Every year, around the middle of April, Thais celebrate Songkran, or the Thai New Year. This festival, like any, consists of offerings, prayers, visits to monks and temples, and lots of family time. Unlike other festivals, however, it also consists of a 3-5 day water fight!
I think the idea probably originally sprung up because mid-April is the hottest time of year in Thailand, and people needed to find ways of cooling off. Now, however, it’s an intensely outrageous event! In Bangkok, if you leave your house AT ALL between Monday morning and Wednesday night during Songkran, you WILL get soaked, no questions asked. So if you’re going to leave, you need to be prepared to get wet and fight back.
Monday around noon, I gathered in my building with friends, dressed in my bathing suit, an old tank top, board shorts, and flip flops. I brought nothing but my room key, a little money, and a water camera. We grabbed a cab and drove to Silom, one of the more popular water-fighting areas in Bangkok. And boy was it ever popular! The street was even closed because it had become overrun by people playing with water. We bought water guns at one of the countless stalls devoted to that purpose, filled them up at one of the hundred water buckets being pumped with frigid water, and joined in the fun! The next three days, literally, I spent throwing water at people – young and old, Thai and foreign – and getting it back tenfold. Thais also like to rub this clay-like cementish charcoal all over your face so between the water and the clay I was a sight to behold!
I really enjoyed Songkran, not only because it cooled me down at this VERY hot time of year, but because I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I think it speaks worlds about the Thai people that they can hold a festival like this for several days and that everyone can be happy and in a good mood throughout. I wish they had a Songkran day every month!
Songkran – the water festival!
