Songkran’s observance has two main dimensions in Thailand: a subdued religious and familial side and a festive public side. As a festival associated with Buddhism, it involves sprinkling water on Buddha statues, giving alms to Buddhist monks, releasing animals, and seeking to earn merit (punya). Families come together and honor elders. In religious and familial settings, sprinkling water is meant as a sign of respect and understood as cleansing in preparation for the new year. In public festivities, Songkran features jubilant street parties in which participants splash water on each other by any means necessary, including buckets, hoses, squirt guns, and elephants.
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