.....l It is an old belief that the Nagas or mythical serpents brought on rain by spouting water from the seas. The more they spouted, the more rain there would be. So, one might believe that the Songkran customs of throwing water is actually a rain-making idea, but it seems that the Thais don't really bother about way they celebrate Songkran - they just do it for having a great time!
Instead of just asking a question on Phuket diving, I thought I would contribute at least one informative post ....
Actually, Songkran does not really have much to do with Nagas or mystical serpents (above); but that sounds romantic in modern times, I guess!
Songkran is the beginning of Thai (lunar) New Year. In the "olden days" before Songkran became mostly a festival of drunken people having water fights in the street, there was actually an important Buddhist tradition and story that was the foundation of Songkran. It goes something like this:
When the Buddha was in his last struggle with Mara (metaphor of the evil of human desire and suffering) moments before His Enlightenment; Mara asked the future Buddha to be,
"What merit and good deeds have you done to deserve to be the Enlightened One"?
At that time, as it was for many years prior, the custom was for people to make merit (do something good) and to pour water into the Earth afterward. So, naturally if you had performed myriad good deeds in your life, the Earth would be full of pure water from your merit making.
As the story goes, the Buddha to be said to Mara,
"I call the Earth to be my witness" and Maa Pra Thoranee (the Mother of the Earth, English representation of Thai sounds) appeared from within the Earth. Her beautiful hair was jet black and very long; and with both her hands, she squeezed the abundance of water out of her hair, which represented all the great merit that the future Buddha to be had accumulated over many lifetimes.
There was so much water from Maa Pra Thoranee's hair that Mara was washed away, and the Buddha proceeded to Enlightenment.
The water tradition in Songkran comes from the same tradition - the old tradition of making merit and pouring water into the Earth; but it then evolved (many years ago) to pouring water gently over the hands of others, to begin the Thai New Year with acts of kindness and merit making. This is the true origin of water activities for Thai New Year (Songkram).
Depending on your perspective, for better of worse; Songkran has evolved (in modern times) far beyond it's original meaning of the water from merit in the Earth, accumulated from merit making, washing away Mara (sin). It has become a commercial, drunken holiday that, like most traditional holidays, is practiced today without knowledge of the actual true meaning, since Songkran today is just a "time off from work" to "drink lots of alcohol" and get into "water fights".
Actually, Songkran as practiced by the majority of Thais today is 180 degrees out of sync with the original meaning of the very beautiful Thai Buddhist tradition of gently pouring clean pure water on the hands of friends, strangers and loved ones in the act of making merit to bring good luck for the New Year.
This is the actual story of the original of Songkran, the Buddhist Tradition, to bring good luck to all in the beginning of the new Thai lunar year.
The reason I know this is that many years ago I practiced as a Buddhist Novice and also practiced as a Monk for a short period; and during those years of my life I was taught many "traditional Thai and Buddhist things" by elder Thai Buddhist Monks throughout Thailand (North to South and North East). Those were very different times for me.
Frankly speaking, most Thais do not understand the origin of the Songkran water tradition (much less foreigners and tourists), and the true meaning of it. Like many similar traditions in other cultures and customs, the "traditional meaning" was not about commercial concerns and business; but commercial concerns (tourism, selling gifts, etc.) has changed and redefined the traditions; money dominates modern thinking.
Edit (Update): I notice there are numerous "origins" of Songkran described on the net. Seems the "origins" keeps changing over time, and based on a lot of other factors! This is Thailand!
