Songkran

[meadish_sweetball]

Highly recommended for all the sticks-in-the-mud around here 

You can keep selling but the OvenMan still ain't buying.

I had a fantastic time yesterday too. It is something special to see old farts and fartesses join in the fun with the same zeal as the younguns. Just put on your shorts and your sloppiest t-shirt, slip a condom over your cell phone and arm yourself. A great way to make new friends with spaghetti straps.

[chuchok]

Highly recommended for all the sticks-in-the-mud around here 

You can keep selling but the OvenMan still ain't buying.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I had a fantastic time yesterday too. It is something special to see old farts and fartesses join in the fun with the same zeal as the younguns. Just put on your shorts and your sloppiest t-shirt, slip a condom over your cell phone and arm yourself. A great way to make new friends with spaghetti straps.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Couldn't agree more Meadish...pistols at the ready this afternoon for me.

[Dustoff]

~

Being a biker kinda guy, I have no problem with occasionally getting wet and this holiday can be a LOT of fun..!

However..

Enforced politeness in any culture leads to excessive reaction at every opportunity and this holiday is certainly evidence of that. My experiences today ranged from really fun people politely tossing water in the grand spirit of things to absolute thugs in pickups doing their best to cause major accidents for motorbike/motorcycle riders.

I put up with all of it for a couple of hours then decided that I had better ride home before I sought revenge on someone...

On the way home, an accident happened RIGHT in front of me.. a pickup load of (please excuse the term) &lt;deleted&gt; blasted a motorbike with a HUGE volume of water, the bike went down and ended up under the next pickup in the moving line of traffic...

I stopped and ran to see the crumpled wreckage of the motorbike, and the crumpled wreckage of two very young Thai girls, very obviously deceased, underneath...

The offending thugs drove on...

The chances of my ever... EVER... forgetting this event (and I am a combat veteran) are slim to none.

Water pistols and cupfulls of water are one thing, manslaughter is another... Tonight there are mothers in absolute agony... and the perpetrators have walked free to offend again tommorow...

Ain't unfettered holiday festivities fun...?

Edited April 14, 2005 by Dustoff

[meadish_sweetball]

Dustoff, that is really terrible and I dont know what to say. (which is probably the same for most people, and the reason why they havent responded to this thread).

I wish at least the perpetrators would have had the decency to stand up for what they did.

[ovenman]

To paraphrase myself from earlier in this thread (at the risk of being once-again called a naysayer), there is something inherently wrong with a "festival" that does not allow me to ride my motorbike to the market for the better part of a week for fear of being blasted off it by some drunk &lt;deleted&gt; with a water cannon. Period.

[Dustoff]

~

Understood.

It is unfortunate that, given the opportunity to abuse, many of our own species will do so with a vengence and I do not think that Thailand is any different.

I have always had serious questions as to this "Land of Smiles" cultural attitude. Not that I do not LOVE it, just that there is this expectation of politeness and courtesy that borders on demand, ya know? A demand that doesn't quite fit in with human nature and I think we see the results of that when someone flips off a Thai and he comes back with a gun..

Beneath the smile often lies a certain darkness.. a "I am smiling at you but I will run your ass right off the road in traffic or screw you in a business transaction in a heartbeat or literally have you killed if you cause me to lose face" kinda thing..

I have been here for over 4 years and have seen, even today, the cruel anger in the eyes of someone who is about to pound your ASS with water, even if it means knocking you down in moving traffic... Perhaps especially if it means knocking you down in moving traffic...

Oh well, human nature I suppose. While spending a sad/sleepless night tonight, I have been cruising the forums and find much the same. Those people who fling crushing insults at one another that are totally inappropriate to the topic at hand - displays of anger and frustration that say more about that person than the subject matter... "My life sucks so I am going to screw with you..." The Charlie Mansons of the internet...?

Sorry. Don't mean to be so grim... "And there's hamburger all over the highway in Mystic, Connecticut!"

da Dustoff

[PeaceBlondie]

Dustoff, that's terrible - I was right to be completely out of "Land of Sorrows" during this holiday period. I only get around on a motorbike, and after 150-000 some miles, I'm not ready to check into eternity simply because some stupid, insensitive, Thai-Thai Somchai thought he had to celebrate his Thai holiday by killing me.

[jomama]

I've been here 13 years and have always enjoyed ONE day of Songkran. That said, I've had my glasses broken on three separate occasions after I took full bucket-blows to the face.

The Mrs. and I went out on Wednesday, and had some fun, met some new people, but we were home taking a nap by 4 p.m.

We have a car now, so that makes it alot easier.

Sorry about what you saw Dustoff. I've seen many such things, but during "normal" days. I think I've seen more than a dozen fatalities -- and not a nice way to start the day when you're on the way to work. I saw one horrific accident at the Mae Rim/ Chotana intersection. The light turned green, the motorcyclists raced on, and a pickup truck ran the red light, plowing into perhaps ten motorbikes. There were bikes on fire and people lying all over the place...I'll never forget that one, either.

[Ajarn]

~

Understood.

It is unfortunate that, given the opportunity to abuse, many of our own species will do so with a vengence and I do not think that Thailand is any different.

I have always had serious questions as to this "Land of Smiles" cultural attitude. Not that I do not LOVE it, just that there is this expectation of politeness and courtesy that borders on demand, ya know?  A demand that doesn't quite fit in with human nature and I think we see the results of that when someone flips off a Thai and he comes back with a gun..

Beneath the smile often lies a certain darkness.. a "I am smiling at you but I will run your ass right off the road in traffic or screw you in a business transaction in a heartbeat or literally have you killed if you cause me to lose face" kinda thing..

I have been here for over 4 years and have seen, even today, the cruel anger in the eyes of someone who is about to pound your ASS with water, even if it means knocking you down in moving traffic...  Perhaps especially if it means knocking you down in moving traffic...

Oh well, human nature I suppose. While spending a sad/sleepless night tonight, I have been cruising the forums and find much the same.  Those people who fling crushing insults at one another that are totally inappropriate to the topic at hand - displays of anger and frustration that say more about that person than the subject matter...  "My life sucks so I am going to screw with you..."  The Charlie Mansons of the internet...? 

Sorry.  Don't mean to be so grim... "And there's hamburger all over the highway in Mystic, Connecticut!"

da Dustoff

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dustoff, wow, I'm really sorry you saw that happen, even sorrier that it did happen. I agree with many of your comments about some human's nature. It ain't all, for sure, but which type sticks in our minds more, due to the damage they cause...

Yesterday, I did see this farang being a prick, but no comparison to what you witnessed, of course. But it still illustrates your point... This guy had that same look of evil in his face while he walked up behind folks and ambushed them with a VERY high-pressure shot released inches from there head. He got some others directly in the face from that distance, too... And I was powerless to stop him, short of running him over- which did cross my mind, frankly....

Most of Songkran is happy and good, but there must be limits to what is acceptable, cuz there is that segment looking to push things to the max... I don't know the answer... But, at least nobody should be able to drive off, scott-free. I hope someone got the plate number.

[jackr]

Dustoff, I have two words to sum up these people...Bastards! and Stupid! Lets hope what goes round does come round and these c***s do get some! Some prick tried to knock me off my bike a couple of days ago. He didn't seem to be enjoying himself, he was an angry &lt;deleted&gt; avoiding cars and just trying to knock people off their bikes. Yeah, celebrate Songkran for as long as you like but keep the water tossing to one day and AWAY from the main roads.

[ThaiPauly]

Dustoff, what a terrible experience, two young souls gone for good. It is hard to read your post without feeling extreme ANGER towars the purportraters of what is in effect Manslaughter

Why does it not occur to parents of youngsters to FORBID their children riding Motorcycles during Songkran? They MUST KNOW how dangerous it is for them?

My kids are all in Pattya for Songkran, but although they are all in their twenties I made it VERY CLEAR to them that they were NOT to hire M/Cys, and they are NOT to shoot at them either,they agreed it would be stupid.

My point is that there should be some sort of parental responsibility shown here and if there were I am sure this high death toll amongst youngsters would fall.

I just dont understand it. In yesterdays BK Post it stated that there had been as many deaths on the roads so far over Songkran as in Bangkok, and how much bigger than Bangkok is Chaing Mai?

I fear that the death toll will continue to rise unless the Parents take some responsibilty, not just for the Motor Cy riders but also for the MURDERERS.

Christ, you see your kid getting on the back of a pick-up with a 5 gallon drum filled with water and a powerful squirter, 3 bottles of Mekong and a crate of Leo and say "have a nice time" "Dont kill too many people"

It really makes me SICK, not that some STUPID FARANGS are any better as Ajarn pointed out, but they are tourists who think they can do what the h3ll they like, they have not got any "parental guidence" while they are here, but I bet they would be running for the next plane back if they killed someone whereas Thai mentality states that you laugh and drive on looking for the next victim.

[Kremlin]

If I saw something like that I'd follow them, get their plates and call the police, or follow them untill I see a patrol car to flag down.

I don't know about other places but in the U.S. more and more people are being proactive from following cars with a dog or carseat being dragged along, a car jacker trying to get away, they report drivers that look intoxicated. I've read stories where someone reports a drunk driver and the cops pull him/her over within five-ten minutes. Cop passed the car going in the opposite direction, but the drunk driver was driving fine at the time, got the call and just had to do a U-turn and hit the gas.

It's a hard choice to decide whether to pull over and provide aide to the victims or to ensure the assailants are caught. I'm not a blood and guts guy so thats why I'd follow and ensure apprehension.

Does Thailand have those non-profit groups that put out safety commercials and visit schools and all that?

[Ajarn]

Does Thailand have those non-profit groups that put out safety commercials and visit schools and all that?

Actually, yes, but nowhere near enough, I'd say...

whereas Thai mentality states that you laugh and drive on looking for the next victim.

I truly don't think that was the case, but I understand the sentiment. Most likely, it scared/shocked the shit out of them, too. One can only hope the experience sinks in for them. And I hope that the cops catch up to them and do their job...

[jomama]

Thailand has one of the highest road kill rates in the world -- if not the highest (depends on the survey). Malaysia is right up there too. These are countries that manufacture cars, keep building bigger highways. Credit is relatively easy to obtain, so they're "encouraging" people to buy and drive cars. In Thailand's case the general population is poorly educated and there is little driver's training. My wife's driver's test was a joke (she could barely drive at all).

My question is how much higher is the kill rate during Songkran? We get all these statistics, but how does that compare to a "normal" day? I'm sure it's higher, but it's high already.

[The_Eye_Of_Sauron]

Enforced politeness in any culture leads to excessive reaction at every opportunity

That is a very accurate observation.

...and what you go on to say is correct too. The people blasting motorcyclists are doing so with the premeditated intention of causing harm to them.

Beyond anarchy - its legitimized murder.

[chanchao]

Sorry for staying out of the discussion so long but after one very fun & wet day celebrating Songkran I got on a plane for a family visit..

I did manage with the video!!!!!!!!

I have some excellend shots, but unfortunately no time yet to edit it all. Will do so and prepare something that's small enough to download.

I have to say I'm pretty good at this Songkran thing... both in finding the back-sois to virtually teleport-worm-hole me to any spot in Chiang Mai, even the busiest one near Thapae, AND I was able to find some very good spots for safe videoing. (Tip: The moat corners are excellent; you can either climb on top of them of go behind and in either case you will not find people water-playing; you're simply out of range there, and as there are naturally no obvious targets there (inside moat) it's excellent to just sit there and video, but do make sure to get some protection from the sun.

Give me a week and I have a good video of it all.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[BlackJack]

what i dont understand is why all the nonsense goes for 3 days

Thais dont seem to get bored doing the same things over and over and over

i went to Suk and Nana the Pong and after a few hours was wet, cold and bored

even with all the wet t-shirts and skimpy outfits

then off to Rayong where it looked like WW3 - streets and beach trashed

3 days of this - letting off steam - death mayhem distruction

happy Songkran

[damnaam]

Me & the missus had a great time in Chiang Mai around the moat today, soaking people and getting soaked. It's not Songkhran which is stupid, just an unfortunate minority taking things too far. I never want to 'supersoak' people, never aim for the face or motorcyclists travelling at speed.

I find Songkhran to be pure fun and days full of fleeting but often touching encounters. My biggest respect goes to the people who just sprinkle water from a bowl.

I have the deepest sorrow for those who are injured or lose their lives through the actions of some idiots not adhering to the true spirit of the festivities. It is not acceptable.

Jai Yen Yen.

[ovenman]

I have the deepest sorrow for those who are injured or lose their lives through the actions of some idiots not adhering to the true spirit of the festivities. It is not acceptable.

The underlying problem is that this type of behaviour is acceptable on some level. Nothing will be done about it this year, the same events will play out next year, and the following year, and so on...

[lamphun]

Was stuck in the crawl along the moat at 7:30 pm tonite. The sun had long gone down. Still people swimming in the moat and chucking the evil stuff. Lots of drunks on motor cycles. No sign of any cops.

Only once a year.