the second day of songkran is officially the national family day . families would wake up early and give alms to the monks, then ideally the rest of the day would be spent sharing quality family time together. an important religious ritual on songkran is 'bathing the buddha image', in which devout buddhists pour fragrant water over buddha status both at the temple and at home. more religious thais would engage themselves in buddhist ceremonies and merit-making activities throughout the holidays.