Mr. Chittipat Tongprasroeth, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Swiss Confederation together with his spouse and the staff of the Royal Thai Embassy participated in a merit-making and celebration on the occasion of Songkran or Thai New Year Festival at Srinagarindravararam Temple in Gretzenbach, Canton Solothurn, on 14 April 2024.

During his address, the Ambassador stressed the significance of Songkran of which the Thai people should be proud as “Songkran in Thailand, Traditional Thai New Year Festival” was inscribed on the Representative List (RL) of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity under the UNESCO Convention, on 6 December 2023. A VDO clip about Songkran Festival, created by the Department of Cultural Promotion, Ministry of Culture, to be presented to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage of UNESCO in December last year, was also shown on screen at the event.

The Thais, Swiss and foreigners living in Switzerland were drawn to various activities at the Temple in celebration of the occasion, including offering alms to monks, listening to Buddhist chants and Dhamma sermons, making merit, pouring water on Buddha images and elders for blessings, etc., which also aimed at promoting and passing on Thai tradition to the next generation.