Songkran 2027 in Thailand: dates, where to go, what closes

The 2027 dates: 13 to 15 April, and the week around them

Songkran is fixed in the solar calendar, so its dates do not move with the moon. In 2027 the holiday falls on Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 April. These dates are official: the Bank of Thailand's notification on 2027 holidays for financial institutions, announced on 17 August 2026, lists all three days as the Songkran Festival, and the Securities and Exchange Commission's 2027 calendar gives the same dates. Chakri Memorial Day falls a week earlier, on Tuesday 6 April.

Because the holiday starts on a Tuesday, many people will take Monday 12 and Friday 16 April off as well and make a nine-day break from Saturday 10 to Sunday 18 April. Thailand's own festivals and events calendar shows how the rest of the year's holidays fall. The government's general holiday list for 2027 had not been published when we checked on 27 October 2026, and it can still add a day: in 2024 the cabinet declared Friday 12 April an extra public holiday to ease Songkran traffic, and the banks followed.

Each day has its own meaning, as the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) describes it. 13 April, Songkran Day, is for cleaning homes and temples and for Song Nam Phra, pouring scented water over Buddha images. 14 April, Wan Nao, is for preparing food and offerings and for paying respect to elders. 15 April, Wan Payawan, starts with food and robes presented to monks at the local temple. Celebrations often last longer than the three days, up to a week in some places.

What happens: temples in the morning, water in the afternoon

Songkran's quiet side is easy to miss and worth an early start. In temple courtyards, people pour nam ob, a traditional scented water, over Buddha images, onto the body of the image rather than its head. Families build chedi sai, small sand pagodas decorated with flags, to return the earth carried out of the temple on their shoes during the year. In Rot Nam Dam Hua, younger family members pour scented water over the hands of their elders and receive blessings in return. Malls and shops set up their own Buddha images with a bowl of scented water, so you can join in without going to a temple.

The water play grew out of that gentle ritual and the April heat. By late morning the streets fill with water guns, buckets and hoses, and anyone walking past is fair game. TAT notes a custom worth keeping: the splashing usually stops as the sun goes down, when people dry off and go to dinner. Some revellers smear a chalk paste called din sor pong on faces; in Bangkok the city asks people not to.

Food has its seasonal dish too. Khao chae, rice served in chilled, scented water with savoury side dishes, is eaten in the hot season, and TAT names it as a Songkran dish that families prepare to beat the heat.

Bangkok: Silom, Siam Square, Khao San and a park festival

Bangkok empties of commuters and fills with celebrations. TAT names Silom Road and Siam Square as the city's main water-celebration zones and Khao San Road for water battles. In 2026 the Silom celebration ran from 12 to 14 April, with the Amazing Bangkok Songkran Parade on 14 April, and Siam Square's from 12 to 15 April. Both are packed at their peak, so arrive before noon if you want room to move. Our Bangkok guide covers the rest of the city, and the where-to-stay guide compares the neighbourhoods if you want to walk to the fights.

For a broader festival, TAT's own Maha Songkran World Water Festival filled Benchakitti Park from 11 to 15 April 2026, with free admission: a zone of regional Songkran traditions from 11:00 to 22:00, including sand-pagoda building and Buddha-image bathing, a water-play and EDM stage from 16:00, concerts from 17:00 and a drone show each evening. The park is a walk from BTS Asok and MRT Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. Riverside events at ICONSIAM and Asiatique and ticketed music festivals such as S2O complete the city's programme; the 2027 line-up will be announced nearer the date.

For the traditional side, go to a temple on the morning of 13 April, when families bathe Buddha images and build sand pagodas in the courtyards. In Samut Prakan, just south of Bangkok, Phra Pradaeng is known for releasing fish and birds at Wat Protket Chettaram. Phra Pradaeng also holds its own Songkran later in the month: in 2026 it ran from 24 to 26 April, after the rest of the country had dried off.

Chiang Mai and the north

Chiang Mai is where TAT says the biggest Songkran parties are held. The water fight runs around the moat of the old city, with locals and visitors drenching each other along its banks, and the city's programme runs over many days: in 2024 its Pi Mai Mueang celebration was listed from 4 to 20 April at venues across the city, and in 2026 the Chiang Mai Water Festival was held at Wat Chedi Luang from 11 to 13 April. Our Chiang Mai guide explains where the old city and the moat are, which matters when choosing a room: a hotel inside or beside the moat puts the water fight at your front door.

April is also the north's smoke-haze season. The Pollution Control Department marks January to May as the northern PM2.5 risk period, and on 7 April 2026 the Ministry of Public Health reported Chiang Mai's PM2.5 at 314.3 μg/m³, with 13 provinces at the hazardous level. Check Air4Thai, the department's air-quality site and app, before you commit to Chiang Mai, and pack N95 masks if the readings are high.

Sukhothai offers a gentler northern Songkran around its old royal capital: in 2026 its Maha Songkran ran from 6 to 19 April in Mueang Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai, and our Sukhothai guide covers both historical parks. Nan keeps its celebration on the streets of the town and around Wat Suan Tan.

Ayutthaya, the northeast and the south

Ayutthaya combines water with its ruins. In 2026 its Elephant Splashing Songkran Festival filled Sri Sanphet Road, in front of TAT's Ayutthaya office, from 13 to 15 April, with elephants spraying the crowd, and Wat Chaiwatthanaram held its own Songkran from 9 to 13 April. It is an easy day from Bangkok, or a night in the old city with our Ayutthaya guide.

In the northeast, Khon Kaen turns Si Chan Road into its 'Khao Niew Road' (sticky-rice road) celebration around Bueng Kaen Nakhon lake, held from 11 to 15 April in 2026, and Nong Khai's Maha Songkran by the Mekong ran from 12 to 18 April in 2024. Our Isaan guide covers both cities.

In the south, Phuket splashes on Patong Beach and in the old town on Dibuk Road, both on TAT's 2026 list; Hat Yai has run a Midnight Songkran in its town centre, and Ko Samui holds celebrations in Bo Phut and Maret. On the eastern seaboard, Chon Buri's Wan Lai tradition carries the festival on after 15 April: Pattaya's beach celebration ran from 17 to 19 April in 2026, so you can catch Songkran twice in one trip.

What closes and what stays open

Banks close from 13 to 15 April 2027, on the Bank of Thailand's list, so change money before the holiday. Government offices follow the cabinet's holiday list, which for 2027 is still to come, so leave visa extensions and other paperwork until after the holiday. Because Songkran is when Thais travel up-country to their families, some small family-run shops and restaurants close for the holiday.

Sights vary. The Grand Palace lists daily opening from 08:30 to 16:30, with tickets sold until 15:30; the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre closes for the Songkran holidays, as it does on Mondays. Big malls stay open and stage their own events: TAT's 2026 list included programmes at Siam Paragon, Central World and ICONSIAM.

Expect to get wet whenever you leave your room, whatever you came to see. Keep your phone, passport and cash in a waterproof pouch, wear clothes that are not see-through when wet (TAT suggests a swimsuit underneath), and carry a dry shirt if you have anywhere to be in the evening.

Trains, buses and flights: the booking rush

Songkran is the week Thailand goes home. TAT warns that trains, planes, buses and hotels can be booked up months in advance, especially for Chiang Mai. The figures from 2026 show the scale: the Transport Co. (Bor Kor Sor), the state bus company, planned for 160,000 to 180,000 passengers a day on about 7,000 departures a day for the outbound rush from 9 to 12 April, and 120,000 a day on the way back from 16 to 19 April, with 1,200 extra coaches on standby. On 9 April 2026 the stationmaster at Ubon Ratchathani said Bangkok–Ubon trains were almost fully booked in both directions until 22 April.

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) sells tickets through its D-Ticket website and app and at station booking offices. D-Ticket takes reservations up to 180 days ahead on rapid, express, special express and tourist trains, so seats for Friday 9 April 2027 went on sale on Sunday 11 October 2026: your Songkran train is already on sale, so book it now. Ordinary and local trains cannot be reserved online. The Bor Kor Sor sells seats through its website, its E-ticket app and its ticket offices; in 2026 its advance-booked coaches to the north and northeast leaving from 18:00 on 9 to 12 April boarded at Gate 2 of Krung Thep Aphiwat station instead of the Mo Chit bus terminal, so check the boarding point printed on the ticket. Our Thailand transport guide covers the routes themselves.

The simplest plan is to avoid long journeys between about 9 and 19 April altogether: arrive in your Songkran town before the outbound rush, stay put, and leave after the return wave. Flights are the easiest way to skip the roads, but book them early too. Airports of Thailand asks passengers to pack toy water guns in checked baggage, since anything that looks like a gun is banned on board, and to keep nam ob scented water in the cabin in bottles of 100 ml or less.

Rules, etiquette and road safety

Songkran has rules, and police enforce them in the main zones. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration asks people not to drink and drive, not to get drunk and disorderly in public, not to wear revealing clothes, not to play music too loud, not to smear powder on others and not to use high-pressure water guns. Thailand's national alcohol policy committee designates the water-play zones as alcohol-free, adds drink-driving checkpoints and tests the driver in every crash. Use clean water, never throw ice, and leave alone anyone who is clearly not playing: TAT asks visitors never to splash people on motorbikes, monks or pregnant women.

The roads are the real danger. The government runs a road-safety campaign over the 'seven dangerous days' of the holiday, which in 2026 ran from 10 to 16 April, with more checkpoints and stricter drink-driving enforcement; the 2027 dates are announced shortly before the holiday. Speeding and drunk driving cause most of the crashes, particularly on motorbikes. Do not rent a scooter that week; taxis, trains and the BTS and MRT are the safer way around. For road emergencies the government's hotline is 1784.