Thingyan, Myanmar Water Festival takes place towards the end of the hot, dry season and ushers in the Myanmar New Year. This festival is also celebrated in neighboring Theravada Buddhist countries; Songkran in Thailand and Laos, ChaulChnamThmey in Cambodia. The festival lasts three or five days. The festival revolves around standing on bamboo stages erected along the streets wherein people splash water on passersby. Powerful water pipes douse people driving by in jeeps and trucks. Children use water pistols to drench their friends, relatives, and anyone else in range – only monks and the elderly are safe.