As you can see from the picture above I have already started stocking up on small arms, heavy ordinance will be acquired soon enough. A lot of expats can be heard moaning about the upcoming festivities and quite a few have already left town to escape the madness….me, I love it!
Water cannons, powder smeared on your face and smiles everywhere, whats not to love. While Songkran is only supposed to be from the 13th to the 15th; here in Pattaya the official days are the 13th to the 19th with more than a few people getting it started off early on the 12th. If you are like me and you go into the Songkran festival accepting you will be soaking wet for a week then it’s all good, sure, there are always some idiots that love to ruin things by dousing people after dark or aiming for your camera but they are largely far and few between.
For those who may not know or have completely forgotten Songkran isn’t just the worlds largest water fight, it happens to be Thai New Year. A time when one cleanses ones spirit and washes away the bad of the previous year. What used to be a simple ceremony of monks dripping scented water on the faithfuls heads and monuments to wash away the bad has turned into all out war and personally this is how I think all wars should be fought. I can’t even imagine the money the Songkran war machine will rake in from brightly colored floral uniforms to all manner of plastic armament…I know I contribute yearly to the arms race. Buddha knows I lose every gun and cannon I buy every year!
For me though Songkran is about spending time with friends and family and enjoying the cool water as the temperature begins to rise in Thailand. Everyone should experience Songkran at least once in their lifetime…if you thought water fights were fun as a kid then you can only imagine how much more fun it can be as an adult.
As with last year I will definitely be giving daily updates with loads of pictures …so, make sure you check in regularly.
If you need a little peek of whats about to happen you can check out the Songkran Photo Gallery for 100′s of past Songkran pics.
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