Celebrating Songkran Festival at Schaffner Thailand

May 16, 2024
Nicole Hurni

The Songkran festival is beloved by everyone; the events from last year sparked considerable interest and received a satisfactory response from the employees. Therefore, we refined this year’s event organization based on the comments from participants and observers.

We observed traditional religious ceremonies, including offering food to monks, a spirit house worship ceremony and the ritual of pouring water and blessings on management and senior employees, as these are integral elements of our local traditions, beliefs and cultural heritage. Furthermore, to enhance the festival experience, we arranged competitions that were particularly meaningful to the Schaffner community. 

The first contest was a design competition for the Songkran flag known as “thung” in the Northern Thai dialect, where our employees showcased their creativity and paper crafting skills in designing and creating the flags. The thung holds special significance as a decoration for Northern Thai festivals.

After the thung design contest, we unveiled a sequel to the most requested activities. People could contend that “larb” (Northern-style spiced ground meat) and “som tam” (spicy papaya salad) are symbolic dishes of the festival. Hence, contestants were eager to participate and demonstrate their culinary skills. The event lasted for two hours, filled with excitement and joy for the cooks, judges and spectators.

The festival serves as a reflection of our people’s nature, enhancing our corporate culture. The more joyous our celebrations, the stronger our bonds become.