Songkran in 2020
Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the public holidays for Songkran were postponed until later in the year.
The first of the three substitute holidays took place on Monday July 27th to create a four-day weekend for King's Birthday. The remaining two holidays will take place on Friday September 4th and Monday September 7th, creating another long weekend.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam told the media that with zero local infections for nearly three months, Thailand is ready to return the Songkran public holidays to the Thai people.
Wissanu also said that the four-day weekend will boost domestic tourism as large numbers of people are expected to travel.
The two Songkran substitution day holidays were initially planned to be observed in August, but it was decided against in order not to detract from the Queen Sirikit birthday Mother’s Day.
When is Songkran?
The Songkran festival is the traditional Thai New Year's Day and is celebrated from April 13th to April 15th.
History of Songkran
The word Songkran is from the Sanskrit language and means the passage of the sun from one sign of the Zodiac to another. That means there are twelve Songkrans each year, but the significance of the this Songkran (sometimes called Major Songkran to distinguish it from the others) is when the sun enters the sign of Aries the Ram. The particular event was also closely related to the Vernal Equinox.
Celebrating New Year at the time of the Vernal Equinox was very common in the past. The Songkran celebration is similar to those of the Indian Holi Festival, the Chinese Ching Ming, and the Christian Festival of Easter. Indeed April Fool's Day probably originated as mocking those who didn't accept the switch of New Year from April to January in France in the Sixteenth Century.
The date was originally set by astrological calculations, but it is now fixed on 13 April. The festival may be extended if some of the celebrations fall over a weekend.
Most banks and government offices will be closed for the duration of the festival. Many currency exchange booths will remain open.
