The Festival of Water

Every year, at the end of the dry season, the Thai people celebrate a most unique holiday. Their New Year's celebration—which is called “Songkran”—lasts anywhere from four to ten days. A long New Years holiday is common throughout Asia, but what makes the Thai New Year unlike any other is the way in which people celebrate. During this time, the entire population (and anyone passing through) participates in a week-long, nation-wide water fight.

Trash cans full of water line the roads from which groups of people continually slosh water over passers-by. Entire families ride around in the backs of trucks, dumping buckets over people indiscriminately. It's not uncommon to see full-grown adults wielding water-pistols, squirting even the most unsuspecting of people without so much as a second thought. It's impossible to set foot out your door without getting completely drenched—which isn't necessarily a bad thing because it's also the hottest time of the year, with temperatures most days easily reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Gearing up and preparing to go into battle

Though this holiday is certainly among the most bizarre we've experienced, it's roots are far more tame than current practice would lead you to believe. Historically—in fact, exclusively up until recently—people would celebrate Songkran by visiting their relatives, sharing meals and offering one another well wishes for the coming year. During these visits, it was customary for people to rinse clean the shrines in their relatives' yards, and also to pour a small amount of water over the feet of their elders, symbolically washing away the misdeeds of the previous year, and preparing them for the one to come. How exactly things evolved from there to the mandatory participation water wars that punctuate Songkran today, one can only guess. But however it came about, one thing is for certain: everyone celebrates, and everyone gets wet!

Here in Pai, we kicked off the New Year with a party for the kids at the Banyan Center. The first day of Songkran happened to fall on our last day of summer camp, so we invited the families to join us for some “celebrating.” We set up our station at the front gate and threw on our suits. All of our guests received a 'warm welcome' as they approached the school, and before long everyone was feeling cool and refreshed. The kids had a ball flinging cups of water on people as they passed by, and the yard was filled with their squeals and giggles (and maybe a few of ours, too) throughout the afternoon.

Over the next few days, we posted up with friends at various places around town, hanging out, relaxing, and 'preparing' other Pai residents—and occasionally each other—for the New Year. Admittedly, many people don't seem at all pleased about Songkran, or about getting water thrown at them, so we chose the 'friendly plan of attack' and tried not to dump water on people who appeared not to want it, however I can't say the same for everyone else. In fact, many people (Thais and foreigners alike) seem to view the holiday as an opportunity to take out their aggression in the name of “good fun”, and it's undeniable that some people take it too far. Every year throughout Thailand there are a stunning number of deaths related to Songkran, most of them occurring on roads and attributed to wet pavement, an inability to see, or the sheer force of the water causing an accident.

We've found that the best approach to Songkran is to drive slowly, keep all of our electronics safely double bagged, and just surrender ourselves to getting soaked. There's absolutely no point in trying to stay dry when, with every store you pass and every truck that drives by, you're more than likely going to have a bucket of water aimed at you. And make no mistake, we've done our fair share of songkran-ing ourselves! I mean, what's travel about if not participating in what's going on in the culture around you? ;)