Fish Parade Tradition

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Open Days: Around 1 week after April 13 each year

Opening Hours: The event is generally held within the Phra Pradaeng Songkran period and usually continues for 2–3 days depending on the annual schedule

 

The Fish Parade Tradition of Phra Pradaeng, Samut Prakan, is one of the best-known local Mon cultural traditions associated with the district’s famous post-Songkran celebrations. It is much more than a colorful procession. At its core, the event reflects ideas of compassion, merit-making, and the preservation of local Mon identity through ritual, costume, music, and public participation.

 

The heart of the tradition comes from a Mon legend about a highly respected monk who was skilled in reading fate. One day, he saw that one of his novice disciples was facing an early death. Unable to intervene directly, he told the novice to return home and visit his relatives. On the journey, the novice encountered fish trapped in a drying pond, sinking in mud and close to death. Feeling deep compassion, he rescued them and released them into a canal before continuing his journey.

 

When the novice later returned, the monk realized that the powerful merit from saving the fish had changed the course of his fate. This story became an enduring moral example within the Mon community: saving life creates merit, and acts of compassion can transform one’s future. From that belief, the practice of releasing fish continued and gradually evolved into a formal local tradition.

 

The cultural importance of the Fish Parade lies not only in the ritual itself, but also in the way it expresses the identity of the Mon people of Phra Pradaeng. The event preserves local dress, community participation, ceremonial movement, and the spirit of collective merit-making. Over time, it became one of the most distinctive symbolic events connected with the Songkran season in the district.

 

An important stage in the development of the tradition is associated with Khun Ya Phuang Phongwet, a Mon woman of Song Khanong who was known for her devotion to making merit. Later, Ajarn Klai Phongwet helped organize the event in a more structured way. Young women from local villages were invited to join the procession carrying fish in glass jars, with a musical band leading the parade before the fish were released at Wat Songtham Worawihan. This helped establish the parade format that people came to recognize.

 

As the event gained popularity, more Mon villages joined the procession, and participants even came from Mon communities outside Phra Pradaeng. This expanded the visual richness of the event, especially because women from different localities wore traditional dress according to their own local customs. The parade thus became not only a merit-making event but also a moving display of Mon cultural diversity.

 

In time, a bird parade was added to the tradition, and the event came to be widely known as the Bird and Fish Parade. This widened the meaning of the ceremony, representing the release of life both in water and in the sky. The event therefore became even more strongly associated with compassion, liberation, and merit.

 

Another important development came in 1955, when a Songkran beauty procession was added. Although it was not yet a formal pageant at first, this change clearly linked the Fish Parade more closely with the larger Phra Pradaeng Songkran celebrations. Later, the official Songkran pageant became a major feature of the district’s festivities, and the Fish Parade was firmly established as one of the event’s most memorable highlights.

 

Today, the Fish Parade remains one of the most visually striking parts of Phra Pradaeng Songkran, which is held about one week after the main Thai Songkran period. The procession now includes women in traditional Mon attire, decorated vehicles from different subdistricts, school bands, long-drum groups, and parade elements that make the event festive, elegant, and culturally distinct at the same time.

 

What makes the event especially meaningful is the balance between beauty and belief. Visitors see a colorful parade, but behind it lies a long tradition of compassion, merit-making, and local pride. The Fish Parade is not just a festival attraction. It is a reminder that Phra Pradaeng’s Mon heritage continues to live through rituals that still carry meaning for local people today.

 

For travelers, this tradition offers a more layered experience of Phra Pradaeng than water play alone. It gives insight into the district’s Mon roots, its ceremonial culture, and the way a local festival can remain both lively and spiritually meaningful. Visitors can also combine the parade experience with temple visits, historical sites, and nearby green community areas during the same trip.

 

Getting There from Bangkok is convenient via Suk Sawat Road, the Bhumibol bridges, or ferry crossings from Bangkok-side piers. During the festival period, it is generally easier to use public transport or park in a practical location and walk into the event zone rather than trying to drive close to the parade route itself.

 

 

A: It is generally held about one week after April 13 each year, during the Phra Pradaeng Songkran period.

 

A: It comes from a Mon legend about saving trapped fish and the belief that compassion and releasing life create powerful merit.

 

A: Because a bird-release procession was later added, and the event evolved into a combined bird-and-fish merit parade.

 

A: It is one of the major cultural highlights of the Phra Pradaeng Songkran Festival and reflects the district’s Mon identity.

 

A: Yes. In the historical development of the event, fish were ceremonially brought to be released at Wat Songtham Worawihan.

 

A: The highlights include Mon women in traditional costume, jars of fish, bird cages, decorated vehicles, school bands, and long-drum processions.

 

A: Follow the annual program from Phra Pradaeng Municipality, allow extra travel time, and arrive before the parade begins for better viewing.