How Is Songkran In Hua Hin?

[wpcoe]

Is it just one or two days (preferably one!), or is it a week-long drawn out affair as it is in Pattaya? Is it an all out water orgyfest like Pattaya, or a more quiet affair? Is it city wide, or just certain areas?

What day(s) is it?

[darrendsd]

Not sure what date it is this year but it's usually just 1.5 days

It usually starts around the bar area a little the night before the official date then it's the usual madness all around town the following day.

Thankfully it is just the one day.

[PoeDogg]

It's about two days, with the first day/night being the major one.

Went out on my first year there (2008), then stayed indoors each year after that.

[gotlost]

April 13, 14 ,and 15. WET

[ESB7]

Last year in Cha am was on 4 days and manic.......I stocked up at Tesco and locked the gate and didnt venture out...used to be good fun on Samui when it was only 1 day but never knowing if you are gonna get drenched is a real pain

[wpcoe]

Uh, oh. Each post that gets made on this thread, Songkran gets longer!

I'm moving to Hua Hin (from Jomtien) around the first of April, and trying to decide if I need to make plans to depart Thailand. Living in Jomtien -- where the festival is a week long, and a bit too intense for my preference -- I always fly back to America for week or so. Would be nice to stay home for once.

[sam666]

You lfly back to the states for a WEEK because you can't handle songkran?

What the f***, bet you guys are a barrol of fun, lighten up, it's 2 nights and 1 day in hua hin ...

[wpcoe]

I fly back to America for a WEEK because where I've lived the past six years -- Pattaya -- Songkran lasts a WEEK.

Hence, my inquiry how long it lasts in Hua Hin. I can stay home for a day or two, but a WEEK is not realistic.

[SantiSuk]

Have tried both for Songkran. Hua Hin is fun and light, mostly confined to 2 streets and is over before you get tired of it.

Pattaya is <deleted> awful (unless you are a 19 year old backpacker yah?) and I'm not surprised residents evacuate for a week or more.

[alina]

Have tried both for Songkran. Hua Hin is fun and light, mostly confined to 2 streets and is over before you get tired of it.

Pattaya is <deleted> awful (unless you are a 19 year old backpacker yah?) and I'm not surprised residents evacuate for a week or more.

Yes Pattaya about 5days, mostly silly immature foreigners.

Hua hin eve of 13th then the next day and night, nothing on the scale of Pattaya, busiest will be the whore bars around the Bintabaht area, again immature foreigners and whores.

Stock up and watch the sport, a movie then the news to see how many traffic accidents have ocurred, thats the usual packdrill. :jap: .

[wpcoe]

So, if I can distill what is being reported, Songkran in Hua Hin starts in the bar area(s) on the evening of the 13th, extends through the 14th, and then is finished?

I just rented a small townhouse on a quiet soi near city center, so I expect some good-spirited water fun from the local kids on the block on the 14th, but hope not to encounter drunken farangs throwing buckets of iced water 24/7 for a week?

[ItDontMeanAThing]

So, if I can distill what is being reported, Songkran in Hua Hin starts in the bar area(s) on the evening of the 13th, extends through the 14th, and then is finished?

Last year it was the evening before Songkran (12th this year), the day of Songkran (13th) and then saw nothing the day after Songkran (14th).

[wpcoe]

Okay, then, we'll soon see how this plays out. It's already the 12th, so this evening it should start and about 36-48 hours later it should be over. I decided not to flee the kingdom this year. What's the worst that can happen? I already has an encounter with a snake in my kitchen this week and ran out of water yesterday. So, maybe some good-hearted merriment will be a welcome relief. On my soi, I think (hope!) it'll mainly be the neighborhood kids having a good time soaking their weird farang neighbor. Or, not.

[sam666]

Heading to HH today, starts tonight and ends tomorrow night.

[ESB7]

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[Bakseedaa]

Okay, then, we'll soon see how this plays out. It's already the 12th, so this evening it should start and about 36-48 hours later it should be over. I decided not to flee the kingdom this year. What's the worst that can happen? I already has an encounter with a snake in my kitchen this week and ran out of water yesterday. So, maybe some good-hearted merriment will be a welcome relief. On my soi, I think (hope!) it'll mainly be the neighborhood kids having a good time soaking their weird farang neighbor. Or, not.

Were you cooking the snake at the time,or was it the one eyed variety... stranger things...1

[wpcoe]

My water tank has gone dry twice in the last three days, now. The (two-eyed) snake was hopefully just a one-time visitor in the kitchen, now that I've sealed most of the gaps between the roof and walls. <fingers crossed>

Went out for a bite to eat around 830pm last night and then went to Villa Market and saw no water play. Today, I've decided to just stay home, and I've seen a couple kids with small water guns on my soi. This is definitely tolerable. I'm comparing it to the weeklong waterfest orgy over in Pattaya where I lived the past six Songkrans.

[kutjebu]

For the kids is it alright,not for adults or you must be childish or dement.

You lfly back to the states for a WEEK because you can't handle songkran?

What the f***, bet you guys are a barrol of fun, lighten up, it's 2 nights and 1 day in hua hin ...

[wpcoe]

Well, I am pleased to have come through a Hua Hin Songkran unscathed. Went out the evening of the 12th to get something to eat and to Villa Market and didn't see any water activity, though I did see some wet, powder-faced folks that obviously had been frolicking someplace.

The 13th, I stayed home all day, saw some kids playing in the soi with water guns, and once saw a pick up truck with a water tank and party goers in the back. However, I also saw Thai and farang adults dressed in more formal attire walking down the soi and they were NOT attacked by the revelers. That is the TOTAL opposite of what I experienced in Pattaya/Jomtien the first couple years I lived there (before subsequently leaving Thailand each year at Songkran.) My first Pattaya Songkran, I was riding in the back of a baht bus, dressed for dinner, and got drenched with water containing some additive that permanently stained (i.e. ruined) the clothes I was wearing. One year, they even were throwing water in the hallways of my condo building & the manager of the condo office was tossed into the pool.

The 14th I was again out and about, and didn't see any revelry.

Good showing, Hua Hin!

[sam666]

For the kids is it alright,not for adults or you must be childish or dement.

You lfly back to the states for a WEEK because you can't handle songkran?

What the f***, bet you guys are a barrol of fun, lighten up, it's 2 nights and 1 day in hua hin ...

Maybe you should go back to your own country then? ecause everyone celebrates Songkran here and it's a big part of thai culture. unless you are old and in a wheel chair, how you can not find Songkran fun in Hua Hin?

Went to bintabaht in the night on the 12th, was ram packed with people (could barely move in the soi) everyone blind drunk and danceing on tables throwing water and powder on each other. Slept in all day on the 13th and it's over, Songkran is usually the best party night of the year for me.

Some people are just so boring it's unimagineable. There really is no wonder thai's hate a lot of farangs and think they are nothing but old idiots getting used as ATM machines by girls, I can sympthise with them. Just like 1 or 2 stupid farangs that went to bintabaht on the 12th and I heard them complaining about getting wet speechless.

[katabeachbum]

For the kids is it alright,not for adults or you must be childish or dement.

You lfly back to the states for a WEEK because you can't handle songkran?

What the f***, bet you guys are a barrol of fun, lighten up, it's 2 nights and 1 day in hua hin ...

Maybe you should go back to your own country then? ecause everyone celebrates Songkran here and it's a big part of thai culture. unless you are old and in a wheel chair, how you can not find Songkran fun in Hua Hin?

Went to bintabaht in the night on the 12th, was ram packed with people (could barely move in the soi) everyone blind drunk and danceing on tables throwing water and powder on each other. Slept in all day on the 13th and it's over, Songkran is usually the best party night of the year for me.

Some people are just so boring it's unimagineable. There really is no wonder thai's hate a lot of farangs and think they are nothing but old idiots getting used as ATM machines by girls, I can sympthise with them. Just like 1 or 2 stupid farangs that went to bintabaht on the 12th and I heard them complaining about getting wet speechless.

hmm, Songkran water throwing started 13th at sunrise and finished 13th at sunset. According to Thai culture and traditions at least

What you expereinced on the 12th was a touristmachine staged by bars, and has little to do with Thai traditions. I bet it included waterguns and ice water.

many Thais stay away from what Songkran in some areas has developed to, and simply want to celebrate Songkran according to Thai culture and traditions daytime the 13th. So do I some years

[hhfarang]

Yes, the traditional Songkran is a spiritual holiday including gently pouring water over another person's hands or shoulders in a blessing of good luck for the coming year. :jap:

What Sam described is the farang version of soak each other and party till you drop. Nothing to do with Thai tradition at all, but just another excuse to get drunk and act like children. Younger Thais in heavily farang populated areas have taken up this party aspect of the holiday too instead of the gentle ritual it was meant to be.

If you want to see what the holiday is supposed to be like, celebrate it one year in a Thai village or rural area that hasn't been influenced and the tradition bastardized by foreign presence.

From Wikipedia:

Songkran has traditionally been celebrated as the New Year for many centuries, and is believed to have been adapted from an Indian festival. It is now observed nationwide, even in the far south. However, the most famous Songkran celebrations are still in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where it continues for six days and even longer. It has also become a party for foreigners and an additional reason for many to visit Thailand for immersion in another culture....

The throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder. Among young people the holiday evolved to include dousing strangers with water to relieve the heat, since April is the hottest month in Thailand (temperatures can rise to over 100°F or 40°C on some days). This has further evolved into water fights and splashing water over people riding in vehicles.

Nowadays, the emphasis is on fun and water-throwing rather than on the festival's spiritual and religious aspects, which sometimes prompts complaints from traditionalists. In recent years there have been calls to moderate the festival to lessen the many alcohol-related road accidents as well as injuries attributed to extreme behavior such as water being thrown in the faces of traveling motorcyclists.