Boun Pimai- Lao New Year
 

Boun Pimai (Pimai Lao), one of the most important annual festivals in Laos, is to be celebrated as the Laos’ New Year, lasting from 13th to 15th April.
The first month of the Lao New Year is actually December but festivities are delayed until April when days are longer than nights. By April, it’s also heating up, so having hoses leveled at you and buckets of water dumped on you is more pleasurable. It is a combination of merriment and meditation.
Similar to festivals at this time of year in other Southeast Asian countries, Boun Pimai is celebrated with parades, circle dance (Lamvong), traditional Lao folk song (Mor lam) and enthusiastic water - throwing. Temple compounds are further decorated with small sand Stupas, offered as merit towards good fortune and health.
Pi Mai- the lunar New Year begins in mid - April and practically the entire country comes to a halt and celebrates. Houses are cleaned, people wear new clothes and Buddha images are washed with lustral water. In the wats, offerings of fruit and flowers are made at various altars and votive mounds of sand or stone are fashioned in the courtyards. Later the citizens take to the streets and douse others with water, which is an appropriate activity as April is usually the hottest month of the year. This festival is particularly picturesque in Luang Prabang, where it includes elephant processions…

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Chaul Chnam Thmey- Cambodian New Year
 

Cambodian New Year (Chaul Chnam Thmey) celebrated in 3 days (usually from 14th April) - after the end of the harvest to mark the turn of the year according to the Buddhist lunar calendar and at the same time as the Thai New Year.
Every house is decorated to please the Heaven God, shrines are filled with food and traditional games are organized. Many people are on the streets, armed with small bags of water and water pistols to bless people passing by. Crowds congregate at the Wat Phom in Phnom Penh and flock from the provinces to Angkor to petition for blessings in the year ahead.
During the first day or Koha Sonkran, the Cambodians make offerings and prayers at local temples and wash themselves with holy water at various times of the day.
The second day or Wanabat, is a day of service to the poor, homeless and needy.
On the final day or Long Sakk, the Cambodians clean their elders and Buddha statues with perfumed water as an act to invite good luck and happiness. In Phnom Penh, the Cambodian royal family calls upon the king to promise allegiance and to wish him good health. The day continues with entertainment as boxing, elephant and horse races and a royal procession.

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Songkran - traditional Thai New Year Water Festival
 

Songkran is the most important feast for Thai people. Songkran event normally falls on the 15th full moon but the government of Phibulsongkran fixed Songkran as the 13th of April prior to World War II. Often called "water festival", Songkran is the ancient New Year - water festival which starts on April 13 every year.
The word Songkran comes from the Pali language of the Therevada Buddhist scriptures (Sankhara) and the Sanskrit word (Sankranti) for movement or change.
In ancient times, it was celebrated as a moveable feast, and set to occur as the sun moved into the Aries portion of the zodiac. In modern times the date has been fixed as April 13.
The festival lasts in 4 days:
- Maha Songkran Day is the first day of the celebrations which marks the end of the old year.
- April 14, Wan Nao is the day between the ending of the old year and the beginning of the New Year when foods are prepared for the temples
- The third day of Songkran, April 15, is Wan Thaloeng Sok - the day on which the New Year begins
- Wan Parg-bpee, the ancestors and elders are honored.
The tradition traces back to the pre- Buddhist rituals of spring festivals where the throwing of water was meant as a symbol of luck to bring good rain for the crops. It was later converted to the religious custom of cleansing the statues of Buddha once a year. In many places there are parades with the statues of Buddha and as the parades pass, crowds shower the Buddha with water.
Pouring small amounts of scented lustral water on the heads of the elders on Wan Parg-bpee as a sign of respect is also part of this custom. In many temples throughout Thailand people bring sand to symbolically replace the sand that they have carried away on their sandals throughout the year. The sand is formed into pagodas called phra chedis sai and decorated with colorful flags as part of the Songkran New Year festivities. It may be that this tradition began as part of the cleansing rituals where new, clean sand was added to the floor of the temple once a year.
The foods served at traditional Songkran Festivals depend on the part of Thailand you visit. Pad Thai Noodles; Khao Chae, a delicious rice dish; Gaeng Kiew Wahn Gai, chicken with green curry; krayasad, a mixture made from puffed rice, oats, peanuts and Thai noodles that is sweetened with palm sugar and coconut syrup; Kanom Tom, sticky rice and mung bean balls piled high into a pyramid shaped dessert and Kanom Krok, coconut rice pancakes are some of the more universal Thai foods enjoyed during the Songkran festival.
Besides Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia tour, we also offer tour to Thailand. Let us show you the attraction of this country in the festival days as well as in the daily life.

 
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Myanmar Water Festival
 

Myanmar (or Burma) celebrates the New Year in the second week of April every year. The festival is called Thingyan but has become more widely known as the Water Festival.
According to the ancient tradition of Myanmar, they have committed sins the whole year. There is also a belief in Myanmar-Burma that these sins could be washed away during the festival and purified both in mind and spirit by throwing one another with Thingyan Water.
Thus everyone in Myanmar-Burma is happy with a belief that they would be completely innocent after they are purified during the festival, physically and spiritually in the next year. As a meritorious deed during the water festival, some youngsters in Myanmar-Burma wash the hair of old people and them too. Moreover, there’s also a custom in Myanmar-Burma to buy live fish and cows during the festival and let them loose in sanctuaries or rivers or lakes on the final day of Thingyan Ah-Tet Day (the final day of Thingyan).
This is a Myanmar festival custom that concerns Myanmar religion. Most of the Burmese believe in Theravada Buddhism. Therefore, killing any living creature is a sinful act. Water festival is organized rather same in Thailand. Burmese will throw water on others with the intention to purify their mind and spirit, its really getting wet. Tourists who visit Myanmar during the water festival will have chance to experience the real feeling of getting wet in a great atmosphere.

Along with Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia tour, we also offer tour to Myanmar. Let us show you the attraction of Myanmar in the festival days.

 
For a memorable tour in Thailand, please contact us for the best service!

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