Thailand celebrates dry "water festival" for third straight year

A police officer holds water guns after seizing them from the boys as they were prohibited to play with water during Songkran holiday which marks the Thai New Year during the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 14, 2022. - Reuters

BANGKOK, April 15 (Xinhua): For the third year in a row, Thailand is celebrating its traditional new year Songkran in a water-free mode, despite the country being set to lift most Covid-19 control measures once and for all in the near future.

A parade of young Thais in colorful traditional costumes, an elephant with a lady dressed elegantly as the "Songkran Goddess" on its back, and music performances and dancers, marked this year's new year celebration in the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya on Wednesday, the first day of Songkran.