We knew Songkran was famous for turning Thailand into one enormous water fight, but experiencing it in Bangkok showed us just how much more there is to Thailand’s traditional New Year. In a single day, we went from receiving a water blessing and watching Buddhist traditions at Wat Pho, to getting soaked beneath a giant spraying elephant at ICONSIAM, to shuffling shoulder-to-shoulder through the completely unhinged water fights, foam and music of Khao San Road. Starting with the spiritual side gave us a much better appreciation for Songkran’s traditions of cleansing, renewal and merit-making before Bangkok made sure we finished the holiday looking like we’d been pressure-washed through a nightclub. 😂💦

💡 Tips: Surviving Songkran in Bangkok

• 💦 Expect to Get Completely Soaked: Once you enter a major Songkran celebration, staying dry is basically impossible, so dress accordingly and protect anything that shouldn’t get wet.
• 📱 Waterproof Your Electronics: Bring a waterproof phone or dry bag, especially for Khao San Road, where water comes from every possible direction.
• 🔫 Buy Water Guns in Bangkok: Vendors sell them throughout the celebration areas. We bought ours around ICONSIAM before joining the festivities.
• 👀 Keep the White Paste Away From Your Eyes: Traditional din sor pong got into Scott’s eyes and caused burning and irritation for days. If it gets in your eyes, rinse immediately with clean water and avoid rubbing.
• 🧊 Brace Yourself for Cold Water: Bangkok may be brutally hot in April, but that does not prepare you for an entire bucket of ice-cold water over your head. 😂
• 🕗 Go Early & Stay on the Outskirts: Khao San was much more fun before the center became packed shoulder-to-shoulder. Arrive earlier, then stick closer to the edges as crowds build.
• 📅 Check the Exact Songkran Dates: Songkran centers around April 13–15, but major celebrations can start earlier and vary by city and venue. In Bangkok, we had temple traditions and full-on Khao San water fights on April 12, while some events ran through April 15, so check that year’s schedule instead of assuming every location celebrates equally every day.
• 🛕 Experience the Traditional Side Too: Visiting Wat Pho gave us a completely different perspective on the meaning behind Thailand’s New Year celebrations.
• 🙏 Respect People Not Participating: Follow the atmosphere around you rather than assuming every person, temple or business wants to be part of the water fight.

🛕 Wat Pho: The Spiritual Side of Songkran

Our Songkran experience began about as far from Khao San Road as imaginable. At Wat Pho, I received a water blessing for purification and good fortune while worshippers gently poured scented water over Buddha images, including Buddhas representing different days of the week. We watched rows of monks chanting during a Buddhist observance, saw a money tree covered in merit-making donations and wandered among sand pagodas decorated with colorful flags. Seeing these traditions first made the giant water fights later that day feel like part of a much bigger celebration rather than simply the world’s wettest street party. Check out more in our blog Bangkok’s Best Temples: Wat Pho, Grand Palace & Wat Arun.

🎥 Songkran’s Spiritual Side at Bangkok’s Reclining Buddha

🛍️ ICONSIAM: Shopping, SOOKSIAM & Songkran

ICONSIAM gave us a completely different side of Bangkok, combining a massive luxury shopping mall with the colorful indoor world of SOOKSIAM and, during our visit, a huge Songkran celebration along the Chao Phraya River. We originally stopped partly to escape Bangkok’s April heat and buy water guns before Khao San Road, but there was much more to explore than we expected.

🛶 SOOKSIAM: Thailand Under One Roof

The lower level of ICONSIAM is home to SOOKSIAM, a colorful indoor market designed to showcase food, crafts and culture from regions across Thailand, but it felt more like an attraction than a typical mall food court. We wandered past beautiful floating-market displays complete with adorable cats lounging on the boats, elephants and ornate Thai architecture, a golden temple-like entrance and an area where visitors appeared to be pouring water over Buddha images for Songkran. There was even an entire grilled crocodile on display. 🐊 The beautiful Veranda area and elaborate water features made the whole place surprisingly fun to explore, with some very welcome air conditioning thrown in.

🎥 SOOKSIAM Bangkok: Floating Markets, Elephants &… Grilled Crocodile! 

🐘 ICONSIAM Songkran: Our Water-Fight Warm-Up

Outside, ICONSIAM’s riverfront had transformed for Songkran, with a huge splash zone that gave us our first taste of the water-fight side of Thailand’s New Year. We bought our water guns from vendors near the celebration and immediately tested them out, including walking directly beneath a giant pink elephant spraying water over everyone passing through. With colorful decorations, music and beautiful Chao Phraya River views, it was a really fun intro to the festival. Compared with the absolute insanity waiting for us later that night, ICONSIAM felt like Songkran training wheels, with plenty of water and festival energy but a much more open and organized setting than Khao San Road.

🎥 Walking Under a GIANT Spraying Elephant at ICONSIAM Songkran! 

🔫 Khao San Road: Songkran’s Biggest Splash Bash

Although Songkran traditionally centers around April 13–15, Bangkok’s celebrations were already fully underway when we visited Khao San Road on April 12, and it was absolute insanity in the best possible way. Our favorite discovery was a full-blown street foam party, but that was just the beginning. We had buckets of freezing water dumped over our heads, strangers smeared our faces with din sor pong, the traditional white clay paste used during Songkran, and one girl even filled her water gun with beer, took a shot from it herself and then sprayed some into my mouth too. 😂 Earlier in the evening, the water fights were wild but still incredibly fun and easy to move through.

The craziest party zone we found was around Golf Bar in the middle of Khao San Road, where DJs, lasers and massive crowds turned the street into an outdoor nightclub. As the night progressed, this area became absolutely jammed, and at times we felt less like festivalgoers and more like walkers in a very wet zombie herd, slowly shuffling shoulder-to-shoulder through pounding music and flashing lasers as if a Vegas nightclub had exploded into the street. There was so little room that “dancing” mostly meant wiggling whatever body part you could still move while attempting to aim a water gun. Scott also learned the hard way to keep the white clay away from his eyes after it caused burning and irritation that lasted for days. Completely chaotic, completely ridiculous and easily one of the most memorable experiences of our entire Asia trip.

🎥 360° VR Bangkok Songkran: Compilation of Khao San Road Chaos
🎥 360° VR Tuk-Tuk Escape from Khao San: Bangkok Songkran