Splish, splash – tourists and Thais get wet and wild

By The Nation

 

 

The Songkran festival is under way, with foreign tourists joining Thai revellers for the Thai New Year water-splashing celebration.

 

The festival runs from April 13-16 but in many places celebrations started on Thusday.

 

Thais could be seen sprinkling water on Buddha images for blessings and later taking part in huge water fights.

 

This year there is a campaign encouraging participants to celebrate in traditional Thai costumes.

 

The campaign emerged after the mega-hit TV drama “BuppeSanNivas” (“Love Destiny”) influenced Thai citizens to adopt the traditional dress worn by actors and actresses in the series.

 

In Hat Yai District, Songkhla province, a Chinese-Malaysian tourist took part in water splashing on Saneha Anusorn Road dressed in a Thai period costume.

 

Every year, tourists from neighbouring countries flock to join the festivities, especially the “Hat Yai Midnight Songkarn” which runs from midnight tonigt until Friday. 

 

And in Bangkok’s Khao San Road area, one of the most popular spots for Songkran revellers, many tourists joined in a huge water fight. 

 

Another tourist attraction in Phuket’s Patong Beach, Bangla Road was crowded with many soaked tourists. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30343082

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-3-12

41 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

And in Bangkok’s Khao San Road area, one of the most popular spots for Songkran revellers, many tourists joined in a huge water fight

Looks like some of that weapons cache made it to khao sarn.

 

I sincerely hope no high pressurized water got into anyones ears, taking out their eyes via the brain.

47 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Every year, tourists from neighbouring countries flock to join the festivities,

LOL. Replacing the flock of people trying to escape Songkran.

Appears that media is making a division between tourist behavior and Thai behavior  during songkran. 

 All water fights  are being described as being done by foreigners. But events at the wat and such are being shown as thais celebrating.

  Maybe that is what is needed. Show the foreigners it is not just splashing water for thais. there is more to it.

both the large water guns in the photo were declared illegal.

9 minutes ago, lovelomsak said:

Appears that media is making a division between tourist behavior and Thai behavior  during songkran. 

 All water fights  are being described as being done by foreigners. But events at the wat and such are being shown as thais celebrating.

  Maybe that is what is needed. Show the foreigners it is not just splashing water for thais. there is more to it.

Pretty sure they are spinning it to sell their product. Regardless of the accuracy.

stop glamourizing this ridiculous 11 day water wasting fenzy and the fact ''it really begins tomorrow ''but some started early...,it was a total ambush today,as some of us sat in baht buses jammed in stop go traffic ,with children,,as the ''party goers laughed it up',bullies and their pails of ice water..complete bullsh*t,and as usuall the useless police sat watching... 

48 minutes ago, mok199 said:

stop glamourizing this ridiculous 11 day water wasting fenzy and the fact ''it really begins tomorrow ''but some started early...,it was a total ambush today,as some of us sat in baht buses jammed in stop go traffic ,with children,,as the ''party goers laughed it up',bullies and their pails of ice water..complete bullsh*t,and as usuall the useless police sat watching... 

Oh stop..please stop.

My sides are splitting.

The irony is prior to foreigners coming to thailand and putting their spin on songkran  ( drenching, ice buckets etc ) it was a gentle celebration.

As ye shall sow, so shall ye reap.

The thais in the enclaves where the farangs frequent are only doing what they believe farangs like.

I dont like all the bulldust that surrounds xmas, easter etc etc in the west. 

Its commercial..ie the way of the world

Just now, mok199 said:

stop glamourizing this ridiculous 11 day water wasting fenzy and the fact ''it really begins tomorrow ''but some started early...,it was a total ambush today,as some of us sat in baht buses jammed in stop go traffic ,with children,,as the ''party goers laughed it up',bullies and their pails of ice water..complete bullsh*t,and as usuall the useless police sat watching... 

Bah humbug!

1 hour ago, mok199 said:

stop glamourizing this ridiculous 11 day water wasting fenzy and the fact ''it really begins tomorrow ''but some started early...,it was a total ambush today,as some of us sat in baht buses jammed in stop go traffic ,with children,,as the ''party goers laughed it up',bullies and their pails of ice water..complete bullsh*t,and as usuall the useless police sat watching... 

 

Since it takes about 2500 liters of water to grow a kg of rice, I am forgoing my bowl of rice a day during the holiday so the kids in my neighborhood can spray, guilt free, to their heart's content.  And probably all the kids in a 1 km radius.

 

Lots of good reasons to gripe about some of the behavior during Songkran.  But wasting water isn't one of them.  It's like griping about wasting power lighting up people's family Christmas trees.  You're not going to enlist anyone to your cause with that one.

 

Songkran revelry set to begin nationwide

By The Nation

 

 

Police continue to push public safety measures but traffic still poses challenge.
 

AS holidaymakers started to reach their destinations nationwide yesterday for the traditional Thai New Year celebrations this weekend, various sites confirmed their readiness to host impressive events and also implement public safety measures.

 

At Bangkok’s Khao San Road, police spokesman Pol General Weerachai Songmetta led Thai actors Chatchawal Phetchwisit, Wichan Meesom and Kosawis Piyasakulkaew and singer Treechada “Ice R-siam” Kimtin to promote safe Songkran celebrations.

 

They urged people to refrain from wearing too-revealing clothes (or risk a Bt5,000 fine), sexual harassment/molestation (up to 10 years in jail and up to Bt200,000 fine), or using high-pressure water guns (sellers face up to six months in jail and up to Bt50,000 in fine). 

 

Khao San Road, which is famous for water wars every year, is expected to draw 30,000 visitors a day from today until Sunday. Some 960 police would guard the road and nearby areas during this period.

 

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) kicked off the Songkran Festival with a beautiful procession carrying the famous Phra Buddha Sihing image from the National Museum to a temporary shrine in Lumpini Park where it will remain until Sunday. 

 

 

The procession through the streets of old Bangkok was flagged off by BMA Governor Pol General Aswin Kwanmuang.

 

The BMA will also host an alms-offering rite at 7am today for 166 Buddhist monks before hosting Songkran-related activities at the park, including a Songkran beauty queen contest.

 

 

Down South, Thais and Malaysian and Singaporean visitors started Songkran water wars at the site for “Hatyai Midnight Songkran” on Sanehanusorn Road in Songkhla, many hours ahead of the event launch, while security officers were there to guard revellers.

 

 

Chiang Mai Governor Pawin Chamniprasert led officials and public members in a morning alms-offering rite for 60 Buddhist monks at the Three Kings Monument Plaza in Muang district. It marked the 722nd anniversary of the establishment of Nophaburi Sri Nakhon Ping Chiang Mai as the capital city of the Lanna Kingdom. The rite also launched Songkran celebrations.

 

Various sites were ready for the celebrations, including the Tha Pae Gate plaza, the Wat Lok Molee for Lanna-style merit-making activities and the “Khu Muang” old city moat famous for its water wars. The latter site also saw eight emergency tents set up and a ban on the sale of alcohol.

 

Meanwhile, travellers from Bangkok heading upcountry for the five-day Songkran holidays were warned to prepare for severe traffic jams on highways later last night. Earlier in the day yesterday, heavy traffic congestion were already reported at various parts of the Northeast-bound Mitraparp Highway and the North-bound Asia Highway. 

 

 

By yesterday afternoon, Highway No 304 witnessed a 40km-long traffic jam between Nakhon Ratchasima’s Wang Nam Khieow district and Prachin Buri’s Na Dee district. Cars and vehicles were stuck bumper to bumper and could only move at a crawl pace.

 

Besides the vehicles of holidaymakers, other factors contributing to the traffic jams were some trucks plying and violating the ban on them running from April 11-17 as well as some ongoing road construction, a police source said.

 

Nakhon Ratchasima reported its five worst congestion spots in the afternoon:

 

 A 10km-long jam on the section between Saraburi’s Muak Lek district and Nakhon Ratchasima’s Pak Chong district; 

 

 A 40km-long jam on the section (due to an ongoing motorway construction and hilly road sections) from Pak Chong’s Chok Chai Farm to Sikhiu district; 

 

 A 3km-long jam at a bottle-neck area near the Pak Thong Chai intersection’s elevated bridge in Muang Nakhon Ratchasima; 

 A 10km-long jam at the Ban Pho intersection’s elevated bridge in Muang Nakhon Ratchasima; 

 

 A 7km-long jam on the section between Noen Sung district to Khong district

 

 

On the North-bound road, vehicles caused some congestion on Highway No 11 (Phitsanulok-Uttaradit) while the Indochin intersection in Phitsanulok, which had some ongoing construction, allowed more motorists to still drive using alternative routes to avoid jams.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30343086

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-04-13

 

Posts breaking the forum rules have been removed.

 

Quote

7) You will respect fellow members and post in a civil manner. No personal attacks, hateful or insulting towards other members, (flaming) Stalking of members on either the forum or via PM will not be allowed.

8) You will not post disruptive or inflammatory messages, vulgarities, obscenities or profanities.

 

Any more and a Songkran posting holiday will ensue.

 

8 hours ago, impulse said:

Since it takes about 2500 liters of water to grow a kg of rice, I am forgoing my bowl of rice a day during the holiday so the kids in my neighborhood can spray, guilt free, to their heart's content.  And probably all the kids in a 1 km radius.

I've joined you, so tell the kids to splash freely! Wasting water! where do folks think it goes? we will be using the same water again in the not so distant future, just like we always have

Are the RTP going to extend the payment offer they have, regarding posting photos and videos of driving on the pavement, and other traffic offences?

Will it cover weapons of mass destruction - i.e. illegal high-power water guns?

If so I'll forward to them some of the photos above, in order to claim my payout.

 

By the end of Songkran I could be a millionaire.

 

Time for the miserable to hide away under the aircon let the games commence. The wheels on the bus go round and round.  

Contrary to the belief of some on here, "water splashing" is NOT a "farang" thing. And in some parts of the country (like remote regions of Udon Thani and Nong Khai), they started "water splashing" on Wednesday morning.

We drove from Sisaket to Nong Kai on Wednesday, along some smaller, secondary roads. At one point, for a stretch of maybe 100 kms, every small village we passed through had groups of small Thai children by the roadside throwing water at everything that went by and, OMG, not a single foreigner in sight anywhere !!

I was joking with my buddy who was driving that we should have armed ourselves with some water pistols, but we weren't expecting anyone to be "playing water" outside of the major tourist areas, at least not that early in the week.
(Plus I don't think he'd have been too impressed if I had the window open to shoot at the kids while they were tossing buckets of ice water at us. It's all fun and games until the inside of the SUV is soaking wet !)


 

are those "war weapons" they are "splashing with? Personally I think 1 day of water fights should be enough.

I refuse to be attacked when driving a motorcycle so I have to stay home for 4 days. I don't have a choice.

I have to put safety first, therefore I'm kind of like under self-imposed house arrest because of the behavior of others.

or using high-pressure water guns (sellers face up to six months in jail and up to Bt50,000 in fine). 

Now im ?‍♂️ confused! Didn’t it say the other day that a seller of these “army guns” faced up to 10 years jail and up to 1 million baht fine - which is it 

sorry must be the water from entering my ear etc ? 

1 hour ago, sammieuk1 said:

Time for the miserable to hide away under the aircon let the games commence. The wheels on the bus go round and round.  

Maybe not the miserable for me the sensible  

Where I live the music has started but I have not seen the trucks with the water being hurled from them go past yet.

Maybe a bit later?

Anyway this 63 year old child is going to go out and get wet - both outside and hopefully on the inside!!!!!!!

10 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Since it takes about 2500 liters of water to grow a kg of rice, I am forgoing my bowl of rice a day during the holiday so the kids in my neighborhood can spray, guilt free, to their heart's content.  And probably all the kids in a 1 km radius.

 

Lots of good reasons to gripe about some of the behavior during Songkran.  But wasting water isn't one of them.  It's like griping about wasting power lighting up people's family Christmas trees.  You're not going to enlist anyone to your cause with that one.

 

good for you!!!!

here in Chiang Mai, we're armed wand waiting for ya!

1 hour ago, sammieuk1 said:

Time for the miserable to hide away under the aircon let the games commence. The wheels on the bus go round and round.  

 

Your favorite taunts are already answered here: grumpy old git, hiding and scared, and But saying anything against Songkran is a whinge. The differing "demo graphs " (to use forum spelling) between those who like Songkran and those who don't are explained here: i lurv me tats & patts songkarn.

 

6 minutes ago, Nurseynutcase said:

this 63 year old child is going to go out and get wet - both outside and hopefully on the inside

Adult diapers?  Have a good time today with the wet on the outside part.

12 hours ago, lovelomsak said:

Appears that media is making a division between tourist behavior and Thai behavior  during songkran. 

 All water fights  are being described as being done by foreigners. But events at the wat and such are being shown as thais celebrating.

 

Not really. Here's a pic w/ a farang at a traditional thing:

 

 

But it is a fact that a lot more Thais participate in the traditional ceremonies than farang. Why do you think that is?

 

And there are plenty of pics around showing Thais engaged in water fights and the article states explicitly: Thais could be seen sprinkling water on Buddha images for blessings and later taking part in huge water fights.

 

 

8 minutes ago, JSixpack said:

 

Your favorite taunts are already answered here: grumpy old git, hiding and scared, and But saying anything against Songkran is a whinge. The differing "demo graphs " (to use forum spelling) between those who like Songkran and those who don't are explained here: i lurv me tats & patts songkarn.

 

Google translate playing up again.

1 hour ago, sammieuk1 said:

Time for the miserable to hide away under the aircon let the games commence. The wheels on the bus go round and round.  

Tell that to the 39 people who died and 461 injured on the 11th.

Just now, Henryford said:

Tell that to the 39 people who died and 461 injured on the 11th.

That is silly, it's almost impossible to speak to dead.

A post containing links to an external blog site has been removed, the reply was removed as well. 

8 minutes ago, HLover said:

That is silly, it's almost impossible to speak to dead.

Oh yea of little faith...

 

24 minutes ago, masuk said:

good for you!!!!

here in Chiang Mai, we're armed wand waiting for ya!

I hope he calls mummy if he needs to go peepee...