Hiding from Songkran ........ Dear Mods,

[true blue]

went to maya what a joyous sight so many people enjoying themselves,and such a simple thing, making every one so happy.if only the rest of the troubled world would be so open and as much fun as the many many folks celerbrating a fantastic festival,just having a drive round and seeing the so many funny and hiliarous moments made me relises how much I love chiang mai and its people.

[mania]

Songkron this year seems much quieter than the past few years.

I did not notice them draining & refilling the moat before the festival like I did

in years past. That moat has been pretty ripe these past few months because even when you ride by on a scooter if the

water sprays are one & the mist hits you it smells pretty bad.

We went to Central Airport Mall yesterday to catch a movie.

Was so quiet in there & very few shoppers. Kind of nice as parking was a breeze.

Edited April 15, 2015 by mania

[onthedarkside]

Just before breakfast we hard a big "ka-bang" and the electricity went out. Being Songkran, we thought it would be a few days before power was restored (it sounded like a transformer blowing up) but it came back within an hour. Amazing things can happen!

Transformer does not usually blow. Most times just the ceramic fuse popping out. Only takes a few minutes for them to pop in again, once they get the call and arrive.

[connda]

What a delightful few hours! So many people laughing and carrying on, all having a ball throwing water at each other. So much fun for so little money! I took a tuk-tuk to my usual guest house for lunch, but sat curb-side so I could watch the festivities. Thousands of people at Thapae Gate, and the noise would have been deafening had I not already been deaf. Traffic, of course, was at a standstill, making it much easier for people to throw buckets of water at each other. I walked north along the moat, getting wetter and wetter, and all I saw were smiling people. Seemed to me that there were lots more people swimming in the moat this year. Certainly more vendors lining the streets. Lots of folks sitting on tarps beside the moat eating, drinking, and enjoying the festivities. At the corner of the moat I turned west, still walking through crowds of happy people. It's amazing that so many people can have such a good time, with just a squirt gun or a bucket. Of course there were several sitting and staring into their cell phones, but most of those seemed to be foreigners.

Between walking, eating, stopping to watch the dancers at the several bandstands along the moat and in front of Kad Suan Keaw, I spent four hours, four very wet hours, listening to laughing people, interacting with total strangers, and having a pretty nice time for myself. I like Songkran. I wish there wasn't so much ice added to the water. That part wasn't such fun. And I wish there was less drinking going on. But 4pm the drunks were beginning to get rather aggressive. I can only imagine what it must be like by 7pm... But that's all I'll do... imagine it. I won't go out again during the afternoon until Thursday. One day of Songkran merry-making is enough for me. Once a year, one afternoon. With a schedule like that, I can enjoy Songkran!

What a delightful few days at the village. As of April 14, nobody on our road is out throwing water, nobody is celebrating, some people are working, some people are gone (probably to play water in Chiang Mai), and today there isn't even the sound of music playing so I'm assuming that are no parties being thrown further inside the village. Peaceful, quiet......should have started doing this years ago. How nice to see a village full of 'party-poopers'. Gotta love it!

April 15th and I've had my first brush with Songkran revelries. A friend of my wife stopped by with her son, wife's nephew, about 6 yo. Wife had bought a small, plastic squirt gun that she hauled out of the cupboard and asked me to give it to the kid. I filled it up with water, found the little tyke (who's jaw dropped to the ground when he saw me, and probably further when I spoke Thai to him), gave him the squirt gun and offered myself up as a target. His eye's went from the ground, to the squirt gun, to the dogs! "Let the hunt begin!" as the dogs took off, boy in pursuit, after the first volley of shots - alas, nary a dribble or drop shot in my direction. ;( Mai bpen rai. Back to the computer and the Thai Visa Mind-suck. It'll keep me distracted until it's time to do yoga.

[dave2]

re

Songkron this year seems much quieter than the past few years

hes right !

pic 1 .. 15 april 12

pic 2 .. 14 april 13

pic 3 .. 15 april 15 ... half an hour ago

dave2.

[T_Dog]

Just before breakfast we hard a big "ka-bang" and the electricity went out. Being Songkran, we thought it would be a few days before power was restored (it sounded like a transformer blowing up) but it came back within an hour. Amazing things can happen!

Transformer does not usually blow. Most times just the ceramic fuse popping out. Only takes a few minutes for them to pop in again, once they get the call and arrive.

Used to work at a hydroelectric dam and we had two transformers blow up with a huge noise and access caps blowing off the tops. One was caused by a lightning strike causing a primary-secondary arc, and the second was from an air bubble introduced while cleaning the dielectric oil. Always big events for the insurance adjusters! Had the breakers kick off numerous times off the high voltage lines but those events were never very loud. Don't know what we heard this morning but maybe it was a car hitting a power pole!

[louse1953]

"I've already watched all 4 episodes of 'Game of Thrones'."

admitting to illegally pirating a tv show, good for you. The world needs more thieves and deviants.

He admitted nothing DH,just to watching,get some specs and get a life.