Songkran

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Phwoar, how crap am I at keeping this thing updated... Two months after the above date and I actually write the post.

Songkran - Thai New Year - is one of the biggest holidays, if not the biggest, in thailand. The festival officially goes for three days - this year from the 13th to 15th April - though the length varies from region to region.

The main festivities comprise throwing water and talcum powder at people and putting this paste on people's faces (I know - madass fun, eh?!). It really is quite mad - the main streets of towns will be taken over with people bearing water guns; there will be huge gallon drums of water on the side of the road, so that people can dip little bowls into the drums and pour the water over people's heads; plus utes (utility trucks - can't remember what Americans call them - pick-ups I think) driving around, with people on the back, again with water guns and gallon drums of water. Up north, in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, the festivities will dure up to 12 days, but down south, and/or in drought-stricken areas it may only go for 1 day. In the north it is also accompanied by lots of music on the streets and much drinking.

I went down to Samui (see also Summer holidays (part 3), the third-biggest island of Thailand, with my Thai friends. Festivities started the night of the 12th continued over the 13th and were finished by the 14th. A little tame - not so much drinking, dancing, or powder - but honestly, I was relieved that I did not fall victim to powder in the eyes.

Of course, the main point of Songkran is not actually to have one huge wet t-shirt competition (or rather, a wet outfit comp) - the point is to 1) pay respect to... mmm... the world, elders, Buddha etc: this involves going to temples, giving money to the temple, praying, and cleaning Buddha statues both at temples and at home; and 2) to say goodbye to the hot dry season and to welcome the wet season (April is the hottest month of the year).

Back to Samui: I have to admit that I hate Samui, particularly the main beach, Chaweng. however my Thai friends wanted to go there, so I followed them. We stayed four nights there, and, damn, it's a dodgy place. I feel soiled just thinking about it. So many vulgar men, on roids, dancing with their tops off, the pathetic smell of desperation fouling the air. So much prostitution and the men just act so entitled. They swagger around, like chimpanzees in mating season (I don't know - do baboons swagger? perhaps this is unfair to chimps), displaying their sexual 'prowess' through overconsumption of beer and drugs, through 'dancing' without any regard for the space of people around them, and through, literally, picking up and throwing around the Thai women who they'd 'engaged' for the evening. We went to this dreadful, execrable place three nights in a row before my friends finally accepted my complaints and agreed to never go there again. They are of the "It-doesn't-matter-what-the-people-around-you-are-doing-you-just-have-fun-with-your-friends" school, which I don't get at all - I mean, go out to a bar to drink and dance if you don't care at all about the people around the you and the vibe of the place? You may as well stay at home. The 'you make your own fun' arguments are disingenuous. Especially when you're surrounded by arseholes who abuse women.

However, to end on a positive note, of course I had a great time with my friends. It was really good for my Thai and really good to getting closer with my friends. They really are dear, sweet people even if they are not discriminatory enough when it comes to clubs!

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Photos

the gang
Fon, Aie, myself, and Ten