In which year did UNESCO add Songkran to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list? UNESCO added Songkran to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2023.
The official inscription is titled “Songkran in Thailand, traditional Thai New Year festival.” UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee approved it for the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during its 18th session in Kasane, Botswana, in December 2023.
The designation recognizes more than the festival’s famous water splashing. Songkran includes temple visits, merit-making, giving alms to monks, bathing Buddha images, building sand pagodas, honoring elders and ancestors, family reunions and community cooperation. Water symbolizes purification, blessing and the washing away of misfortune, while traditional knowledge is passed through families, communities and education.
The year 2023 refers to the inscription, not the age of Songkran itself. The festival is centuries old, and Thailand had already included it in its national Intangible Cultural Heritage inventory in 2011.