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Thailand is well-known for her festivals which take place all the year round. Most of these festivals are influenced by Buddhist and Brahminical religions, however, with the passage of time a number of them have been adopted in deference to the international practice. |
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| Actually, the official New Year’s Day of Thailand has undergone several changes. Once it used to fall at the end of November. Later, during the reign of King Rama V (1868-1910) it was moved to a date round about April and then New Year’s Day was changed to April the first. The universal practice of celebrating the new year on January 1 was adopted of changes aimed at modernizing the country. |
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| Though January 1 is regarded as official New Year, the majority of Thais still regard the middle of April (Songkran) as their new year’s day, and on this auspicious occasion a week-long celebration is held throughout the kingdom. |
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| Most of activities on Songkran Day involve water throwing, building sand pagodas and pouring lustral water on the aged as means of blessing. To be frank, a celebration on January 1 is not so popular as that of Songkran. Normally, before the upcoming January 1, people will exchange greeting cards and gifts. Since on this auspicious occasion, a few grand celebrations are held in the kingdom, people take this opportunity to travel upcountry to visit their relatives or spend holidays at a tourist attraction site, while those stay at home will prepare food and other necessary items to make merit on the early morning of January 1 and then take part in various charitable activities held in various places. |
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November 19th, 2008 at 6:57 am
[...] New Year’s Day (January 1) Children Day (January 11) Teacher Day (January 16) [...]