I have a love/hate relationship with Songkran. Songkran is "the" most important event of the year for Thai people. The term Songkran itself means, ''a move or change in the position of the sun from Aries to Taurus." It started as a way to wash away sins or bad luck. I believe some Thai people still do this for these reasons but it has morphed into a wild and crazy massive water fight!
This pic says it all ... people literally throw buckets of water on any and everybody. It's a free for all and no one is sacred.
We are still on holiday so Pat and I decide to head down the hill on our motorbikes. I'm a little apprehensive because I've heard horror stories about what goes on. Plus hundreds die during this 3 day festival. The reasons for the deaths is mainly because people drink too much and they drive. We've learned that the police in Thailand really don't do much. They will post themselves along a stretch of road and put up cones to make you think they will check you but they rarely do. We head down very cautiously.
As we head down the hill there are people, children with water guns, and barrels of water along side the road. We get drenched before we make it to the bottom. Most people were very amicable and would just throw the water on my lower body. As we hit town, there were trucks full of people with barrels of ice water in the back. It's rather hard to stay calm when you get a back full of ice water. I didn't mind too much, Pat on the other hand, was not too happy. He had brought his laptop so we could work on some things once we got to a coffee shop. Plus we were interviewing a young lady for a position as a RA for next year. Pat gave quite a few people the stink eye and they didn't throw water. I tried not to giggle too much.
The next day as we headed down again I felt a bit more comfortable driving but was still cautious. We had decided not to go all the way into town where all the people were partying and throwing water. As we get near the bottom, I see a group of people with water and I try to go past them, one of the young men hits me right in the face with a huge bucket of water. I'm going about 40 kilometers and it hits me so hard it rips my face plate off my helmet and sends it flying. I lose control of my bike for an instant and find my way to the side of the road. I begin blubbering because it hurt so bad and it was unnecessary. I don't usually get very angry at people but now I'm furious. I can barely breathe and I want to hurt someone. I yell back at the guys, who don't understand a word I'm saying, to not hit people in the face.
Needless to say, once I catch up with Pat he sees I'm upset and hurt. He wants me to take him back to where it happened. I can't because I know he'll hurt someone. So, Songkran is not one of my favorite things about Thailand. I think I'll enjoy it from a far next year.
This pic says it all ... people literally throw buckets of water on any and everybody. It's a free for all and no one is sacred. We are still on holiday so Pat and I decide to head down the hill on our motorbikes. I'm a little apprehensive because I've heard horror stories about what goes on. Plus hundreds die during this 3 day festival. The reasons for the deaths is mainly because people drink too much and they drive. We've learned that the police in Thailand really don't do much. They will post themselves along a stretch of road and put up cones to make you think they will check you but they rarely do. We head down very cautiously.
As we head down the hill there are people, children with water guns, and barrels of water along side the road. We get drenched before we make it to the bottom. Most people were very amicable and would just throw the water on my lower body. As we hit town, there were trucks full of people with barrels of ice water in the back. It's rather hard to stay calm when you get a back full of ice water. I didn't mind too much, Pat on the other hand, was not too happy. He had brought his laptop so we could work on some things once we got to a coffee shop. Plus we were interviewing a young lady for a position as a RA for next year. Pat gave quite a few people the stink eye and they didn't throw water. I tried not to giggle too much.
The next day as we headed down again I felt a bit more comfortable driving but was still cautious. We had decided not to go all the way into town where all the people were partying and throwing water. As we get near the bottom, I see a group of people with water and I try to go past them, one of the young men hits me right in the face with a huge bucket of water. I'm going about 40 kilometers and it hits me so hard it rips my face plate off my helmet and sends it flying. I lose control of my bike for an instant and find my way to the side of the road. I begin blubbering because it hurt so bad and it was unnecessary. I don't usually get very angry at people but now I'm furious. I can barely breathe and I want to hurt someone. I yell back at the guys, who don't understand a word I'm saying, to not hit people in the face.
Needless to say, once I catch up with Pat he sees I'm upset and hurt. He wants me to take him back to where it happened. I can't because I know he'll hurt someone. So, Songkran is not one of my favorite things about Thailand. I think I'll enjoy it from a far next year.
