Neil Aronson If you are visiting Thailand, or live there, you may want to enjoy these crazy festivals for fun, history, and Thai culture. Mostly fun! Many of these crazy festivals have a long cultural history, and besides their true meaning, they are worth seeing and enjoying. I had been visiting my in-laws in Thailand for 15 years before I finally was there for Loy Krathong and the famous lantern festival at the end of November. Now I can’t wait to enjoy it every year.
One thing is for sure about Thailand, the locals know how to have fun. And with loose ‘rules’ and casual attitudes, these crazy festivals are allowed to be crazy and fun, while maintaining Thai culture. To be sure, there is a mix of serious ceremonies celebrating Thai culture within some of the more crazy festivals.
Not only is Thailand home to exquisite beaches and palm-fringed coastlines, but it is also a destination that is saturated in fascinating culture and traditions that are profoundly influenced by spirituality and religion. There are many festivals that celebrate and pay respect to these captivating influences year-round throughout the country. So visitors who enjoy the cultural inside scoop would do well to plan their trip accordingly.
The festivals offer a glimpse into Thailand’s long-standing history and rich heritage. While the majority of Thai festivals are cultural ceremonies, there are also certain celebrations that are specific to certain cities or regions.
Offering intriguing insights into the religious beliefs and ancient customs, these celebrations also allow tourists to enjoy meaningful and enriching interactions with the locals. I have found the locals to be very accepting and enjoy the tourists partaking in the events of the festivals and ceremonies.
For more and to find out what is going on, we have a comprehensive events calendar.
Contents:
Resources
Agoda is the best place to book cheap affordable hotels in Thailand, especially near national parks. They also book flights as well.
Expedia is my favorite place to book flights, hotels, cars, and more. Their group includes Hotels.com and Vrbo for vacation rentals.
Viator is the top choice for activities. Book everything from a waterfall tour to scuba diving and jungle trekking,
12Go is the top transportation source for Asia. From busses to trains to regional flights.
These are some of the bigger festivals you don’t want to miss. Experience Thai culture, traditions, and fun!
Chinese New Year
The biggest Chinese festival in Thailand is undoubtedly, the colorful and exhilarating Chinese New Year that occurs around January or February in Yaowarat (the Chinatown of Bangkok) depending on each year’s Chinese Lunar Calendar. Envision the street springing to life with throngs of worshippers, the iconic red Chinese lanterns, colorful performances, exploding firecrackers and exotic dragon dances.
The fanfare extends further than the streets of Yaowarat, with Koh Samui, Chiang Mai and Phuket hosting temple celebrations, delicious Chinese banquets, food stalls and extravagant dragon parades.
The Chinese New Year is celebrated by the locals in the form of praying to the gods, partaking in big family feasts at home and paying respect to the ancestors. Free feng-shui advice is also given as well as big discounts and promotions in shopping malls.
Loy Krathong / Yi Peng Festival
If your visiting at the end of November, you are lucky. Enjoy traditions and festivities of this Buddhist holiday. It is one of Thailand’s biggest celebrations and the most iconic lantern festival. Celebrated all over Thailand, however if you are staying in Chiang Mai you will be able to join the festivities along the Ping River. On the last night in Chiang Mai, there is a spectacular parade. This is truly one of the crazy festivals, and in Chiang Mai lasts several nights of party fun.
A breathtaking sight to behold, Loi Krathong is a visual paradise of thousands of twinkling candlelights that span across rivers and dot the sky like brightly lit stars. Known as the Festival of Lights, this event is held every year on the evening of the 12th month in the Thai Lunar Calendar. This spiritual, ancient festival is to celebrate and honor Buddha and the goddess of the river, and is enthusiastically celebrated throughout the country with dazzling parades, colorful festivities and beautiful concerts.
The most significant aspect of this festival is the releasing of the Krathong. A Krathong is a small, lotus-shaped floating vessel often made from banana leaves that are then decorated with flowers, incense, candles and somethings even a fingernail clipping or lock of hair, to express their gratitude to the water goddess and to release any grudges and bitterness of the year.
Loi Krathong corresponds with the Yi Peng festival that occurs in Chiang Mai, where thousands of candlelit paper lanterns (Khom Loi) are released into the sky creating a truly spectacular sight.
Songkran – April 13th-15th
An important event on the Buddhist calendar, this water festival marks the beginning of the traditional Thai New Year. The name Songkran comes from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘passing’ or ‘approaching’. Starts April 13th-15th, however it extends for a week long street party.
Some people love it, while others want to leave town and get away from the madness. Stay off the roads if possible, there are a lot of accidents. It has become the top of the crazy festivals, as there is a lot of drinking and all day partying.
Songkran originates from the Sanskrit word meaning ‘passing’ or ‘approaching’. Thailand’s most important, most fun and most well-known festival, Songkran, is commonly referred to as Thailand’s Water Festival. A deeply significant event on the Buddhist calendar, Songkran marks the start of the traditional Thai New Year, but it is more commonly known throughout the world as being an exuberant and thrilling nation-wide waterfight.
The giddy, pure happiness of everyone from toddlers and the elderly that are drenched from head to toe characterises this event. Everyone stops what they are doing for three days and throws buckets of water at each other, shoots sprays of water from balconies at passing motorbikes and celebrates with plenty of dancing, music and drinking. What began as a Buddhist tradition of lightly sprinkling water as a symbol of purification, slowly morphed into one of the best and most enjoyable of all the festivals.
During Songkran, Bangkok experiences a mass exodus as at least half of its residents travel back to their hometowns for family reunions. In their place are tourists, who fly into Bangkok particularly to enjoy one of the most crazy festivals of the year. During Songkran, most office buildings, banks and even family-run shops and restaurants shut down completely, while big shopping malls usually remain open.
Where to party?
As the capital city of Thailand, Bangkok has more places to party than anywhere else. The biggest, brashest parties are found in 2 places in particular:
– Khao San Road (the backpacking heartland of Bangkok)
– Silom Road (the entire road closed off to traffic)
Chiang Mai Flower Festival
The Chiang Mai Flower Festival has been running for over 40 years and celebrates the beautiful flowers in bloom during this time. The festival runs over three days at the start of February each year and draws thousands of visitors.
It doesn’t really get much more colorful than enormous, astounding floral displays that occur at the impressive Flower Festival in Chiang Mai on the first weekend of February. Picture an array of stunning floats adored with sweetly fragrant flowers in every imaginable color, size and variety. This festival is surely one of the most special festivals in Thailand for those who love buds, blossoms and brilliantly designed flower arrangements.
An exciting highlight of the Flower Festival is the dazzling parade that is held along Charoen Muang Road in Chiang Mai. The parade consists of flashy floats decked in multi-colored flowers, drumming groups and twirling dancers dressed in colorful, traditional clothing.
Suan Buak Hat Park is also carpeted in gorgeous orchids, the local Damask Rose and rainbow-colored chrysanthemums. The overpowering scent of aromatic flowers and the dizzying array of colorful blossoms are sure to impress all who attend.
Full Moon Party Koh Phangan
If you love Songkran, and want to party like this but on an island beach, then head down to Koh Phangan. Not your traditional holiday or annual festival, and has nothing really to do with Thai culture. The island is located a boat ride from Koh Samui.
The Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan is one of the most famous and vibrant beach parties in the world, attracting thousands of revelers each month. Held on the night of the full moon on Haad Rin Beach, this legendary event is renowned for its energetic atmosphere, eclectic music, and stunning location.
The first Full Moon Party is said to have been improvised at a Paradise Bungalows on the beach in 1983 as a token of thanks to about 20–30 travelers, though the accuracy of this is disputed, as is the date of the original event. The parties gained fame through word of mouth, and the crazy festivals now draws a crowd of about 5,000–30,000 every full moon.
Located Near Koh Samui Island. Learn more about Koh Samui here.
What to expect:
Fire rope jumping
Neon body paint
Thai bucket drinks
Rocking music
Full Moon Party Cruise from Viator
Getting There:
12Go for Transportation
Vegetarian Festival (Phuket)
Expect vibrant and chaotic processions, with firecrackers being thrown around, lion dances, and coal-walking. You may find people with their cheeks pierced with spears, knives and other paraphernalia. Though it may seem bizarre and even scary to some, and the shutterbugs click away relentlessly, this is not a tourism propaganda. The festival has been celebrated by locals for more than two centuries and each mutilation is their way of sacrificing for the good of the general community.
The name of this celebration does nothing to suggest the gory and grisly activities that accompany this unusual festival that might be one of the most bizarre and shocking in all of the country. The festival celebrates the Chinese community’s belief that abstaining from eating meat during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will be rewarded with excellent health and peace of mind.
Other than abstaining from meat, many locals walk barefoot on coals and voluntarily pierce their faces and body parts with an assortment of peculiar and gruesome objects in an attempt to purify their souls. The parade of mutilated people in trace-like states are accompanied by fireworks, drums and offerings to the gods. There is also a delicious abundance of vegetarian cuisine for those who are not squeamish. This festival, while fascinating and captivating, is not for the fainthearted.
