Songkran is the biggest and wettest party of the Thai year. Whether you are young or old, rich or poor there will be no escape, during Songkran you will get wet!

‘Songkran' comes from the Sanskrit "Sankranta" meaning "a move or change" and actually refers to any day when the sun enters a new sign in the zodiac. However, the Maha Songkran (Major Songkran) is the most important Songkran as it marks the traditional Thai New Year. Known simply as Songkran, the festival begins when the sun enters Aries on the 13th of April, which also happens to be the end of the dry season and the hottest time of the year in Thailand.

During Songkran, it is customary for people to sprinkle water over the hands, feet or shoulder of others as a blessing and in order to wash away any bad thoughts or actions from the previous year. However, the Thai people's sense of fun has seen the festivities develop into a fully fledged water fight, where everyone ends up completely and utterly drenched!

Traditionally, Songkran is celebrated over three days, from the 13th to the 15th of April. However, Thailand has many regional customs and so the length and dates of the celebrations can differ from province to province. For example, in Phra Padaeng, (about an hour's drive from Bangkok), the Songkran celebrations are usually held about a week after the capital's. One of the highlights of their festivities is a grand procession of magnificently decorated floats, which carry beautiful girls in traditional Mon or Raman dress. Each girl has a fish in a bowl in one hand and a bird in a cage in the other. The procession takes them to the river bank where the girls release the animals. This is done as an act of merit to ward off bad luck and bring future prosperity.

One of the oldest Songkran customs is the applying of white paste onto the face or neck of others, this is said to provide protection and ward off evil spirits. Although the practice has been officially banned, the ritual still occurs in many provinces throughout Thailand. It is seen as a blessing and so if a reveler smears your face with talcum powder, you should feel honored. You are expected to leave this paste on until it washes off of its own accord – which doesn't take long during one of the wettest festivals in the world!

For many Thais, the first day of Songkran (Wan Sungkharn Long) is a day to do good deeds and to wash away the bad from the previous year. People will visit their local wat (temple) to listen to the Dharma (Buddhists teachings) and to give alms to the monks. They will clean their homes and the wats and purify the most precious Buddha statues by gently pouring perfumed water over them. In some cities, such as Chiang Mai, the Buddha statues from all of the city's temples are paraded through the streets on richly decorated floats, so that the people can show their respects and sprinkle them with water.

The general mayhem of water throwing usually begins on this day. In the south the water fights last a day, but in the north of Thailand they can go on for a week or more. The streets of every town are packed with hoards of people drenching anyone and everyone with water from buckets, water pistols and even garden hoses. They will drive around the streets in flatbed trucks carrying gallon drums of water and liberally soak any passer by. Be warned, some of the water can be ice cold and even during the hottest period of the year a bucket of icy water in the face can be a heart stopping shock!

The second day (Wan Nao) is said to belong to neither the old year nor the new. It is on this day that the Thais make atonement by taking a handful of sand to their local wat in order to replace the dirt that they have carried away on their feet during the previous year. The sand is then sculpted into stupas (mounds created to honor the Buddha) and decorated with colorful flags.

In Chon Buri province in the North of Thailand the stupa building contest is a chief element of their Songkran festivities, instead of building small piles of sand the villagers compete to create the most intricate and amazing sand sculptures.

The third day of the festival (Wan Payawan) marks the start of the old New Year. Although Thailand now recognizes the 1st of January as the start of the New Year, many Thais still make their New Year's resolutions during Songkran.

Similar celebrations to Songkran are also held throughout Asia: in Laos they call it Bpee Mai; in Cambodia, Chaul Chnam Thmey; in Myanmar, Thingyan; and the Dai people of Yunnan, China call it the Water-Splashing Festival.

However the celebrations are described, words will never do it justice, Songkran needs to be experienced to be believed.