The following day I was happy to meet my friends Dad. We have been friends for about 10 years but this was my first time meeting his Dad because he has lived in Thailand for about 15 years. Dad hipped me to a couple of must have Thai phrases then took us to the local market to have a look around. He insisted I buy a Traditional Songkran shirt saying that it was the only way to REALLY celebrate Songkran, I passed. I didn’t learn how serious he was until the next day, EVERYONE had a Songkran shirt but me 🙁
Lesson learned, when Dad of friend has a suggestion, go with it!
Songkran is a celebration of the transition of seasons, rainy to dry. While a lot of people will call it the Thai New Year that really is not true. Hence the water and lots of it. Walking down any street in Thailand during Songkran and you are surely to get wet and have powder rubbed on your cheeks and forehead. Some of the powder is just plain baby powder, some of it has mint in it though which is really refreshing on a hot day.
Men, Women and Children pile into the back of pickup trucks and stand on the sidewalks to splash you as you pass by. No car, motorcycle or fancy dress is safe but they smile and welcome you to Thailand while they bless you with the powder and water.
Over the three days of Songkran I fully participated, acquiring a proper shirt, multiple water guns and colored safety glasses (That didn’t really help like I thought they would). The entire time I carried all of my belongings in ziploc bags to prevent them from getting wet. In fact I packed extra bags for that purpose. You can see some of the Songkran antics in the video below. I can’t express how good it felt to be childlike and ride around splashing people. Even when the water was ICE COLD! Spending the first 7 days of my trip between Bang Na, Bang Pli and Bangkok eating street food was an absolute blast. As an adult I felt like a child and that was priceless.
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