Thailand's water festival returns after three-year hiatus

STORY: “I feel really happy as I see people coming back here. Before that, I was staying at home for the last two years,” said a local participant Sudathip Wongsa.

“It’s really unique in all the world. And my kids love it. I tried to go home and they said no, no, we're going to stay," said Gert Doucet, a tourist from Belgium.

Festivities for Songkran, a much-loved Thai festival sometimes described as the world's largest water fight, had been muted or barred for the past few years due mainly to COVID-19 restrictions. Travellers returning to Thailand, the tourism sector is helping revive Southeast Asia's second-largest economy.