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Songkran messages in Thai: what to say at Thai New Year
Updated
Songkran is the Thai New Year, and for most Thai people it is the most important holiday of the year. If you know one woman in Thailand, a message on the right day, in a few words of Thai, is noticed. This guide gives you those words and the context behind them, so the message lands the way you meant it.
When it is
Songkran runs from 13 to 15 April every year, on fixed dates, and it is a national public holiday. The government sometimes adds days either side, so for many people it is closer to a week off.
Pattaya keeps its own celebrations going after the rest of the country has stopped. Its big water festival day, called Wan Lai, usually falls a few days later, around the 18th or 19th of April. If she works in a Pattaya bar, the whole second half of April can be busy.
What it means
Outside Thailand Songkran is known for the water fights, and they are real: whole streets of people with buckets and water guns, and nobody stays dry. That is the public, joyful side.
The older side is quieter and matters more to many families. Songkran is a time to go home, to clean the house, and to show respect to parents and elders. A traditional part of it is pouring a little scented water over the hands of older relatives, who give their blessing in return. Many families also visit a temple during the holiday. These are sincere traditions, and a message that acknowledges them, simply and without comment, is a respectful one.
For a woman working in Pattaya, many of whom come from other provinces, Songkran is often the one time of year she travels home to her family. Expect her to be on long bus journeys, busy with relatives, and less on her phone than usual.
What to write
The simplest greeting:
- Suk san wan Songkran (สุขสันต์วันสงกรานต์): happy Songkran.
Also used at Songkran, as it is at the Western New Year:
- Sawasdee pee mai (สวัสดีปีใหม่): happy New Year.
Add her polite softener and it is warmer still. Remember that ka is for women and krub for men, so from you it is "Suk san wan Songkran krub" or "Sawasdee pee mai krub".
Good things to add, in your own language:
- Wish her family well. "I hope you have a lovely time with your family" is exactly the right note, because that is what the holiday is for her.
- Wish her a safe journey. Roads in Thailand are at their busiest over Songkran, and Thai people say this to each other all the time. In Thai it is dern tang plod pai na (เดินทางปลอดภัยนะ): travel safely.
- Ask about home, not about work. "Are you going home this year?" is a better question than anything about the bar.
A few things to leave out:
- Jokes about the temple visits or anything to do with religion. The water fights are fair game for a laugh; the rest is not ours to joke about.
- Pressure to talk. She is with her family. A short message that expects nothing back is the kind that gets a warm reply a few days later.
- Anything about money. Songkran travel is expensive, and a message that raises money in any direction during a family holiday is the wrong note.
A message that works
"Suk san wan Songkran krub! I hope the journey home is easy and you have a lovely few days with your family. Dern tang plod pai na. I will be thinking of you (and staying dry here)."
Short, warm, about her and her family, one light joke that is about the water and not about anything sacred, and nothing she has to answer today.
Timing it
Send it on the morning of the 13th, Thai time (UTC+7), or the evening before from Europe, so it is waiting when she wakes. From the Americas, the evening of the 12th is already the morning of the 13th in Thailand. The Thailand time difference guide has the hours for where you are.
If she is home in her village, the reply may take a day or two. Songkran is exactly the kind of week when a slow reply means nothing at all.
If you are in Pattaya for it
If you are in town over Songkran, be ready to get soaked the moment you step outside, keep your phone in a waterproof pouch, and remember that for the women working in the bars it is one of the busiest weeks of the year. Some will have gone home. If you are hoping to see someone, ask her ahead of time whether she will be in Pattaya or with her family, and plan around her answer.
Other dates worth knowing
Songkran is the big one, but a few more dates are good to have in your calendar:
- Her birthday. The one date that is only hers. The birthday guide has the Thai to write.
- The Western New Year. Celebrated in Thailand too, with fireworks along the beach in Pattaya. "Sawasdee pee mai" works again.
- Mother's Day in Thailand, 12 August. Many Thai women are close to their mothers, and asking after hers that day is thoughtful.
None of these needs an elaborate message. Remembering the day is most of it.
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