Thais and foreigners celebrate during the Songkran festival in the country’s capital, Bangkok.

THE majesty, entertainment, fun and wild partying of the Thingyan water festival is highly regarded and nearly everyone in Myanmar looks forward to the five-day holiday with barely subdued excitement.

Well, the wait is nearly over.

However, Myanmar is not alone in celebrating with a water festival to begin the traditional New Year, although the scale of partying in the Golden Land’s bigger cities is not easily replicated.

Historically the Lunar calendar dictated the exact dates of the water festivals but the onset of the modern age has forced the date to be fixed, allowing businesses and governments to better plan for the holiday period. New Year celebrations are usually held from April 13 to 17, with public holidays delayed if the dates coincide with a weekend.

For many of the nations in Southeast Asia, mid-April is the hottest time of the year and temperatures often venture as high as 40C, so there is no better time to gather with friends and family, a few buckets of water and possibly an alcoholic beverage or two.

Despite these strong similarities, no two countries celebrate the New Year in the same way.

Myanmar’s Thingyan festival is celebrated in a haze of water soaking and entertainment as revellers pack themselves into pandals – towers equipped with water cannons – to spray passers-by with water.

For Laotians, the Bpee Mai festival runs for three days: The first sees participants clean their houses and prepare water, perfume and flowers for the Lao New Year; day two is called “day of no day” because it is the last day of the previous year and the first day of the coming year. The final day marks the New Year, which is usually celebrated on or near the full moon.

Water is used to wash homes, Buddha images and monks, while friends and family are liberally soaked. Tradition dictates that students must first pour water respectfully on their elders, then monks for blessings and long life and finally all over each other. It is a common practice to scent the water with flowers or perfume.

The tradition of watering comes from the legend of King Kabinlaphom, whose seven daughters reputedly kept his skull in a cave. Every year they would visit the cave and perform a ritual to bring happiness and good weather to the land.

But another tradition has slowly crept into Laos’ New Year celebrations – the idea of smearing or throwing cream or white powder over one another during the festivities.

Sand is brought to temple grounds and made into stupas or mounds and decorated before they are handed over to the monks. Decorations for these stupas include flags, flowers and white lines; the stupa is then watered with perfumed water. The sand stupas symbolise the mountain, Phoukao Kailat, where King Kabinlaphom’s head was kept by his daughters.

Laotians also follow a curious tradition where they release animals; they believe that even animals need to be free during Bpee Mai.

Every year there is a beauty pageant in Luang Prabang to crown Miss Bpee Mai Lao – with seven contestants chosen to represent each of King Kabinlaphom’s daughters.

In Cambodia, the Chaul Chnam Thmey festival is split into three distinct days and is a time for a range of local games.

Chaul Chnam Thmey represents the end of the harvesting season and is the end of the previous year and the beginning of a new one. For farmers it is a time to enjoy, literally, the fruits of their labour before the monsoon season begins.

Maha Songkran is the first day of celebrations and sees people dress up and light candles and burn incense sticks at shrines. Family members pay homage and offer thanks for Buddha’s teachings by bowing, kneeling and prostrating themselves three times before Budhha images.

Vanabat is day two and people use the day to contribute to those less fortunate than themselves by helping the poor, servants, homeless people and low-income families.

The third day of celebrations is called Thgnai Loeung Saka. Cambodian Buddhists clean statues of Buddha with perfumed water, believing that it will bring longevity, happiness and prosperity in life.

Cambodians also celebrate by playing a variety of innovative and entertaining local games.

Meanwhile, Thais indulge in the Songkran in a similar way to Myanmar by drenching one another with water. In recent years increasing numbers of road fatalities have cast an ugly shadow over festivities. In 2006, more than 600 people died on Thai roads during Songkran.

While nearly everyone in Thailand celebrates by splashing people with water, few are likely to realise the lessons Songkran is supposed to deliver. The festival is supposed to be about family – with children supposed to return home to their parents and deliver small gifts and pay their respects.

Many people go to temples to pray and give food to the monks, while others also clean Buddha images to bring luck and good fortune in the coming year. In some cities like Chiang Mai, the Buddha statues are paraded through the streets to allow people to wash them as they pass by.

One Western tradition has found its way into Thai culture – some people make New Year resolutions to behave well and do more good things.

But in Thailand the fun aspects of the festival have taken precedence over the religious and spiritual pursuits, which has brought many complaints from those who hold traditional beliefs high.

Elsewhere in India, Sri Lanka and southern China there are festivals which are held at almost the same time, each with their own distinctive local flavour.