A Songkran SURVIVAL kit

[webfact]

APRIL 13
A Songkran SURVIVAL kit
MANTA KLANGBOONKRONG
THE NATION



The water festival turns lots of people into anti-social shut-ins. They can have their own kind of fun.

BANGKOK: -- THANKS TO THE Songkran Festival, mid-April in Thailand is not for the faint-hearted. Gleefully stretched out from today through next Wednesday, the country's biggest annual celebration can also be the most annoying and uncomfortable time of year for anyone who's not fully prepared.

Getting soaked to the bone with every venture outdoors is the primary experience in modern times during a festival that once involved no more than the gentle pouring of scented water over the hands of one's elders. Nowadays tens of thousands of people take to the streets for the revelry of soggy combat, armed with formidable water artillery, but not everyone appreciates the raucous turn that tradition has taken.

The ideal escape is overseas, but if that's beyond your reach, you can simply stay indoors for the duration of the festival, and it doesn't necessarily have to resemble a zombie-apocalypse movie where the shut-in survivors subsist on canned food and grim determination. Here we offer a few suggestions on how to make your Songkran lock-down enjoyable - even festive!

DELIVERANCE

You're walking home, buckets of water fly, and you can't even raise your arms in defence because you're loaded down with bags of groceries. This is not usually fun. So, instead, have you're food delivered. Tesco Lotus and Tops Supermarket both have online shopping and will deliver to your door any day. Let their people get soaked (as long as your doughnuts stay dry). Both accept debit and credit cards as well.

All the fresh produce, frozen foods, household products and even pet food at Tesco Lotus can be delivered any day (and several times a day if you need it) from 10 to 10. The fee is a flat Bt60 and it doesn't matter how much you spend. Go to www.TescoLotus.com.

Tops Supermarket will deliver your care package for free if your spend Bt999 or more. Otherwise it's Bt150. You can get same-day delivery only if you order before 1pm. Go to www.Tops.co.th.

FEED ME

On any holiday it's perfectly reasonable if you don't feel like cooking, but during Songkran there's the added hazard of venturing out to restaurants. Get your cooked grub instead from Foodpanda.co.th, choosing dishes from a list of hundreds of good-quality restaurants and having it delivered straight to your door for a small fee. Foodpanda's phone application (iOS and Android) means you can place an order in less than 10 seconds. During the festival the delivery hours are noon to 9pm.

QUENCH ME

No point letting the waterlogged hordes outside have all the fun, so stock up on alcohol via Wish Beer (www.WishBeer.com or www.Facebook.com/WishBeerThailand). You can choose among 400 brands of premium beer from all over Europe, by the bottle or the "discovery case" - a mixed sampler of flavoured craft beers priced at Bt1,550. Delivery is free if you spend Bt2,000. Spend at least Bt4,000 and they'll knock 10 per cent off the overall bill.

If you had the foresight to pack your liquor cabinet in advance, all you need are some tips on making "best-ever" cocktails from veteran mixologist Joseph Boroski.

"Here's the check list: booze - no bottom-shelf bottles, please - fruit or juice, sugar, syrup or sweetener, lemons or limes or some other sour fruit. Green mango can work in a pinch," he says.

"Cut up one or two kinds of fruit and mash it with the back of a spoon or a wooden papaya-salad stick to get the juice. Then add the booze - somewhere between 30 and 60ml is strong enough for most people.

"Then comes the sweetener. Whatever you use, make it generally about half to three-quarters the amount of alcohol. If your fruit is a bit tart, you might need only a little bit of lime or lemon. But usually we'll add about the same or a bit more as the sugar or syrup or honey. Lastly, add ice and stir!"

If you hit a snag, start to panic or just want share the excellent recipe you've devised, tag Boroski on Twitter @sipslowly or Instagram #sipslowly.

YOU'LL NEED TUNES

Unfortunately Bangkok's favourite DJ, Octo, doesn't do house calls and tomorrow he's booked for a party with the wet crowd, but bless him, he has mix tapes ready to download for free at www.Octo.co.uk/songkran2014. Put them all together on a shuffle or loop and you're good for the whole night.

The gloom of your lonely albeit dry home can further be lightened by shopping online at B2S, which also delivers. Browse through the heaps of movie and music DVDs, magazines and stationery for the kids. Delivery is free if you spend at least Bt499, Monday through Saturday from 8.30am to 6pm, cash only. Have a look at www.Central.co.th/en/B2S or call (02) 730 7777.

ARMOURED CARS

If you absolutely, positively must sneak outside, travel dry with GrabTaxi (and enjoy the traffic-free roads of Songkran). It's a new application for Android, iOS, Windows and BlackBerry Q10 and Z10 phones through which you can book a taxi with as little as two hours' notice and as much as seven days in advance.

The app sends your location via FourSquare and Google to all available taxis in the area. A taxi driver will call to confirm and then come pick you up, charging Bt25 on top of the meter total. The app itself is free and available in both Thai and English. Get the details at www.Facebook.com/GrabTaxiTH.

Meanwhile, if you've ever tried to wash a cat, you know they hate Songkran even more than you do. But maybe they have to go see the vet or get some grooming during the festival. What you do is call Mee Pet Taxi at (084) 663 3995 or log on to www.Facebook.com/MeePetTaxi. Their fares start at Bt300.

Thong Lor Pet Hospital has its own taxi service for animals, daily from 9 to 5, if you need to get to any of its nine branches around Bangkok. It also has vets on standby 24 hours a day. That's (02) 712 5563 or www.ThonglorPet.com.

-- The Nation 2014-04-11

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Yes, let's be sure not to expose ourselves to the society and contemporary culture of the country we live in. And yes, I say that to many (Bangkok) Thais too.

Temple visits.. nah. Enjoying the festivities.. bah humbug.

Back up the hill we go, Mr. Grinch!

Edited April 10, 2014 by WinnieTheKhwai

[rhythmworx]

It's a lot more gentle than dodging bullets and explosives.

[Som wat]

A Songkran SURVIVAL kit

A plane ticket out of the zoo.

[charmonman]

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Yes, let's be sure not to expose ourselves to the society and contemporary culture of the country we live in. And yes, I say that to many (Bangkok) Thais too. alt=coffee1.gif width=32 height=24>

Temple visits.. nah. Enjoying the festivities.. bah humbug.

Back up the hill we go, Mr. Grinch!

Well, after you've been through a few of them, the novelty wears off. Moreover, as the article notes, the whole thing has become so much more aggressive than in earlier years, like so much else in the society we live in. If people, Thai or foreign don't wish to participate, why not respect that?

No way! Let's FORCE people to have our idea of "fun"!

[JLCrab]

As I tell the Thai girls (roughly translated): Several years now I have had my glasses broken during Songkran so if I go out during Songkran without my glasses, I cannot see the girls in the wet T-shirts and if I cannot see the girls in the wet T-shirts, what is the point of going out during Songkran?

[JSixpack]

Yes, let's be sure not to expose ourselves to the society and contemporary culture of the country we live in. And yes, I say that to many (Bangkok) Thais too.

Temple visits.. nah. Enjoying the festivities.. bah humbug.

Back up the hill we go, Mr. Grinch!

Weren't you asking about pre-emptive antibiotics to combat EXPOSING YOURSELF to possible infection during Songkran?

Infections are pretty common, you're right to worry. Got your goggles and earplugs? What about the skin infection? A wetsuit?

[kannot]

my survival kit...........well that and 20 rai of land to wander...

[Fookhaht]

This sort of get-up could be adapted, I'm sure.

[daveAustin]

A more apt survival kit:

Hat

Shades

Factor 50 (brand)

Condom (for phone)

Beer money (in Ziplok)

Medium-sized non-Chinese weapon

Small non-Chinese backup pistol

Extra beer money

Carbon tablet (for inevitable consumption of 15 gallons of dirty khlong water)

Breathe deeply, smile and soak up the fun

* If you can't hack it, stay in or go home, but please just be quiet.

[JLCrab]

Thank you. My SongKran Survival M.O.: Avoid persons carrying 2 weapons and extra beer money.

[tingtongteesood]

Just because it is a small part of 'the culture' of the country you have chosen to live in, it doesn't mean that you must like it. I hate Songkran and don't care who knows it.

The proper version of Songkran where you pour a small bowl of scented water over the hands of friends, family and people you respect is fine, all good and nice. I did that yesterday, it was ok.

The stupidity on the street with roving hoards of idiots on pick ups with bins full of water being chucked over peoples heads - YOU can keep it. I don't want it.

[HerbalEd]

As I tell the Thai girls (roughly translated): Several years now I have had my glasses broken during Songkran so if I go out during Songkran without my glasses, I cannot see the girls in the wet T-shirts and if I cannot see the girls in the wet T-shirts, what is the point of going out during Songkran?

You can get swimming goggles with corrective lenses.

[JLCrab]

As I tell the Thai girls (roughly translated): Several years now I have had my glasses broken during Songkran so if I go out during Songkran without my glasses, I cannot see the girls in the wet T-shirts and if I cannot see the girls in the wet T-shirts, what is the point of going out during Songkran?

You can get swimming goggles with corrective lenses.

Thank you. I just prefer to stay home and let the girls know I keep lots of towels, hair dryers, and spare (if over-sized) T-shirts on hand so they can come over apres their splashing sessions.

[Gsxrnz]

Compared to being bombarded by Christmas tunes from November 15th onwards on every radio station, TV station, and public building back in Farangland, Songkran is a doddle.

[HeavyDrinker]

I went to Central yesterday to buy a shedload of booze and bought the missus some sexy clobber which should help pass the time until Sunday when I do the rounds and wind up stocious....

[Spoonman]

10 cartons of beer, 3 cartons of cigarettes, 20kgs of various dead cow cuts and plenty of veggies stocked today.

Gate to my compound is locked and there will be no need to leave before this madness finishes.

[socksy01]

Loads of bevvy, take away Pizza, good sport on telly with a good looking bird noshing you off. All at the same time. What a way to go.

[Fookhaht]

Compared to being bombarded by Christmas tunes from November 15th onwards on every radio station, TV station, and public building back in Farangland, Songkran is a doddle.

Well, blimey, now I know where Scrooge ended up going for his retirement.