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!)