Songkran Festival, April 12-15, is the traditional Thai New Year. This is the time for Thais to pay homage to Buddha images, clean their houses, and sprinkle water on their elders in a show of respect. Anyone who ventures out on the streets is likely to get a thorough dousing of water, all in good fun, but also quite welcome at the peak of the hot season.

Lies! All Lies!

Songkran is a lot of fun or a living week long nightmare, depending on whether your new clothes, phone, money etc are all soaking wet. I know several people will be leaving Thailand for a few days, or just staying indoors.

A newbie to ThaiVisa and a newbie to Thailand I think.

When you've lived through a few Songkrans it will probably p*ss you off the same as most others.

Songkran can be really good fun, but when taken to extremes and lasting for weeks is just too much.

Too many people die over Songkran - a real cause for celebration. (sarcasm)

Edit - added sarcasm in case people actually believe that I thought that so many deaths are a cause for celebration

Thats a fair few web listings/URL's there Ree2009.....

Is that the official date for Songkran in Pattaya? It varies from region to region and I don't want to be here.

Is that the official date for Songkran in Pattaya? It varies from region to region and I don't want to be here.

Pattaya's Songkran "celebrations" end on the evening of the 19th. They start gradually from the 13th.

Glad I'm off to work this year!

Wheeling my trolley into Tesco's this afternoon, I had to stop and give-way while a huge display bin was wheeled across my path...

Contents? Filled to overflowing with Super Soakers

You know what they say. Anyone in Paris in August is either a tourist or too broke to leave town.

Same difference for Pattaya during Songkran ... (yes I am staying but you won't see me during daylight, yet another farang expat SONGKRAN VAMPIRE!)

Wheeling my trolley into Tesco's this afternoon, I had to stop and give-way while a huge display bin was wheeled across my path...

Contents? Filled to overflowing with Super Soakers

Good as i am looking for a weapon .

Songkram gets worse every year with farangs taking all the fun out of it. Pattay is pure chaos for one whole week so after 3 days of getting soaked even if your sat in a restaraunt in smart clothes drunken idiots still douse you it really is tiresome. Nearly everyone i know who lives there leaves town as it really is too much to bear. The pump action guns are being confiscated by the police this year due to people being knocked off mopeds due to the brute force of the things, trust me when you get one in the face it knocks you for six!! It should be limmited to a max of two days, it is elsewhere

You believe the police will stop the pump action ones,they have been saying that for 3 years now.You are right that pissed up farangs totaly spoil it for a nice celebration.

Wonder what it is like to have a pump action water pistol rammed up ones ass.

Wonder what it is like to have a pump action water pistol rammed up ones ass.

I've heard there's a place in PatPong that can help you with that...

Wheeling my trolley into Tesco's this afternoon, I had to stop and give-way while a huge display bin was wheeled across my path...

Contents? Filled to overflowing with Super Soakers

UPDATE: There are now 8 bins at my local Tesco's - that's an estimated 30 cubic metres of Super-Soakers