<Tr> <Th> Frequency </Th> <Td> Annual </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Related to </Th> <Td> South and Southeast Asian New Years </Td> </Tr> <P> Songkran (Thai: เทศกาล สงกรานต์, pronounced (thêːt. sā. kāːn sǒŋ. krāːn); Khmer: សង្រ្កាន្ត; Burmese: သင်္ကြန်; Lao: ສົງການ) is the Thai New Year's national holiday . Songkran is 13 April every year, but the holiday period extends from 14--15 April . In 2018 the Thai cabinet extended the festival nationwide to five days, 12--16 April, to enable citizens to travel home for the holiday . The word "Songkran" comes from the Sanskrit word saṃkrānti (Devanāgarī: संक्रांति), literally "astrological passage", meaning transformation or change . The term was borrowed from Makar Sankranti, the name of a Hindu harvest festival celebrated in India in January to mark the arrival of spring . It coincides with the rising of Aries on the astrological chart and with the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia, in keeping with the Buddhist / Hindu solar calendar . </P> <P> In Thailand, New Year is now officially celebrated on January 1, Songkran was the official New Year until 1888, when it was switched to a fixed date of April 1 . Then in 1940, this date was shifted to 1 January . The traditional Thai New Year Songkran was transformed into a national holiday . </P>

What is the songkran festival and what does it mean