There are just too many farlang and Thai's that enjoy it, it would be like trying to cancel Christmas..

But what we have now is the equivilant to extending Xmas day to 8 days long.

Could you imagine being stuck in the house with relatives for 8 days, buying 8 days of needless gifts and having to bite your lip for 8 days with the irritating cousin/uncle/aunt, watching the same repeats on TV everyday for 8 days? and then this followed by the Xmas to New Year week where youve another 7 days doing the same thing.

Used to be a problem. Then I got myself an AK47 on eBay and the rest, as they say, are history.

I just wrapped up my second and final day of Songkran celebrations up in the heartland of the great unwashed... they aint unwashed anymore! I skipped Monday as I was flying in from Scotland. Tuesday saw the pickup loaded up and we visited two local temples which involved feeding fish at one and propping up precariously balanced rocks at another. Very cultural, very respectful and loads of fun. This along with thousands of other Isaanites. In between, we flung water at people flinging water at us, ate some tasty noodles at a roadside restaurant and generally had a blast. Day two was a late morning trip to Nongkhai where half the Udon population had the same idea and after driving around dispensing water to all and sundry, we had a slap up feed for 10 at a restaurant by the Mekhong for 1400 baht. Got back to Udon around 5pm and after changing into dry clothes, me, my wife and son visited upon the 2 oldest people in the village and washed their feet. Then did the same for the puyai who blessed our house and wedding as well as fixing up some medicine for my son's affliction. After that, we went and fed the fish at the local lake. All very, very rewarding, safe and fun. It was great to see the smiles on kids faces and their laughter.

It's now Thursday and it's over for another year. Maybe the Pattaya City fathers should rethink their strategy that allows this quaint national holiday to be abused by ignorance and greed.

Your SongKran does sound like fun, and from another Jock in Bangkok I have to say it has been a real blast here also. I live in Silom area, and it has been non-stop everyday fun for all childrens and adults, lots of water thrown, lots of beer drunk, lots of food eaten....day after day. Seemed so quiet since Thursday, but time to go to the temple with my girl, say thanks , donate some bahts for the less fortunate, and say our prayers of thanks and look forward to next years party... I love living in Thailand...

Just for your information, Songkran in Pattaya is always held a week or so after the main songkran holiday. Today is the biggest day Wan Lai - in Thai - (Sunday 19th). It will be huge with thousands of people on the streets. The downside is huge traffic jams in and out of Pattaya all day. Come join the fun. Also enough negative comments about Mayor Ittipol - he is doing a fantastic job and the city is really going places.

Jomtien's Special Variety of Songkran

A few pix of caravans of hundreds of water spewing pick-up trucks roaming Thappraya Road in north Jomtien making sure that everyone "enjoys" Songkran, whether or not you choose to be involved.

Pic number 2 is one of the many reservoir feeder trucks that replenish sewer water to the smaller reservoirs in the pick-up trucks.

You don't even want to hear about what's happening down on Beach Road

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Just for your information, Songkran in Pattaya is always held a week or so after the main songkran holiday. Today is the biggest day Wan Lai - in Thai - (Sunday 19th). It will be huge with thousands of people on the streets. The downside is huge traffic jams in and out of Pattaya all day. Come join the fun. Also enough negative comments about Mayor Ittipol - he is doing a fantastic job and the city is really going places.[/quote]

No more Songkran in Pattaya

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Some 10 people were injured in a clash between the red-clad protesters and the government-sponsored security men in blue yesterday morning. Now, the protesters are accusing the government of using force against them

<snip>

-- The Nation 2009-04-11

Aha! Earlier reports (in The Nation) either didn't say who the Blue Shirts were or said they were local residents.

Although I still have very little trust in anything The Nation reports. They're in the bag for Sondhi and the PAD and have frequently slanted their "news" stories. Their editorials are shameless. But I keep thinking of the Reichstag Fire. This incident seems like it was set up to give the Army justification for imposing martial law. I expect other events to follow which will justify imposing martial law on the whole country.

i was in pattaya on tath time,on sukumvit near cha ya pruk i sow two

army trucks full of blue shirts