Thailand forum
Songkran Festival 2013
Have questions? Jump to our menu of forum quicklinks
Add your reply
You need to be logged in to add a reply.
Not a member? you can join here.
| Possibly related discussions | Replies | Views | Latest reply |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beach Festival and Songkran 2012 - Chiang Mai ... By katerpillar on 11 Dec 2011 | 3 | 1653 | 18 Dec 2011 |
| TET Festival 2013 ... By StevenAM on 4 Jan 2013 | 9 | 1348 | 14 Jan 2013 |
| Phuket Electronic Music and Dance Festival 2012 / Karon Beach Countdown 2013 ... By yippie65 on 21 Dec 2012 | 0 | 1252 | 21 Dec 2012 |
wheretonext
Joined Travelfish
10th November, 2012
Location Philippines
Posts 23
Member profile
Profile page
Private message
Hello everyone,
Is Chiang Mai the best region in Thailand to spend Songkran? I am also thinking of just spending it in Myanmar instead but apparently its more livelier and fun in CM. Will be hitting up CM April 11-22, 2013 if I decide to go there.
Thanks,
Doc
#1 Posted: 25/11/2012 - 06:51
RiniRabbit
Joined Travelfish
31st July, 2012
Posts 75
Member profile
Profile private
Messaging not enabled.
Songkran Festival in CM is fun.
If you never been there for the Festival yet, I think it would be nice to try to stay on that time one.
#2 Posted: 26/11/2012 - 02:46
Advertisement
emae8507
Joined Travelfish
20th November, 2012
Posts 5
Member profile
Profile private
Messaging not enabled.
I heard that Bangkok was pretty amazing for Songkran!
Im looking to get out there around that time so will probably base myself in Bangkok for a few days before heading south to the islands.
e x
#3 Posted: 27/11/2012 - 05:11
waytogo
Joined Travelfish
1st December, 2011
Posts 25
Member profile
Profile private
Messaging not enabled.
Songkran in Bangkok is insane. People who arrive in Thailand during the festival have no idea what they're in for. I was leaving the country on the last day of songkran last year (a friday I believe) and although my flight was in the evening I had to leave for the airport around noon because I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of KSR "alive" later in the day.
I've also traveled THROUGH Thailand during songkran and you can't even stay dry in the bus basically. A bit like the holi festival in India where they throw paint right through the train windows.
#4 Posted: 28/11/2012 - 13:25
cpelser
Joined Travelfish
4th January, 2013
Posts 9
Member profile
Profile private
Messaging not enabled.
Hi guys, this is my first (of probably many) post here.
How full are the Hotels on Phi Phi and Phuket just before Songkran? I really like the idea of just pitching up at a hotel since we'll be in Vietnam and Thailand for four weeks and planning a set trip now seems the wrong way to go. We're at alternating our stay between budget and luxury accommodation. (1200-200 baht budget to 6000 baht luxury) per night for both of us. We're leaving on the 5th of April, is it still a safe time to just pitch up on an island like Phi Phi?
I read on another forum that one should rather book the more luxury places online as it is cheaper, but I find that hard to believe?
#5 Posted: 4/1/2013 - 03:16
Jasonscottb-
all
Joined Travelfish
28th December, 2012
Location Canada
Posts 8
Member profile
Profile page
Private message
Last year was our first opportunity to attend Songkran festivities in Chiang Mai. I would suggest that if you want to attend a 4 - 5 day water fight, with lots of partying and driving in circles around either side of the moat, then choose Chiang Mai. We found it to be a lot of fun and because we have been there before, we were able to check out some places we didn't have time to see the first couple of times we visited.
Regarding the all day water fight, expect to get wet. Most people are fantastic about not trying to knock you off your bike while motoring by but there are some (all tourists - surprise, surprise) that feel it their duty to try and knock you off by throwing large pails of water at you as hard as possible. I really felt bad when, coming back around for a 3rd time, running over the same punter's foot with my scooter. Whoops!!!!
Hope you have fun!!! I may be back there this year for Songkran!!!
#6 Posted: 9/1/2013 - 19:59
somtam2000
admin
Joined Travelfish
21st January, 2004
Location Indonesia
Posts 6410
Member profile
Profile page
Private message
@cpelser -- Phi Phi is one of the few places I'd recommend booking in advance, but only over peak season (Xmas-New Years) rest of the time you'll find something...somewhere
As for hotels being cheaper online, sometimes they are, sometimes they are not. Mid last year I did a trip to Phuket and booked most of my rooms through Agoda and then compared to what I would have paid had I just walked in. It was cheaper to book online in nearly all the cases, but sometimes only marginally so and only on one occasion was Agoda more expensive. You can see that write up here. Admitedly I was staying at cheapish places (under 1,000 baht per night) so there was only so much I could save!
Simple answer there is no hard and fast answer -- walk in rates at the higher class hotels can be outrageous and the savings booking online can be very substantial -- note I say "can"! Unfortunately you don't know till you show up.
If you're looking for a fancy place on Ko Phi Phi over Songkran I'd peruse some of the online sites like Agoda, Booking, Sawadee etc and then compare to the "internet" rate on the hotel's own website -- that should give a good indicator of how much saving you are up for. Or just call the hotel over Skype and see what rate they'll give you.
I agree with JasonScottBall -- Chiang Mai is nuts over Songkran!
#7 Posted: 9/1/2013 - 20:14
somtam2000's social networks[Twitter] [Facebook] [Flickr] [Google+] [Instagram] [Pinterest]
------------------------------
Travel films for Southeast Asia