Thai Community Celebrates New Year at Siam Park

(eap) Siam Park on Tenerife was ablaze with colour, splendour and joy this past Sunday for the celebration of the Thai New Year (Buddhist New Year 2567), to which the Thai community of the Canary Islands came together. The event was organized in collaboration with the Thai Association on the Canary Islands, Mueng Siam. Christoph Kiessling, Vice President of the Loro Parque Group and Honorary Consul of Thailand, and Khun Naphidthidla Thawiratchaichoth, President of the Thai Association, kicked off the festivities:

“Today we have come together to honour the rich Thai culture. There is no better place than Siam Park to celebrate this water festival together. I am honoured to offer this magnificent park as the venue for this event,” said Kiessling.

The celebration’s program included traditional dances, martial arts, a papaya salad cooking competition, Thai massages and the election of the Songkran Children’s Queen. The most emotional part of the day was the water ceremony, a ritual called “Rod Nam Dum Hua”, in which fragrant water is being poured over the hands of the elders of the community as a sign of respect and gratitude and to bless them. This ritual is nowadays also a festival in which everyone participates and splashes each other in a “water fight”. ■