Join Songkran festival in Thailand

Why you like it?

Songkran is a Thai traditional New Year which starts on April 13 every year and lasts for 3 days. Songkran festival on April 13 is Maha Songkran Day or the day to mark the end of the old year, April 14 is Wan Nao which is the day after and April 15 is Wan Thaloeng Sok which the New Year begins. At this time, people from the rural areas who are working in the city usually return home to celebrate the festival. Thus, when the time come, Bangkok temporarily turns into a deserted city.

Songkran is a Thai word which means "move" or "change place" as it is the day when the sun changes its position in the zodiac. It is also known as the "Water Festival" as people believe that water will wash away bad luck.
The Songkran tradition is recognized as a valuable custom for the Thai community, society and religions. The value for family is to provide the opportunity for family members to gather in order to express their respects to the elders by pouring scented water onto the hands of their parents and grandparents and to present them gifts including making merits to dedicate the result to their ancestors. The elders in return wish the youngsters good luck and prosperity.
The values for community is to provide the opportunity to create unity in the community such as to jointly acquire merits, to meet each other and to enjoy the entertaining events. And for the society value is to create concern upon environment with cooperation such as to clean houses, temples, public places and official buildings. Thais value the religion bye means of merits acquisition, offerings alms to monks, Dhamma Practice, listening to sermon and monks-bathing.
In the afternoon, after performing a bathing rite for Buddha images and the monks, the celebrants both young and old, joyfully splash water oon each other. The most-talked about celebration takes place in the northern province of Chiang Mai where Songkran is celebrated from April 13 to 15. During this period, people from all parts of the country flock there to enjoy the water festival, to watch the Miss Songkran Contest and the beautiful parades.

Travel along Khonkaen province

Attractions

Bung Kaen Nakhon - Located in the southern region of the city, this lake is a popular entertainment area with numerous restaraunts and other entertainment.

Chonnabot Silk District - 60 km southwest from Khon Kaen, an area famous for its silk, it also hosts a Thai Silk Exhibition Hall.

Khon Kaen Horse Racing Track - Located on Mittraphrap Road between Lotus and Makro, there is horse racing almost every weekend.

Khon Kaen National Museum - Located on the northside of the city, open daily, this regional museum contains artifacts from the Ban Chiang and Fa Daet Song Yang (Kalasin) excavation sites.

Khon Kaen University- Located just outside the northern part of the city, this is the largest university in northeast Thailand. To go to the Computer Engineering Department just click the link.

Pha Nok Khao - 125 km west of Khon Kaen, this unique mountain extends into Loei Province and provides a scenic view of the surrounding country side.

Phra That Kham Kaen - 30 km northeast of Khon Kaen, this pagoda was built as the legend goes after two revered monks spent the night there and noticed a dead tree, upon there return later the tamarind tree had flowered. The pagoda was built over this hardwood log (kham kaen) and the city's (Khon Kaen) name evolved from this.

Phu Kao - Phu Phan Kham National Park - 56 km northwest of Khon Kaen, this national park offers guesthouses, trekking, and camping.

Phu Wiang National Park - 90 km northwest of Khon Kaen, the park has a scenic view of the surrounding mountains, the valley, caves, and waterfalls. The park contains several archaeological sites and dinosaur fossils.

Tortoise Village - 50 km south of Khon Kaen in Mancha Khiri District, approximately 2,000 tortoises reside in the main 4 rai Shrine and the surrounding area. Most villagers do not have walls or fences to impede the touroises daily ritual of scavenging for food.

Ubolrat Dam - 50 km northwest of Khon Kaen, this is the largest dam in the northeast. The east side has the golf course and the west side has a swimming area.

Wat Jien Bung Kaen Nakhon - is located on the east side of Bung Kaen Nakhon Lake. This temple is very popular on Chinese holidays.

Wat Nongwang - is located south of the city on Klangmuang Road. A good view of Khon Kaen city and Bung Kaen Nakhon Lake can be seen from the balconies surrounding the outside of the Temple.

Wat Wutharam - is located on Darun Samran Road just south of the train station. Many people as part of there merit making buy fish at the local market and set them free in the small lake.

Cool!!! Hat-Yai of Songkla

I like hatyai very much and recommend you to ...

See
Chinese Temples - notably the Kuan Im temple up on the hill behind Hat Yai Municipal Park.
The reclining Buddha at Wat Hat Yai Nai.
Tone Nga Chang Waterfall.
Songkhla Zoo
Ko Yo

Do
Visa Run - If you need to extend your stay in Thailand another 30 days, you can cross the border at Dannok, near Sadao. Getting there from the airport is easy and takes about 2 hours. From the airport walk straight out into the parking lot to the parking lot ring road. You can wait here for a light blue songthaew to take you into town and get dropped off at The Plaza for 13 baht. The ride takes about 20-30 minutes. You can also take an airport taxi into town. At The Plaza, you can find a van waiting just across from the TOT office, which makes regular trips to Dannok. If you can't find it, just say "Sadao" or "Dannok" to people till they point you the right way. The trip is 50 baht, and vans leave once they are full. The trip should take about 1 hour 30 minutes. It will drop you off near the border at Dannok and you can just walk to exit Thailand. You will be approached by motorcycle drivers who will offer to take you to the Malaysian side. Walking takes about 10 minutes, so it could be worth it to pay 20 baht each way if you are in a hurry. If you have time, a stop at the duty free shop is worthwhile. Minivans returning to Hat Yai depart from outside the 7-Eleven store in Dannok.
Thai Massage - No trip to Thailand would be complete without a Thai massage and Hat Yai is one of the places to get them. One good place would be Hai Yai Central Hotel. The rooms are nicely decorated and provide a soothing environment to go with a good massage.

Buy
Lee Garden Plaza - The most popular mall for Thai teenagers. Restaurants include Sizzler, Swensens, McDonalds and Fuji among others. Shops inside sell books, clothes, mobile phones and souvenirs. There is a multiplex cinema and a games complex which also includes Karaoke booths.
Odean Shopping Mall - Mostly clothes.
Diana Shopping Mall - Clothes, mobile phones, restaurants and a bowling alley.
Tesco Lotus - Located near the Prince of Songkhla University, a large supermarket that sells food, clothes, household items and lots more. There are also a number of restaurants and smaller shops just outside the main supermarket.
Carrefour - Very similar to Tesco Lotus.
Central Department Store - Probably Hat Yai's most upmarket store. Clothes, cosmetics, books, household goods and there is a TOPS food supermarket in the basement.

Eat
Although not in the same league as Bangkok, there are a lot of different food options on offer in Hat Yai. Typical Thai street food is abundant almost everywhere. Big, international chain restaurants have branches in town offering Japanese and Western food. Ethnic Chinese from Malaysia and Singapore make up the bulk of Hat Yai's tourists so many restaurants and hotels cater primarily for them. Just opposite Lee Gardens (next to the Regency Hotel) you will see a restaurant which spit-roasts suckling pigs every day. Large, open-air seafood restaurants are also popular with Chinese visitors and the quality of seafood available in Hat Yai is good. Behind Regency Hotel and Lee Garden Hotel is a Vermicillin Store with a Teochew speaking lady boss. The store opens from 10pm-6am. Its beside the street Thanon Duangchan. For those who likes to eat pork ribs soup or "Bak Kut Tea", you can find this place called "YA LUN ROU KU CHA" with telephone no. 01-6082829 There is also a large resident Muslim population and some visitors from Malaysia are also Muslim so finding Halal food isn't a problem. Across the street from Lee Garden hotel there are a couple of Muslim restaurants, Hamid restaurant is not too bad. Nice clean and good food. There are several small ones nearby. Certain Chinese are vegetarian and the town has a good selection of small vegetarian restaurants that offer tofu and soy meat substitutes.