Thailand marks start of Buddhist new year with annual water fight

(13 Apr 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bangkok, Thailand - 13th April 2025
1. High mid shot of Songkran water fight festival on Bangkok's Khao San Road
2. High side shot of water fight festival
3. Wide pan down of revellers walking
4. Various of revellers
5. Revellers shooting water at camera
6. SOUNDBITE (English), Smilton Roa, tourist from Buenos Aires, Argentina:
"Best party ever, best party ever. Like you can pick a site where you want. You are here chilling, and then 'boop, boop, boop' (firing sound), crazy."
7. Various of revellers
8. SOUNDBITE (English), Erica Palin, tourist from Italy:
"It’s wonderful, very crazy." Reporter: "And is there anything like this in Italy?"
"No, in the world there isn’t."
9. High wide shot of water festival
10. Various of revellers walking on street
STORYLINE:
Roaming bands of brightly-dressed gunslingers turned the streets of Thailand into the world’s biggest water fight, Sunday, as the country marked the start of the Buddhist new year with a massive splash.

Revellers drenched each other for hours, using plastic water-guns, high-powered hoses and buckets, cooling everybody down at what is the hottest time of the year.

The annual frivolity – known as Songkran - was a welcome return to routine, just over two weeks after an earthquake, centered in neighboring Myanmar, panicked the residents of Bangkok and collapsed an unfinished high-rise, leading to more than 30 confirmed fatalities, so far.

On Sunday, thousands funneled down Bangkok’s Khao San Rd, famous with backpackers the world over, spraying water wildly to the booming rhythm of techno music. It was noisy, boisterous and very wet and that was just fine, as far as the participants were concerned.

"Best party ever," said 29-year-old Smilton Roa, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, while 40-year-old Erica Palin from Turin, Italy, summed it up as “wonderful, very crazy.”

The significance of Songkran was recognized by UNESCO in 2023, when it included the holiday in a list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In its citation the organization said it was “viewed as a time to symbolically wash away misfortunes, pray for prosperity for the coming year, reunite with family members, and honour ancestors and older adults.”

For older Thais that remains true though, increasingly, younger Thais – and tourists - see it as a chance to let off steam and party for day.

AP video by Tian Macleod Ji

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