Perhaps Thailand's best known festival, Songkran is the traditional Thai new year, generally celebrated as a water festival. It has proved to be very popular with overseas tourists who seem to relish the prospects of water fights.
ChiangMai is regarded by many as the best place to celebrate songkran. Here, there still exists the family and Buddhist traditions of songkran as well as parties fun and of course lots of water. Be warned, it is not unusual for Thais to cool their water with blocks of ice which can certainly take your breath away as it hits your body.
Unlike some of the coastal resorts where (sometimes alcohol fuelled) water battles can go on all day and night for a week, in ChiangMai the main activities are held on the 13th 14th and 15th of April and it is considered good practice to cease water fights around 6 PM so that everyone can go out and eat and drink in comfort. Please observe this practice.
If you are in ChiangMai for songkran, the parade on the 13th is worth seeing.
National Holiday  

This festival is also held in many south-east Asian countries. 
In Burma it is called Thingyan.  
In Laos it is called pee mia lao.
In Cambodia it goes by the name of  Chaul Chnam Thmey.

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