The Asian Student Union at LSU spent its Tuesday evening celebrating the Thai, Lao, and Cambodian New Year on the parade grounds.

For Thai, Lao, and Cambodian students away from home during the New Year, the Asian Student Union is hosting the holiday with vendors and fun traditional celebrations, creating a sense of home right here on campus.
All three countries typically celebrate their New Year around the 13th-16th of April, as the dry season ends, and the rainy season begins.

This period represents renewal and purification in the Buddhist calendar. To recreate a traditional New Year’s water festival, the students sprayed each other with water guns, symbolizing the start of the rainy season in Thailand.

Students like Eliza Boo say it is important for other students to be able to celebrate with them as well.
“The event that we’re doing, which is the water event, is a big part of South Asia,” says Boo, “It’s important for other students to know about the events that happen in other parts of the world.”

As the cultural growth of both LSU and Louisiana continues to expand, students say that it is important to them to be able to celebrate their culture, even away from home.

“I know there is a very small population of Asian people in Louisiana,” says Suasdey Pha, “but it is becoming a very prominent thing at LSU, so I feel like us bringing the food today spreads a little bit of my culture.”

Several cultural foods were also contributed by a local restaurant owner, giving students a taste of home in every bite
Through food, tradition, and community, students say they’re creating a home away from home, even from miles away.
We wish all students celebrating the Thai, Lao, and Cambodian New Year a happy and prosperous holiday.