As January 1st approaches, which marks the New Year of the Gregorian calendar, RFI sets out to meet communities around the world who defend a unique way of celebrating the transition to the new year, sometimes on very different dates. If Thailand welcomes Western-style end-of-year celebrations with joy, the traditional New Year and its Songkran festival take place in mid-April. There, the celebrations are marked by intense water fights across the country, but also moments of contemplation.
From our correspondent in Bangkok,
On the square in front of CentralwOrld, a shopping complex in the heart of Bangkok, sits a 35 meter high Christmas tree. This December, the Thai capital of 10 million inhabitants is preparing to celebrate the end of year holidays. From the pedestrian bridge which spans the avenue parallel to this “Time Square of Thailand”, we can see a sign, suspended from the skytrain, on which is written: “ Happy New Year 2024 to Ratchaprasong », named after the ultra-frequented intersection of the insatiable Asian megalopolis. It is in this lively area that thousands of people gather every December 31 in the evening, to yell the countdown to the new year and watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks.
Harish Klongprakit has participated several times. “ It’s massive, every year there are more and more people », Indicates the 20-year-old young man. He analyzes this growing popularity as “ a cultural influence increasingly significant Western » in Thailand, especially in Bangkok, cosmopolitan and more developed than the rest of the kingdom of 70 million inhabitants. “ We don’t have a family tradition at Christmas, but everything is an excuse to celebrate.”he laughs.
A leading role
Thailand, a constitutional monarchy with the motto “Nation, Religion, King,” is a secular state. But Buddhism, which more than 90% of Thais claim to embrace, in reality plays a preponderant role in society. Thus, the country celebrates the Buddhist New Year, which will take place next year from April 13 to 15, 2024. “ In many Southeast Asian countries, such as Myanmar, ThaIceland, Laos and Cambodia, the arrival of spring also marks the start of the new year “, explains Andrew Alan Johnson, professor at Stockholm University, in a article of The Conversation dedicated to Songkran, the name given in Thai to the festival which celebrates this New Year.
A word of Sanskrit origin, Songkran designates the passage towards the sun. “ The dates mark the period during which [il] leaves the constellation of Pisces and enters that of Aries », Notes this specialist in Thai culture and religion. The first year of the Buddhist calendar corresponds to the parinirvana of the Buddha, established in 543 BC. The year 2024 of the Gregorian calendar is therefore equivalent to the year 2567 (2024+543) of the Buddhist calendar, which begins in April. But Thailand combines two systems: the solar calendar and the lunisolar calendar. In fact, the days and months correspond exactly to the Gregorian calendar, while the Buddhist era governs the numbering of years. Concretely: from January 1, 2024, official documents will be dated from the year 2567.
Water battles
In any case, Songkran is a major event. So much so that the festival has just been inscribed by UNESCO on the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. During these three days in April, the country is transformed into a gigantic water battlefield. A little earlier, many neighborhood shops began to offer cheap plastic water guns. In town or in the countryside, young and old go out into the streets to splash ice water on each other at a time of year when the heat of the dry season is particularly unbearable.
It is also a moment when the class and generational hierarchies, very pronounced within the most unequal Thai society, fade away during the aquatic battles. This year, Prayut Chan-o-cha, who was then Prime Minister since his coup in 2014, went to Khao San Road, a pedestrian thoroughfare known to Bangkok revelers, where the former putschist general is sprayed in the face: the images made you smile. Like other tens of thousands of people for the occasion, Harish Klongprakit also passed through there, slaloming through the crowds packed into this street of thirst.
But before being a major popular festival and a tourist attraction, Songkran embodies family traditions. Early in the morning, families go to Buddhist temples (wat), where they leave offerings, make donations and listen to the monks’ sermons. Visitors sprinkle lustral or perfumed water on the statues of Buddha. In the same way that young Thai people perform the ritual of “Rod Nam Dum Hua”, which consists of prostrating themselves and pouring water into the palms (possibly on the feet) of their elders as a sign of respect and receiving their blessings for the coming year.
Less widespread traditional practices
Apichaya Pothong spends at least one day with her parents. “ In recent years, Songkran has been more of a time for me to go out with my brother and his friends than a traditional get-together time. », Testifies the young woman of 20 years. As a child, she visited her grandparents in the family home 200 km from the capital. Sometimes, she even accompanied her nanny who returned to see her family in Nakhon Phanom, in the North-East, a vast rural region of Thailand called Isan. “ We prayed at the temple, before having fun with the locals who cooked a big feast that we all shared together. I also participated in the “Miss Songkran” beauty contest with the other local girls. “, she remembers. As she grew up, these traditional celebrations became less and less common for her.
“ Songkran practices are no longer as widespread as before », observes Prakirati Satasut, anthropologist and professor at Thammasat University. This researcher notes a distinction between urban and rural: “ For the middle and upper classes, especially in Bangkok, it’s time to party. While for many working-class workers who have emigrated to the city, it is the time to see their family again who they have not seen for a long time. »
Patamaphorn Namket works in the hotel industry in Bangkok. She never experienced the noise of the capital during Songkran, preferring to return home to Udon Ratchathani, another province of Isan, bordering Cambodia. “ The whole family, even those who live abroad, like my cousin living in France, returns to the village. It’s the most important time of the year », confides the young woman of 23 years. The more time passes, the more she feels connected to Thai traditions. “ This period is crucialadds anthropologist Prakirati Satasut, this is where social relationships between different members of the family are regenerated, where bonds are reestablished and deepened “.