Songkran!

---

Geo: 18.8, 98.98

April 13-15 is Songkran, the Thai New Year. It is now year 2555, the number of years since the Buddha's death. Songkran is celebrated for at least three days, up to nine in some places in Thailand, and, since it occurs during the very hottest part of the year, it is a water festival. This can be a blessing, as long as people are prepared to get thoroughly soaked by other people either pouring buckets of water on them, or shooting huge water guns at them; either way bystanders --and participants-- do get relief from the heat, by getting very wet.

Songkran is all in good fun. Employees at various establishments don't get soaked, as their work is respected, but everyone else is fair game, especially farang, we who are foreigners. I was a bit worried about Songkran this year because I had unwittingly booked my flight home for April 16, which meant I would be traveling with luggage during Songkran, and I did not want my luggage to get soaked, or painted. Years ago part of the celebration was to put paint powder on people as well as to soak them, making a thorough mess, but the Thai government has tried to dissuade the use of paints, and alcohol as well. But I was doubly worried about my luggage getting wet, and also getting paint all over me, in my hair, in my eyes; my skin is sensitive and my hair porous, so I thought maybe I'd be returning home with permanent streaks of blue or purple or green in my hair, and definitely be over the airline's weight limit for my heavy wet bags.

But this is what happened instead. On Tuesday late in the afternoon, when I was exploring along side streets in Chiang Mai's Old City, all of a sudden I felt a bucketful of water being splashed on me. Whoa! I was definitely caught unaware, especially since Songkran wasn't supposed to begin until three days later! But the water felt good in the heat of the day, and I dried off pretty quickly, although I wished I had had something to throw water back at the young man who threw it at me. In the next block there were a group of young women with buckets and water guns, but they were just pretending for this day, miming and scaring people; they did tell me to be ready for tomorrow when they would have real water in their buckets, so get ready. I went back to my hostel and put my camera, phone, and money into plastic bags; now I was prepared to at least protect things, if not to answer water with water.

Chiang Mai prides itself on celebrating Songkran the longest, and the best, and the craziest in all of Thailand. Many people pour into the city (pun intended) just for these holidays; it is one of those exceptional experiences that is written about in the "Things You Should Do Before You Die" books, and I agree. Picture what the Thais call a "traffic jam" with a slow parade of trucks and cars and motorbikes full of people (already wet), dumping buckets and buckets of water on bystanders as they drive by, people on the street with hoses aiming water at the people in the trucks, everybody soaked, everybody happy, lots of people already drunk by mid-day. Listen to the loud music blaring from car radios and who knows where else, the drums beating their insistent, sinuous rhythm, people yelling, singing, calling out to other wet friends as they pass through the streets.

It is possible to remain mostly dry, sitting in a little restaurant, simply enjoying observing the procession and not taking part. But getting to and from your hide-away takes some dexterity and planning, if you don't want to get wet.

I was back in Laem Mae Phim for part of Songkran, and found it was safe to walk to my favorite restaurants early in the morning before the celebrations began. Usually by 10AM or a little after, the procession of trucks and cars and motorbikes would begin, so if I ate before then I could stay dry. But I made one mistake. After coming back to Laem Mae Phim from Chiang Mai I needed to buy more bananas and mangosteens and mangoes, so went to a little vendor near where I live. I picked out the fruits I wanted, and wished this sweet lady a happy Songkran, at which point she disappeared for a minute or two, and came back and fondly patted my cheeks and arms, wishing me a happy Songkran too. Oh. Here was the paint I had so worried about! It was a soft, smooth powder, white, all over my face and arms. She told me it was good luck to be painted, and then gave me tons of fruits for very little money because it was Songkran, and because I was a good sport. Such a gentle, beautiful celebration! Water, welcome anytime, but especially in the heat of the year, and a white powder that washed off very easily, although I left it on for awhile as a badge of some sort; other Thais would nod and point at me and see that I had been painted, and accepted.

I have been told that Songkran wasn't always so benign, that some places people did pour paint mixed with water all over farang, that fights would break out, that some would be injured in the reckless celebrating. But that is not what I experienced this year, although I have heard sirens screaming through the night, and a few drunken neighbors who really don't need Songkran as an excuse to get drunk.

This has been a happy time, here in Thailand. If I ever come again for Songkran I will bring at least one bucket, and a waterproof hat, so much of the water will cascade onto my shoulders and not into my eyes, the better to be able to see to return the New Year's greeting to fellow celebrants.

---

Comments

[Ariel]

Well, you're about ready to leave Thailand, I should think... it's a day and a half on this time zone until you get back, so with a flight taking 24 hours ish and the time change, I think you'll be leaving in a few hours. Have a good flight
!

[lailasa]

Wow going home already! Safe travels and see you this summer! oxoxoxo