Thai revellers cover themselves in flour during the country's Songkran new year celebration.

The bizarre tradition is carried out alongside mass water fights around the country each year beginning on April 13 and lasting several days.

Footage from Chonburi province shows how young party-goers cooled off as temperatures reached 39C on April 16. They rubbed the white flour onto their faces, bodies and passing cars.

The annual festival began hundreds of years ago with locals sprinkling water on their elders to bring good luck for the year ahead.

And while millions of Thais take part in the tradition in villages and towns around the country, in recent years it has also developed into a highly commercialised three-day event with millions of tourists converging on major cities and resorts to join in.

Silom Road in Bangkok is one of the most popular destinations for the festivities and water fights continue round the clock through the early hours of the morning and again the next day. But the party also takes place in streets and rural villagers around the country.

Thai revellers cover themselves in flour during the country's Songkran new year celebration. The bizarre tradition is carried out alongside mass water fights around the country each year beginning on April 13 and lasting several days. Footage from Chonburi province shows how young party-goers cooled off as temeratures reached 39C in April 16. They rubbed the white flour onto their faces, bodies and passing cars. The annual festival began hundreds of years ago with locals sprinkling water on their elders to bring good luck for the year ahead. And while millions of Thais take part in the tradition in villages and towns around the country, in recent years it has also developed into a highly commercialised three-day event with millions of tourists converging on major cities and resorts to join in. Silom Road in Bangkok is one of the most popular destinations for the festivities and water fights continue round the clock through the early hours of the morning and again the next day. But the party also takes place in streets and rural villagers around the country.