TRADITIONS OF BANGKOK

Important Festivals: >Many beautiful and interesting festivals are celebrated all over Bangkok. Some of these interesting festivals are Magha Puja, Songkran, and Coronation Day. Songkran is a water festival celebrating the Thai New Year. It is held at Khao San Road. Visitors who arrive at the venue are greeted with sprinkling of water and rubbed on the cheeks with sandalwood paste. Slowly though, the festival starts off in right earnest. People throw buckets full of water at each other and squirt water pistols at each other. Soon enough, all the people are drenched to the core and a sort of gentle waterfight starts. It helps, though, that the festival is held at the hottest time of the year, so people don't mind getting drenched at all. In fact, they quite enjoy it. People drink Sangtip, which is a type of Thai whisky, and the festivities continue deep into the night.

Customs and Traditions: The traditional method of greeting people in Thailand is called Wai Prah. Thai people greet each other by joining both their hands together and bringing them towards their chin. Along with this, they bend their heads forward slightly. This customary form of greeting is used in place of the western handshake. It is used for greeting, farewell, and to convey respect. However, you should not Wai to everyone. You should Wai to only those people who are older than you and to whom you want to convey respect. Of course, you can do a Wai to the monks regardless of their age.

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