Im Dreading Songkran

[actiondell4]

Songkran will be coming up soon and im dreading being in Pattaya at the time.

Can someone post the dates for Pattaya Songkran and Bangkok Songkran so i can go to BKK to miss it.

I use to enjoy it,im not a wowser,i even use to be one of those guys outside a bar chucking water at drivers going by but.....nowadays with the emergemce of young farangs,going off stupid with high powered hoses and using acid and chemicals in waterguns I really not having patience with it.

I may this year wear a full rain coat perhaps.

Whilst i say this year mostly every year ,sometimes its better to join them i suppose.

I did last year outside a pub on the main road in jomtiem,however it got a bit silly with the young farangs i was with,all half my age,they were jumping in front of cars and baht buses to stop them and chuck water on their back passengers.

The water and big buckets etc were provided by the bar,they even put blocks of ice in it for us.

One thing i found strange or hilarious,depending on how you look at it,was some baht bus drivers would purposely stop where we were and wait for us to drench their passengers with a good soaking,then laugh and then drive off ?

Of course they made sure their windows were closed and doors locked.

I purposelly did not try to throw a bucket of water in a motorbike drivers face but i did see it happen and the crowd,mostly young farangs cheered when someone toppled off their motorbike

. Amazingly even the people sitting in the bar watching us throw the water would cheer and clap too when someone lost control of their motorbike and some of these were people like myself who should know better.

Another older farang,probaly 70s was squirted in the eyes by one of the young farang boys,when i say boys,i mean late teens/early twenties,and the older farang who had a medical patch/bandage on one of his eyes become irate with the farang boy until a whole group of young guys told him to pee off,he claimed he had just had a cataract surgery.

I didnt agree with it all but you know when your drunk,and skylarking with other farangs you think its fun yourself,but the worst i saw was when a baht bus stopped right near us and a very very elderly gentleman dressed immacuatelywas seated in the baht bus,his back to us,as he was seated facing the other way ,and a young farang guy poured a ice bucket of water over his head and the man went into hyperventilation shivering and shaking,and i tried to assist his daughter .

When i was throwing water i tried not to target people with babies or elderly but some people dont care and i saw that legless man in jomtiem being thrown into a large bucket by several guys.all in good fun mind you,i was going to step in if he started urinating on him because i dont think thats funny but when someone is mimicking piulling it out and urinating on the legless guy,people start laughing?

Any tips this year ? Who knows,maybe i will join in the fun this year,i guess its setting limits because even i saw a few thai people who were going to work as security guards etc stop their bikes and confront the water throwers so not a good idea.

I must admit i wouldnt do the water throwing if i wasnt feeling safe with a group,the young farang boys i was throwing water with last year were quite fit ,and tattooed etc and nobody would dare approach us,but i wouldnt do it alone or with others that i didnt feel could protect me if someone got angry.,i did have some thai boys on a motorbike double back when i threw water but didnt dare approach me with the farangs around me.

I dont know about this year what to do.,should we all be wowsers?

im not young but i think as we get older we become wowsers ?

Edited February 23, 2011 by actiondell4

[Soutpeel]

Do what I do....leave the country for a week...

[JSixpack]

It's time for the annual I HATE SONGKRAN thread! Let's do it again! Yee haw!

[gotlost]

Yea leave the country or take a trip to the Isaan region. They don't as carried away as the tourist area do.

[doggie888888]

Quote from OP: nowadays with the emergemce of young farangs,going off stupid with high powered hoses and using acid and chemicals in waterguns I really not having patience with it.

Is this really true??? Acid? I know the Pattaya media is half asleep, but surely something like this will be reported? I wonder why is it fun to use acid/chemicals?

[actiondell4]

Quote from OP: nowadays with the emergemce of young farangs,going off stupid with high powered hoses and using acid and chemicals in waterguns I really not having patience with it.

Is this really true??? Acid? I know the Pattaya media is half asleep, but surely something like this will be reported? I wonder why is it fun to use acid/chemicals?

Well Doggie,it's what I heard.

Personally I have not seen it myself,and I have no evidence to back up those rumours.

[FarangBuddha]

No problem really...just use my car to get around wherever I want to go...stores, malls, and restos mainly and don't go to the bar areas where the ferengs hang out and act like kids in any case. Do appreciate the one-week girls wet t-shirt contest that is Pattaya during Sonkran.

Best advice is to buy or rent a car for the duration...getting around on a songtow or motorbike is both unpleasant and dangerous.

[actiondell4]

I have never been to the shopping malls during Songkran,do they allow water throwing in the carparks?

[Rimmer]

Quote from OP: nowadays with the emergemce of young farangs,going off stupid with high powered hoses and using acid and chemicals in waterguns I really not having patience with it.

Is this really true??? Acid? I know the Pattaya media is half asleep, but surely something like this will be reported? I wonder why is it fun to use acid/chemicals?

Well Doggie,it's what I heard.

Personally I have not seen it myself,and I have no evidence to back up those rumours.

There was a newspaper report maybe two years back of some battery acid being mixed with the water, a women got burnt and the police were called, maybe the report is still in the archives

[Wavefloater]

It sound like you were in real nice company last Songhran. Did their knuckles drag much on the road when they walked?

After reading your post, it seems that a more a appropriate title for this thread would be: I'm One of the Reasons People Dread Songkran.

________________________

Gee, after reading this it sounds very harsh but was meant jokingly,

Edited February 23, 2011 by Wavefloater

[Wavefloater]

Duplicate post removed.

Edited February 23, 2011 by Wavefloater

[Tolley]

What are the dates again for Pattaya?

I am due back on the 20th I think.

Sorry but I am in the Songkran haters club.

If it was a day or two I wouldn't mind but it is a week of out of control idjits going beserk.

Mai sanuk

[saengsureeya]

Quote from OP: nowadays with the emergemce of young farangs,going off stupid with high powered hoses and using acid and chemicals in waterguns I really not having patience with it.

Is this really true??? Acid? I know the Pattaya media is half asleep, but surely something like this will be reported? I wonder why is it fun to use acid/chemicals?

It may seem as if there are chemicals used.

When out in the open with your face in the sun; dry, wet, white, clean, dirty, dry, wet,..............at some point your skin gets irritated and feels like sandpaper; your eyes get itchy and your nose starts running.

Early in the morning when the water is rather "clean" there is no problem; but later where water is taken from the several lakes around town, it won't get any better.

If you have a sensitive skin, put some vaseline cream on it before you go to the battle.

[chuckd]

What are the dates again for Pattaya?

I am due back on the 20th I think.

Sorry but I am in the Songkran haters club.

If it was a day or two I wouldn't mind but it is a week of out of control idjits going beserk.

Mai sanuk

Tolley:

The last day for Pattaya is, traditionally, on the 19th so you should be safe.

Check with our old friend, the Doc, he knows what the dates are by now.

[DMC1]

^ 19th is the main day but it really is nowhere near as bad in Pattaya as it used to be. If you stay away from the bar areas in the daytime then there is no problem and the BIB usually stop it all by 6pm each day. I remember in the 90's people would be chucking water all night long. Last couple of years I've rode my pushbike all down the 3rd road in the daytime during the 'mad week' and didn't get wet or even see anyone bothering chucking water until the 19th.

[ELCata]

I've been through 'Songkram' in Pattaya for the last 2 years.

2009 was a laugh, maybe because it was my first one & I took part in the 'celebrations'. Although I did make the mistake of wearing my contacts late one night, when it's supposed to be safe.

Last year was pure madness in comparison. It started ramping up on the 10th & the young Thais are now starting to ape their falang counterparts. I've had flour thrown in my eyes (by cowards on a motorbike), been sprayed in an open air restaurant while eating (by young Thais on a pick-up) & had to step in to stop two young Thais who were about to beat up an old falang man. It was the full 24h last year as well, instead of 11-6, although it may have been the year before as well, but not as widespread then.

I've never heard of acid in the guns (except a crazy mamasan on soi 6), but I have heard that some blokes 'go pee pee' into those supersoakers; probably to save 5B more than anything.

Edit: Tips to survive. Almost forgot.

Stay inside?

Wear goggles, earplugs, swimming shorts & bring a (very) light hooded raincoat from home. The promenade on Beach Road is strangely safe. Nowhere else is.

Edited February 23, 2011 by ELCata

[luudee]

Songran is in my book the time to leave Thailand for a week. Cambodia or Philippines sounds

great for a week !!!

I've been living here 15 years, and enjoyed Songran the first 5 years. But after that is has become

to crazy dangerous and plain out not fun FOR ME.

rudi

[Ulysses G.]

Members haven't even started to whine about hot season yet and someone has already started a whinge about Songkran thread!

[Darrel]

Songkran in Pattaya is a total PITA. It has no redeeming features at all.

The only solution I know of is to stay indoors for a week or leave the region/country for a week. Not sure which I will do this year.

[gotlost]

Members haven't even started to whine about hot season yet and someone has already started a whinge about Songkran thread!

Early bird gets the worm or in this case the whinges.

[Danlo]

I love sonkran, I can never understand people who moan and winge over the best event in Thailand's calender.

[ELCata]

I love sonkran, I can never understand people who moan and winge over the best event in Thailand's calender.

I love Songkran too, or I used to. It's a question of degree. Is it unreasonable to expect not be drenched in water while you are eating in an open fronted restaurant? Is it unreasonable to expect to able to walk down a quiet soi at 2am & not have some pissed up bar girl squirt a high pressure jet of water into your eye, causing you to lose a £50 contact lens? ad infinitum?

I've always participated in & enjoyed the festivities to the full on the last day, but I wish that people would respect other's rights whilst obviously not participating (eating, on a motorbike, suited & booted, very old / young, on the bus home from work).

There are rules even in war, but during 'Songkram' in Pattaya, it seems than anyone is fair game 24/7.

[stiggy]

Get out of Pattaya or book into good hotel in Bkk and stay in two days simple isnt it?

I also dislike Songkranin at tourist traps to many overexited wa333rs so simply leave to a quiet beach resort , traditional style songkran is cool just a little blessing then left alone all day except for being offered holiday food.

[Wavefloater]

Members haven't even started to whine about hot season yet and someone has already started a whinge about Songkran thread!

So you decided to go one further and do some whingy whining about those people. LOL

Edited February 24, 2011 by Wavefloater

[Semper]

Members haven't even started to whine about hot season yet and someone has already started a whinge about Songkran thread!

IMO, CM never gets really hot compared to other places

[NALAK]

just lock pick up doors and keep windows closed

[JSixpack]

just lock pick up doors and keep windows closed

Then, when a water/powder paste is thrown on your windshield and overwhelms the wipers, you

1. sit in your pick up until the wee hours, or
   
2. crash into another car, a pothole, lamppost, or silly pedestrian. Luck will always protect the buffoons.
   

What fun.

[Fookhaht]

I agree that the first few years were fun, but it got old when I tried to carry on "normal life" amidst the drenching.

Try one of several things I've done successfully:

1. Book a nice 5-star hotel for 2-3 days near a good hospital where you can get your annual physical done. A good physical will take a couple days--one for the testing, and another for the results. Take a taxi to and fro.

2. Go to some of the lesser-known islands, such as Koh Lanta. The Germans and Swedes who seem to overrun the resorts in that part of Krabi Province aren't particularly into the Songkran festivities, and you can generally pass the time unimpeded by walls of ice water thrown from the sidelines.

3. As suggested earlier, leave the country. April in Seattle is cool, fresh and crisp (and occasionally soggy--but at least the water sprinkles gently from the sky, not thrown into your face with ice cubes in it).

Edited February 24, 2011 by Fookhaht

[raro]

stock up frozen pizza and some crates of beer good for a mere week by latest April 12. Lock up your home and enjoy the internet...it is so much faster during that time

[gk10002000]

I have never been to the shopping malls during Songkran,do they allow water throwing in the carparks?

I rarely saw a dry place. That is the biggest downside of Songkran. During the day, you just can't get to a mall or go anyplace and stay dry. Can't go to a movie, etc. Ok for a few days, but the whole week is just not what I want. I avoid it now.