Bangkok Post

Gentle water war at retro Songkran

- — Arusa Pisuthipan

Many Thais this year are looking to celebrate Songkran in Thai traditiona­l style, following the popularity of the now highest-rated soap opera Bupphaesan­nivas ( Love Destiny) and a craze for historical tourist attraction­s and donning Thai traditiona­l costumes. The Mallika City 1905 AD in Kanchanabu­ri province is where holiday makers can expect to enjoy the Thai New Year in retro style with a special Songkran celebratio­n and activities to be held from Friday until Sunday. The event’s highlight is a special parade telling the history of Songkran as well as the story of this year’s Nang Songkran (female deity for Songkran). Nang Songkran for 2018 is Mahotorn Devi, whose clothes are the colour of black stone and has the water hyacinth and black sapphire as her ornaments. Mahotorn has a discus in her right hand and trident in her left. The hog dear is her food and she travels on a peacock. The parade will be held twice a day, at 11am and 3pm. Other shows, such as traditiona­l performanc­es from Thailand’s central region and ancient boxing, are available along with games similar to those at temple fairs, like Sao Noi Tok Nam and many more. Songkran wouldn’t be fun without the water war. So this year at Mallika City, visitors will have a chance to get soaked but in the traditiona­l style, with gentle sprinkles of Nam Ob Thai (perfumed water). Buddha statues will also be enshrined for visitors to worship and bathe for good fortune. The Mallika City 1905 AD is a retro-city replicatin­g the old Siamese lifestyle along the Chao Phraya River. During the reign of King Chulalongk­orn, the lives of people, especially in 1905, were changed drasticall­y due to the abolition of slavery. So this tourist destinatio­n allows visitors to learn the lives of people from that era who were no longer under the control of their masters, which subsequent­ly led to them practising a self-sufficient, self-reliant lifestyle. The Mallika City 1905 AD is located in Sai Yok district of Kanchanabu­ri province.

For more informatio­n, call 034-540884/6, 063-2214564 email info@mallika124.com or visit mallika124.com.

 ??  ?? Songkran at Mallika City 1905 AD.
Songkran at Mallika City 1905 AD.

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