Yes, that's right. From April 13th through 15th we celebrated Songkran, the traditional New Year in Theravada Buddhism (Another random fact: The Thai calendar is 543 years ahead of the rest of the world, so it is in fact the year 2554, not 2011. It makes reading expiration dates of food quite interesting). Traditionally, Thais would catch the water that was used to clean Budda statues and pour it on each other; younger to older in respect and older to younger as a blessing. Although this still happens to some extent, most people just throw normal water on each other in fun as it is currently the hottest month of the year here. And it is HOT!! 90s everyday. According to weather.com, the historical average for April is 97. Everyday. (the low is 73) So for those of you in New York, think the hottest day we get all summer long being everyday for over a month. So, you can see why the Songkran tradition has turned into the biggest national waterfight in the world. Lucky for me, Chiang Mai is considered the best place in Thailand to celebrate!
Although Songkran did not officially start until Wednesday, people (especially kids) began throwing water as early as Sunday. They just take hoses and buckets out to the side of the road and wait for anyone who is not protected to come by. On Tuesday afternoon, we got splashed and dumped on while walking home from class and while we rode our bikes around. Wednesday was cold (80F) and rainy, so we stayed at TLCC and tried to avoid getting wet. I was a bit disappointed, but the next two days made up for it.
On Thursday we went into Chiang Mai to play Songkran. We piled into two trucks, each armed with about 80 gallons of water and buckets to throw it with and drove in. The road was so clogged with people and vehicles that is took us 3 hours to go a distance that only takes us 10 minutes to walk. The whole time we were throwing water and getting water thrown at us. Getting soaked only took about 10 seconds and was actually complete long before we got to the crowded part of the city.
On Friday some of us went in again, but this time on foot. We bought cheap water guns and walked around squirting people. It was not as crowded because we arrived right after a parade, so there were no cars on the road yet. Even so, it was a ton of fun. When all you have is a little squirt gun, it is still just as much fun. Everyone is very friendly, and you can refill anywhere you see a bucket. The city actually sets up free pumps to use!
There is no designated area for the waterfight, unless you consider it the borders of the country, but even so Songkran is celebrated in Burma, Laos and Cambodia, too. Also, to make it even more fun, you can buy huge chunks of ice to put in your 50 gallon bucket of water. When it's 90F out, 32F water is a shock when a whoe bucket is poured down your back. Everyone has so much fun during this holiday. It doesn't matter how wet, or cold, or how much water some you pour on someone, as long as you say "Songkran" or "Happy New Year" everyone is happy. The Thais especially love soaking the farang (foreigners). All the rest of the time, culturally, they have to be super nice, but this is their one chance to soak them. They love it!! If you ever consider visiting Thailand, you should definitely do it during Songkran. Just know that you will get wet. There is no escape.
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