ya :)
This is the coolest thing – so much color – I love that. In the photo with the truck, where is the water coming from? It’s amazing how you caught every chaotic droplet! -Veronica
That’s a full-on bucket war. They have barrels of ice water in the truck and are just sling it out as fast as they can. It’s a bit crazy.
Great photos – as always! I just arrived in CM and am so disappointed to have missed the festival. By the way, I think I may have seen you on Thursday night walking away from the Night Bazaar area! I wasn’t quite sure though…
Great photos Johnny, Been promising myself a new waterproof camera for the last 2 Songkrans, your pics have inspired me, next year for sure.
Nice! Do it!
Cool shots! Looks like crazy fun. Glad your camera survived the assault. :)
Thanks, Matt — there were some close calls. My iPhone didn’t fair as well…
Really cool photos! I want to be in Thailand for Songkran one day!