First Taste of SongKran
After leaving the plane I headed towards immigration and got in line to get my passport checked and my entry into Thailand the land of smiles approved, the Thai woman sitting at the booth checked my documents and asked me where I would be staying, I told her that I didn’t know yet, so she recommended a few hotels and then reached under her counter, pulled out a small water pistol and sprayed me right in the face. I was a little surprised by this, it was the last thing I’d been expecting, it certainly wasn’t the way we did things in England, but it made a refreshing alternative to the stony faced reception I would no doubt receive upon my return journey back at London Heathrow. She giggled and sprayed me again, I laughed, and with a smile she turned me loose inside.
SongKran Thai New Year
SongKran Thai New Year Festival
After finding a Taxi I headed into Bangkok, along the way I noticed small groups of children here and there spraying the passing cars with water pistols of their own and I had absolutely no idea why, perhaps water pistols were the latest big thing in Thailand.
As my taxi neared Khao San Road things became stranger still, it appeared that there was some kind of carnival going on, the streets near Khao San were full with revellers, a mass party of some kind was in full swing, and I’d stumbled unknowingly right into the middle of it. I had no hotel booked and the Taxi driver informed me that due to the crowds this was as near to Khao San Road as he would be able to get, so I paid for the ride, gathered up my bag and stepped outside.
‘Whooosh’ I’d barely climbed out of the taxi before a nearby reveller upturned a bucket of cold water over my head, and sensing easy prey his friends joined in soaking me from head to toe within seconds. I wasn’t prepared for this at all and had no idea what was going on, I’d heard that Thai people were some of the friendliest on the Planet and yet here they were freely assaulting me with water. I looked down at my drenched clothes and knew that my passport and money in my pockets would not have fared well. The next thing I knew hands were reaching out from all directions and smearing my face with some kind of sticky white substance they carried in tubs. A small girl no more than six or seven stepped forward carrying a little bowl full of water and held it up as if she were about to throw its contents over me so I grabbed it from her hands and upturned it over her head, she didn’t look happy and I suspected that she might start to cry, this was probably not a good thing, so I turned and walked away swiftly heading in the general direction of Khao San Road, getting wetter and wetter and stickier and stickier as I went.
Song Kran - Thai New Year
And that was my introduction to ‘SongKran’ the traditional celebration of the Thai new year. Marking the time in which the Sun passes from the zodiac sign of Aries into that of Taurus and is celebrated every year between April the 13th and the 14th. Or at least officially it’s celebrated on these dates but in reality, especially within certain areas, the celebrations seem to go on for weeks.
Traditionally SongKran falls over the period between the harvesting of the last rice crop and the planting of the new crop, so is a rare time for the hardworking rural Thais to indulge briefly in more leisurely activities, and is known as a special time for the young Thais to indulge across the provinces in courting. The SongKran festival starts with ‘merit making’ activities, the offering of food to monks, the releasing of caged birds and the paying of homage to ancestors. SongKran is also a time for spring cleaning and cleansing, household Buddha images are washed with scented water and at the NationalMuseum the famous ‘Phra Putta Sihing’ image is released and paraded through the streets.
The horrific water assault I’d encountered at the hands of the Thai revellers upon leaving my taxi in Khao San Road was actually not an assault at all, quite the opposite in fact. Song Kran has always been associated with water, and respect is paid to elders and friends by poring scented water over the palms of their hands whilst a wish or blessing for them is made. And over time this simple practise has evolved into something much more; a full-scale water fight the likes of which you could never have dreamed.
Songkran Festival 2009
Three Things You’ll Need to Survive SongKran
The first is the most boring, but a definite necessity, it took me a long time to unpeel and dry out my money after my first experience of the SongKran water festivities, and due to the soaking of the computer chip in my passport was nearly refused entry back into my own country.
So number one of the things you’ll need to survive the SongKran new year celebrations is a ‘water-proof pouch’. Believe me the small amount of money that this is going to cost you is going to seem like excellent value compared to the irreparable damage that could be caused to your money, passport, camera, etc.
SongKran Khao San Road
SongKran Essentials Number 2
‘The Super Soaker’, for when you absolutely positively gotta soak every other person on the road, because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a little payback. On my first unexpected meeting with the water festivities of the SongKran festival I was completely unprepared, but they wouldn’t take me by surprise a second time. ‘We have the technology!’, sure you’ll be able to lay your hands on any old water gun at any number of street side vendors along the side of Khao San Road or anywhere else during SongKran but if you really want to stick it to the locals and show those Thai’s whose boss when it comes to a water fight then your going to have to go prepared. So take that extra pair of shoes and some of those books out of your back pack, because if your heading to Thailand for the SongKran celebrations, then there’s really only one thing you’re going to need…
Songkran festival on Khaosan Road in Bangkok
SongKran Essentials
And finally SongKran essential number 3, and without a doubt the most essential of all, bring your party head and your sense of good humour, you are going to get very very wet, not just once but every single time you step outside your hotel, you are going to be soaked by strangers and smeared from head to toe in white chalky paste, but get involved and the SongKran festivities will become a party like no other and a memory to treasure always. And always remember this: every time somebody hoses you down or pours a bucket of cold water over your head, they are in fact inviting you to join them, attempting to make you feel at home, and making a prayer for your future wellbeing.
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