Songkran

Siam Square.

Songkran aka Thai New Years happens every year April 13th - 15th. It is a time when Thais spend time with their families, but more importantly it is three days of water fights. The water symbolizes washing away the old year and starting the new year clean. Pretty much it is three days of people getting completely drenched. You could be in business attire or a bathing suit you will get wet. You can be a young child or an elderly adult you will get wet. You will definitely get wet if you are a foreigner. I think the Thai people get a perverse joy out of attacking the foreigners with water. I had heard the best place to celebrate Songkran was in the north, Chiang Mai. Since I didn't know when my days off were going to be it was too late for me to plan a trip up there so I decided to stay in Bangkok. I was told that a lot of the residents leave to go back to their provinces to spend time with their families so Bangkok becomes a ghost town. I prepared for Songkran by getting a waterproof bag and a water gun. Unfortunately my water gun was not too great. It was a large gun that held plenty of water but had no water pressure. So it made me giant target and I pretty much lost all of my fights. The first day of Songkran I meet up with my friend, Adam, at Siam Square. At Siam Square they had a block closed off with a couple of stages and loads of water filling stations. Siam Center I felt was more family friendly. There was a lot more children and families enjoying themselves. There was also more room so it was easier to have water fights. I spent a couple of hours there and when the water started running out I made the trek back to my apartment on the freezing cold BTS. After being thoroughly cold I finally got off the BTS and started walking home. I luckily found some food on the way home since there weren't too many street food vendors my selection was limited. I was pretty much completely dry until I walked past this one restaurant and was thoroughly drenched with buckets of water again. I eventually got away from the people and was almost home when some people in front of my apartment building decided that I wasn't wet enough. I shrugged and let them pour a bucket of water on me not knowing that they water was freezing cold.

Crowds outside my apartment.

I was so happy I was home so I could put on some warm clothes and relax. The next day I got up late and then headed to Khao San Road with Adam and some friends. By the time I got to the BTS I was already soaking wet. The people outside my apartment building where up bright and early so I was covered in freezing cold water first thing in the morning. After a freezing cold BTS ride and a nice Tuk-Tuk ride I finally made it Khao San Road and it was packed. There were crowds everywhere. On the street people were squirting you from all directions as well as covering you with this clay mixture. Other than water fights the Thais like to use this clay mixture mixed with water to put on the faces of those participating in the water fights. This was the first time I had encountered the clay and I was covered by the time I got to Khao San Road. I am not sure what the significance of the clay is but they really seemed to enjoy wiping it on my face.You could not bring the clay on to Khao San Road which was very nice. Once I made it to Khao San I had to fight through the crowds to find my friends. I escaped the clay and was greeted with ice cold water on Khao San Road. Khao San Road unlike Siam Square did not offer free water. It was a bit of a pain in the butt because when you are trying to dig in your bag for money people are spraying you with water and getting everything in your bag soaked. Thankfully my gun held a lot of water so I didn't need to fill up as much. I meet up with my friend Adam and his two friends, we ended up in between two musical stages because it was the only area where we weren't squished in between people. There were a lot more water battles battles on Khao San Road. People were more vicious and had no problem spraying you in the eye or the ear. I am pretty sure that the multiple times I was sprayed in the ear was the reason for my ear infection. Next year goggles, quick drying clothes, better water gun, and ear plugs are a must.

Me after a day on Khao San Road!

We spent a good eight hours in water fights and as night dawned we decided to get off Khao San Road and head toward transportation. We went to the main road and were again bombarded with people coming after us with clay and water buckets. By this time I was getting a little sick and tired of being chased. As it got later and people got drunker the chasing of the foreigners became a little more prevelant, I decided that was my cue to head home. I had to meet up with a friend of a friend who was in Bangkok for a day before heading off to China. She came in very late and I was thoroughly exhausted.

Silom Road.

I woke up pretty late the next day and even the normal crowds outside my window seemed to have slept in later. I think everyone was getting a little too water logged. Bridget and I decided to hit the last place for water fights in Bangkok, Silom Road. I had heard from fellow co-workers that it was usually packed and crazy, they weren't wrong. When we got to Silom it was crazy and people were allowed to have clay so they loved wiping it on any foriegn face. There was hardly any room to have water gun fights it was just a giant crowd of people walking on top of one another. I had never had my face touched so much in one day. It was getting a little ridiculous people would come up with two hand fulls of clay and rub it all of your face getting it into my eyes and ears. As soon as I would wash some of the clay off another person would run up and do it all again. Some of the clay, I believe, had some sort of menthol or tiger balm in it so my face would start to burn after a while. After hours of getting covered in clay and really not water fighting Bridget and I decided that we were done and went back to my apartment. After we cleaned up we went out to dinner at this great little place called Condom and Cabbage. It was started by a gentleman who believed in family planning so all his artwork in the restaurant was made from condoms and birth control pills. Instead of a mint you got a condom. It was reasonable priced and had good food. It was a nice way to end my first Songkran. Next year I want to make it to Chiang Mai.