Water, water everywhere

This year's Songkran was marred by the political unrest that started a few days before the New Year. Since living here, we have experienced a coup, state of emergencies (think it was three) and a few protests. In a way, it's been interesting to see this kind of political mechanism work (rightly or wrongly).

I was horrified as I watched the news coverage of the protests and the storming of the hotel where the ASEAN summit was being held. If I wasn't living here in BKK, I would fear for whoever was living in Thailand. It felt quite surreal to watch the violent images on TV and then look out my window to see my son and his friends screaming with joy and laughter as they doused each other and any car/bike/person that was unfortunate to come in their path. They were oblivious to what was happening out in the real world. Their immediate thoughts were just to have fun. And I was glad that they did. It was contagious as we adults joined in the water fights that went on. We chased the kids and each other with pails or water.

For two whole days, we 'played Songkran' as Sean would say. The children started in the morning, took a break for lunch and continued in the late afternoon. I honestly odn't know where they got the energy from. I was exhausted and I didn't run around as much as they did.

I felt guilty as so much water was wasted. All over BKK, water fights were happening and people were chucking water like nobody's business. I admit that in this heat (38C) it felt great to have a bucket of water thrown on you.

At the end of the Songkran holidays, it was back to reality for many people. Messes had to be cleaned up and life had to go back to as normal as it could.

This is one fun and fabulous festival that I will miss when I leave BKK. It's such a simple thing - using water. No electronics, no gadgetry and nothing high tech. Back to basics and it is great!

Splish, splash

This is what Songkran is ALL about.

Thais celebrate their festivals with great gusto. This is most evident during one of the most important dates on the Thai calendar - Songkran. Songkran is the Thai new year (it doesn't stop them from celebrating the English New Year with a bang). It occurs sometime in April and it's normally a three day event. It's also known as the Water Festival because huge amounts of water is used to throw on people. The splashing of water is meant to wash away the bad luck of the previous year.

It helps that April is normally the hottest month of the year (it can reach to 40C). So having water thrown at you is welcoming. If you are walking along the main Sukhumvit area, you will generally be asked (very politely) if it's OK to have water dribbled/squirted at you. It's hard to say no in the spirit of the event. But if you do decline, a smile goes a long way.

Since coming here, we have gone to Pattaya once and it was water,water everywhere! The traffic leading there was horrible (normally would take about two hours but it took us four). Pubs and restaurants were crowded. It was an experience that I would not repeat again. But Pattaya is one of the popular spots for Songkran. The others being Khao San Road (in Bangkok, also known as backpackers road) and Chiang Mai. Water fights there can get pretty wild so it's not advisable if you have young children.

Last year we decided to have a 'moo baan' (estate) Songkran celebrations. We inflated the plastic wading pool, filled it and a few buckets with water, added a cooler of beer and soft drinks to the side, topped up our water pistols and we were ready! No one was spared - pedestrains, cars, motor cyclists and even cyclist who stopped to let us cool him down! Throw in a water fight with a truckload of Thais and we all had a blast! The children loved playing with the water and having water fights. We had to stop them from running after the cars. Many drivers were nice enough to slow down fo them to get a shot in and a few even stopped in the middle of the street (I suspect they wanted a semi car wash). The adults loved behaving and feeling like kids again - soaked to the skin while taking part in a good old fashioned water fight.

Cooling down!

Next week is Songkran. As it will be our last one, I definitely will be out there with the children, armed and ready to go! As we say here ' Sawasdee pee mai' (Happy New Year!)