Latest news with #Songkran
The Irish Sun
5 days ago
- The Irish Sun
World's ten best holiday islands revealed – here's how to find the two in Europe
THE top 10 islands in the world have been revealed, from Italian paradise to popular Greek gems. Online travel agency, 7 Paros has been recognised as the world's best island more than once Credit: Alamy 7 It has beautiful beaches and a vibrant nightlife Credit: Alamy The island of The Greek paradise was declared best in the world by Paros forms part of the We spoke to Read More on Holidays She also raved about the delicious seafood, hidden clubs and party boats. Also on the list is Italy's Sardinia, which Expedia said boasts a "rugged coastline and hilltop villages." The standout island has attracted lots of holidaymakers over the years, including celebrities like George Clooney and Beyonce. Most read in Beach holidays One On the island is even a I found the perfect adults-only hotel for an all-inclusive Greek island holiday 7 Sardinia is one of the top islands - and the closest on the list from the UK Credit: Alamy 7 Aruba is on the hot list too and has incredible beaches Credit: Alamy Found on the west coast of the It's where you'll find some huge dunes that look like they belong in the desert, and they rise up to heights of 60 metres. These dunes are the reason it has been nicknamed 'Little Sahara of Italy'. Also on the list was Scoring 90 out of 100 - compared to the lowest being 34 for Not only that, it's known by locals as 'One Happy Island'. It's not really a surprise because the island gets highs of 30C even in winter. The island is much drier than others that surround it as it sits just outside of the hurricane belt. Aruba is famous for having white sand beaches, and being home to Flamingo Beach where you can see the famous pink birds relaxing in shallow waters. 7 Koh Samui is the second largest island in Thailand Credit: Alamy 7 The island is known for the coastline and vibrant nightlife Credit: Alamy Koh Samui, Thailand's second largest island also found a place on the Island Hot List. It's known for having incredible beaches, huge temples and vibrant nightlife. Thanks to a very well-known TV series, The island also has an annual festival called Songkran which is a three-day celebration where people are armed with water pistols. The festival traditionally runs April 13-15, which just happens to be during Thailand's hottest season. One writer Expedia also found a rising interest in other islands, particularly for Brits like Jersey, Plus, here are And check out the These Are Expedia's Top 10 Islands for 2025 Aruba Bali Dominican Republic Fiji Jamaica Koh Samui Maldives Oahu, Hawaii Paros, Greece Sardinia, Italy 7 Expedia has revealed its top 10 islands for 2025 Credit: Alamy
Korea Herald
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
South Korea's premier water music festival S2O Korea makes splash in Gwacheon
From W&W, Dimension, Medvza to KSHMR, global DJs lit up Gwacheon S2O Korea, one of the best-known water-themed music festivals in the country, lit up Gwacheon with energy and excitement on Sunday, drawing massive crowds despite the humid summer heat. Inspired by Thailand's traditional Songkran water festival, S2O made its Korean debut in 2022 and has grown into one of the country's most iconic summer music events. This year's festival took place over the weekend at Seoul Land in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. Although Sunday's weather was hot and cloudy, festivalgoers in colorful summer outfits armed with water guns and waterproof pouches for their smartphones flocked to Seoul Land. The festival featured performances across two main stages: the Welcome Stage near the park entrance and the Main Stage, known for its intense water cannon blasts. The Main Stage was outfitted with three massive screens, offering vibrant visual displays in sync with the music. As the festival continued into early evening — it is scheduled to run until 10 p.m. — the crowd thickened, with more and more people gathering in front of the stage. 'I came to last year's S2O as well, and out of all the water-themed music festivals, S2O definitely uses the most water and has the most spectacular stage setups. I was super satisfied and have been looking forward to this year's too,' said a festivalgoer in her 20s, dressed in a striking red outfit. From around 3 p.m., performances by DJ Soda and Aster & Neo took to the main stage. When water cannons began to fire, adding to the thrill, the audience responded with loud cheers. Sunday's Main Stage lineup featured headline performances by KSHMR, an Indian American DJ known for his signature Indo-inspired rhythms, Dimension, famed for his dreamy melodies, Dutch house duo W&W and Italian house music producer Medvza.
Korea Herald
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
S2O Korea returns with splashing beats
From global EDM stars to signature water-soaked experience, the Songkran-inspired festival to hit Seoul A musical downpour is coming to South Korea, both literally and figuratively. S2O Korea is set to take place July 12–13 at Seoul Land in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. Inspired by Thailand's traditional Songkran water festival, S2O debuted in Korea in 2022. Drawing over 40,000 attendees last year, it has quickly established itself as one of the country's representative summer festivals. This year's S2O Korea lineup is filled with global EDM stars, including Afrojack, KSHMR, Dimension and house hitmaker Meduza. Subtronics, a leading DJ in North America's bass scene and a dubstep powerhouse, will make his Korean debut at the festival. The lineup also includes international and domestic EDM artists such as W&W, Said The Sky, Level Up, Vicetone, Vinai, Retrovision, Alan Shirahama, Soda, AK & Daywalker and Aster & Neo, offering diverse genres from big room and bass to melodic and trap. BEPC, the organizer of S2O Korea, is also the force behind World DJ Festival, another major EDM festival in South Korea. The company recently launched World DJ Festival Japan, signaling its expansion into the global market. 'S2O is a water-themed festival uniquely tailored to the summer season, offering an entirely different kind of joy,' said Kim Eun-sung, CEO of BEPC. 'This year's S2O will be a full sensory experience where music, water and performance come together in harmony— creating a festival that transcends traditional EDM.'
Time Out
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Thailand puts Thai traditional dresses up for UNESCO status
Chut thai where 'chut' cuts straight to the bone, meaning 'outfit.' But peel back the surface and you're staring into centuries of textile artistry and encoded culture. From the Dvaravati to the Srivijaya eras, spanning the sixth to thirteenth centuries, the wrap skirt was designed to move with the monsoon and with meaning. It's fashion, function, faith and flirtation, all woven into one. You could trace it back to a story told in homegrown silk and the ancient trade routes that pulse through Thailand's past. For women, there's the 'pha nung' and its cousin 'pha sinh'. From North to South, each province translates climate and spirit into their chuts. Mountain communities speak different textile languages from coastal cities. Then in 1964, Queen Sirikit unveiled chut thai 'phra ratcha niyom,' a polished royally endorsed national costume. The men's suea phraratchathan followed in the late 1970s, rooted in that Raj-pattern legacy with modern grace. Now the story moves forward: UNESCO recognition. Thailand aims to immortalise the artistry behind its national costume, the know-how, craftsmanship and rituals, by seeking a place on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, with evaluation set for 2026. This nomination is part of a larger cultural preservation effort, an ever-growing vault of 396 relics and rituals already safeguarded as national heritage, with Muay Thai and Songkran circling close by. The proposal weaves a story of shared heritage and mutual respect, threaded across borders rather than confined by them. It honours the cultural flow that connects Southeast Asia. Take the jointly nominated kebaya, a garment born of regional solidarity or the 2018 parallel listings of Thailand's Khon and Cambodia's Lakhon Khol: not isolated claims but acknowledgements of intertwined traditions standing side by side. Thailand's 2026 submission is a deep dive into a living tradition, one that recognises a regional textile kinship while celebrating a distinctly Thai evolution. It protects and amplifies Thailand's unique voice within Southeast Asia's layered cultural tapestry. Like silk, cultural practices thrive best when treated with care and meant to be shared.
Metro
20-06-2025
- Metro
I went to the world's wettest Pride parade where everyone gets soaked
I'm sitting in the police station soaking wet, still clutching my super-soaker as I drip on the tiles and wait for the officer to finish typing up my report. Not exactly how I'd expected my first day in Bangkok to end. I'd come to Thailand 's capital for Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year festival that turns the streets of the city into a giant water fight every April. I'd hoped I might dry off on the ride over, but sitting on the back of the motorbike only made me a moving target. That's the thing about Songkran, nobody is off limits. Police officers, Buddhist monks, the elderly and small children – I'd seen them all targeted with rapid-firing squirt guns and freezing buckets of water. It seems that there really are no exceptions. If you step onto the street, you're consenting to getting wet. That's why I'd put all my things into a waterproof bag. Squirting strangers as I ducked and dodged and sought out my next victim, I let my guard down only to realise I'd just become a victim myself. Feeling my bag snag on something, I turn to find the pockets zipped wide open – my second passport, money and credit cards all stolen. I glance around the crowd of saturated revellers, but whoever had taken them had already disappeared. I try my best not to let it dampen my spirits – the money was minimal, my bank cards were immediately cancelled, and my primary passport was tucked away dry in the hotel safe. But then I realised they'd taken something infinitely more valuable. My second passport had my US visa in it – my only ticket to entering the United States. This may not seem like all that big of a deal, but with a new visa likely taking months, it was about to unravel all my carefully laid plans. This year, I'm on a journey to experience Pride all over the world, and having already booked flights to San Francisco – the birthplace of Pride – and World Pride in Washington DC, I realised it was now unlikely I'd be able to go to either. But this year is also what brought me here to Thailand. On the second day of the festivities, the LGBT+ community come together to get soaked in the Songkran Pride Parade. Being robbed the night before didn't exactly fill me with joy, but if I've learned anything on this journey, it's that the queer community always know how to lift my spirits. A hidden gem Finding the parade presented a new challenge in itself. While Pride events are usually heavily documented, for this one, I struggled to find any information at all. In fact, I started to question whether it actually existed. I didn't have a start time, or an exact location, all I knew was that it took place somewhere along Silom Road. For the uninitiated, that's the beating heart of Bangkok's queer scene, but during Songkran, it becomes the centre of the party for everyone. It's easy to understand why – the queer community spill out of the bars to party in the streets, pop up stages are erected, and spontaneous K-pop choreography catches like wildfire. The raucous spectacle speaks to Thailand's acceptance of the community. The queer party is t he party, and everyone wants to be involved. Though with such wide-sweeping acceptance, queer spaces can sometimes become diluted, making us once again the minority. That's why a pride parade here is so important, it reclaims the space and tips the balance back towards centering queerness. Despite the lack of information online, it doesn't take long for me to find the festivities. I'd assumed it would be a small parade – given the fact that the streets are already so crowded – but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was quite the opposite. A dozen floats are lined up ready to depart, bubble cannons firing in all directions, rainbow fabric drenched in water and sweat as dancers perform in the sweltering heat. One drag queen has fashioned an outfit out of super-soakers, while another's make-up streams down her face as she performs on the back of a truck. The current Miss LGBT+ Thailand poses for a photo with the winners of the past four years, while Mr Bear Bangkok is soaked by his countless admirers. There's a tremendous sense of camaraderie here, and even though I'm travelling solo, I quickly feel I'm amongst friends. People approach to chat – or to attack me with their water pistols – one boy even pulls me in for a kiss after I turn his white shirt see-through. Pride Around the World Calum McSwiggan, author of Eat Gay Love, is a man on a mission. He plans to spend 2025 exploring how the LGBT+ community is celebrated everywhere on Earth: 12 months, 7 continents, 20 Prides. In an exclusive Metro series, Calum will journey from the subzero climes of Antarctica to the jewel-toned streets of Mumbai, telling the story of Pride around the world. Follow his journey on Metro, in print and on our socials to learn how Pride is celebrated around the world. Next up? A different sort of Pride, behind closed doors in Malaysia. A place for everyone It quickly becomes apparent that it isn't just the Thai community that's come to celebrate either. There are queer people from all over. There's a float decked out in Filipino flags, and one in Taiwan 's colours too. I meet people from India, Cambodia, Japan, China and Korea. I even meet some who've travelled from Malaysia, where LGBT+ identities are still considered criminal. For some, Songkran is another excuse to party, but for others, it's a form of escapism, one of the only times of year when they can truly be themselves. 'Songkran is one of the most diverse and inclusive events I've ever attended,' Taiwanese personal trainer Patrick Chen tells me as he shields his boyfriend from an incoming bucket of water. 'It's something everyone should experience at least once.' Vietnamese influencer Milton echoes this sentiment. 'It's one of the best memories I've ever made. A place where everyone – regardless of religion, language barrier, or sexual orientation – comes together to have fun and get wet. You don't need alcohol or drugs, you'd be amazed how many friends you can make by just splashing water in their faces.' Talking to people from right across the Asian diaspora helps me realise how important it is to have this space in Asia, where there are comparatively fewer spaces for the LGBT+ community. Songkran also coincides with GCIRCUIT, Asia's largest LGBT+ dance festival, giving extra incentive for people to make the journey to come here. 'We wanted to create a safe space where our community can come together from all over Asia,' Tom Tan, who founded GCIRCUIT with his partner, explains. 'From our earlier years, where sponsors weren't interested in gay events, to now having the endorsement of big brands, it's evident to see the shift in perception of our community. We're proud to keep pushing for that while championing visibility, acceptance and inclusion.' Travel Proud research shows that 63% of LGBT+ travellers prioritise destinations where they can be their authentic selves – and that's exactly what Bangkok delivers. It doesn't just welcome queerness, it soaks it in unashamed joy. Inclusive and proud There's an enormous emphasis on the trans community here, too. Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia to have never been colonised, and as a result, its centuries old practise of trans inclusion has been preserved. While legal rights for trans people are still far from perfect, Thailand is now leading the world in areas like gender affirming care, with people travelling from all over the globe for treatment. Still, this visibility comes with a dark side. Kathoey is the term traditionally used for transfeminine people in Thailand, but the use of the westernised ' l a***oy' slur has become commonplace. While some reclaim the word, or brush it off as harmless, for others it's deeply offensive, and only contributes to segregating them further from society. With sex tourism on the rise, trans people are often objectified and fetishised, sometimes with horrifying consequences. In April, trans woman Woranan Pannacha was violently mutilated and murdered by a Chinese tourist after she refused to have sex with him. That's why it's so important to see such loud and proud trans representation in the parade. Some march for sex worker rights, with signs that read 'my pussy, my business,' while others wave flags and gleefully soak the crowd with water canons. It's still very much a celebration, but there's an undertone of protest too – and that combination, for me, is exactly what Pride everywhere is all about. By the time the parade is over, I've all but forgotten about the robbery from the night before. New friends invite me to dinner, and I remind myself that this is what this journey was always about. It's too early to say whether or not the robbery has completely derailed my plans for the rest of the year, but no matter what happens, I have no regrets in coming here. Songkran Pride is one of the best things I've ever experienced, I'm already planning on coming back. Travel guide to Bangkok Pride Getting there Thai Airways offers return fares from both London Heathrow and Gatwick starting at £683 return. Things to do (beyond Pride) S20 Festival: Combining sky-high water canons with EDM for the wettest party on Earth. Yunomori Onsen: To celebrate the water festival in a more relaxed environment, this serene bathhouse lives up to Japanese standards and is very popular with the LGBT+ community. Chatuchak Market: For super soakers, waterproof bags, and other Songkran supplies, this is one of the largest weekend markets in the world, and filled with LGBT+ owned stalls. Where to stay Ibis Styles (£) Amara Hotel Capella Bangkok (£££) These hotels all proudly display the Travel Proud badge after completing LGBT+ inclusivity training. Where to eat and drink Little Bao: A concept by LGBT+ chef and advocate May Chow, this eatery brings a modern twist to traditional Chinese comfort food. Luka Sathorn: LGBT+ owned bohemian brunch spot in the heart of Silom. Patpong Night Market: For late night eats, just steps from the queer scene.
