Tourists jump the gun as Songkran celebrations in Chiang Mai begin

[webfact]

Tourists jump the gun as Songkran celebrations in Chiang Mai begin

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

CHIANG MAI: -- Songkran celebrations began in earnest in Chiang Mai yesterday with monks and tourists leading the way.

 

While most of the public outside the city center were waiting until today tourists jumped the gun, literally, by engaging in some central city water fun, reported Thai Rath.

 

Most of the tourists were either Europeans or Chinese. There was heavy traffic yesterday evening as the knock on effect meant many roads were snarled.

 

At the temple of Wat Sri Don Moon in Saraphee district well known abbot "Khru Ba Noi" gave his blessings wishing people luck, wealth and happiness for the new year.

 

Some of his underlings did the splashing with scented water while one of the recipients was Region 5 police chief Paloosap Prasertsak who took off his uniform to receive the traditional blessing.

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-04-13

[Cuchulainn]

Prats.

[ChakaKhan]

I was gonna do a write up from the front lines as i went out to investigate--NOTE that the THAIS

were well out in full force pissed up as well...i took out my bicycle--no phone--no headphones...

 

Came in off of nimman...packed...i was able to kinda hide between cars as they love a farang

and on a bike too.....rib shattering bass from maya soundstage..then another at kad suan kaew..

 

I wondered how the fancy dressed chinese will adapt with shopping bags aplenty...hats blown off

by a drunk thai with a water cannon....i got my share of the FREEZING bowls in the face as well.

 

Note i was wearing glasses but that has no effect on these ppl..i literally would witness them

walking into the middle of the street to faceplant a large bowl on a passing mbike driver--they

laughs ensued....dangerous?!!!!!!!!!!! 55555 u no unnerstaaaaan--is songkran--u think too much!!

 

As usual tae pae was packed as was loy kroh--and i can confirm as u might guess that THAIS

were pretty good..the DAMN FALANG were the ones acting like asses..even blasting a monk in

the back of a red truck--just sitting there-minding his business..no gun and WHAMO- toasted..

 

Booze aplenty--crazy thais swimming in the moat water--yuk--business as usual--the ONLY

police is saw were at the computer plaze by cm gate where there were NO revellers. huh...?

 

As i sit and write i head the bass booming from nimman and the soundstage behind it--was

nice of them to blast off fireworks at midnight to wake me up once again....but the article is

not correct putting this on tourists--thais were going all night and those shops get all that

junk out to sell last week--- the money grab---so much for the mourning--money no 1!!

[PETERTHEEATER]

3 hours ago, Cuchulainn said:

Prats.

----ditto----

[jimstar1]

Pissed Up Prats No Brains

[jonclark]

28 minutes ago, jimstar1 said:

Pissed Up Prats No Brains

I though that was the correct way to behave during songkran?

[Anthony Loh]

Tourists are there to enjoy the songkran and this is why they choose to come Thailand for they holiday, I don't see anything wrong with this. Cheers

[losername]

47 minutes ago, Anthony Loh said:

Tourists are there to enjoy the songkran and this is why they choose to come Thailand for they holiday, I don't see anything wrong with this. Cheers

We all have our rights and freedom.  Those rights and that freedom exist so that we can choose to do something as well as choosing not to do something.  I choose not to smoke.  If someone comes into a bar, sits next to me and blows smoke in my face he is denying me my choice.  Same with Songkran.  I am a prisoner in my own room because I choose not to play water games at Songkran but the streets are full of people who deny me the option of going out and exercising my right to go freely on my way without a soaking with cold water. 

[samsensam]

1 hour ago, jonclark said:

I though that was the correct way to behave during songkran?

 

it is for the children, teenagers, low class and low educated adult thais and various foreign idiots.

 

educated, middle/upper class thais dislike and avoid what songkran has become as much as the rest of us normal people

[klauskunkel]

Homo Idioticus Songkranensis

[toofarnorth]

1 hour ago, klauskunkel said:

Homo Idioticus Songkranensis

Homo sapiens semi erectus vulgaris.

[psyvolt]

1 hour ago, losername said:

We all have our rights and freedom.  Those rights and that freedom exist so that we can choose to do something as well as choosing not to do something.  I choose not to smoke.  If someone comes into a bar, sits next to me and blows smoke in my face he is denying me my choice.  Same with Songkran.  I am a prisoner in my own room because I choose not to play water games at Songkran but the streets are full of people who deny me the option of going out and exercising my right to go freely on my way without a soaking with cold water. 

Not your country, nor for you to tell Thais and its visitors what they can or cant do during their celebrations. Don't like it, then either bugger off and let ppl that enjoy life have some fun, or stay in your house and be a sad sack.

[losername]

10 minutes ago, psyvolt said:

Not your country, nor for you to tell Thais and its visitors what they can or cant do during their celebrations. Don't like it, then either bugger off and let ppl that enjoy life have some fun, or stay in your house and be a sad sack.

So you are saying that, in Thailand, there are no rights or freedom.  There are some that would agree with you.  Now actually read my post and quote for me where I actually "tell Thais and its visitors what they can or cant do".  I'll save you the trouble, I don't.

[psyvolt]

2 minutes ago, losername said:

So you are saying that, in Thailand, there are no rights or freedom.  There are some that would agree with you.  Now actually read my post and quote for me where I actually "tell Thais and its visitors what they can or cant do".  I'll save you the trouble, I don't.

You didnt have to say it expressly, but that's exactly what ur rant was about.

You live in Thailand whilst songkran is in, expect to get splashed. Dont like it, like I stated above, bugger off for the weekend, or stay at home.

[losername]

1 minute ago, psyvolt said:

You didnt have to say it expressly, but that's exactly what ur rant was about.

You live in Thailand whilst songkran is in, expect to get splashed. Dont like it, like I stated above, bugger off for the weekend, or stay at home.

I didn't say it.  Thank you. 

[psyvolt]

2 minutes ago, losername said:

Thank you. 

Yes you did. No need to be passive aggressive about it.

 

Your welcome???

[canthai55]

2 hours ago, losername said:

Same with Songkran.  I am a prisoner in my own room because I choose not to play water games at Songkran but the streets are full of people who deny me the option of going out and exercising my right to go freely on my way without a soaking with cold water. 

Horse Hockey. You would deny other people their right to participate in a Thai festival - in Thailand - and P and M about your rights ?  You have the right to stay, or go somewhere else. The right to partake, or the right to Whine and Snivel on a public internet forum. 'Oh Poor Me' Pathetic

[canthai55]

2 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

it is for the children, teenagers, low class and low educated adult thais and various foreign idiots.

 

educated, middle/upper class thais dislike and avoid what songkran has become as much as the rest of us normal people

If - judging by the post above - you consider yourself normal, my sympathies.

From a Hi Class, Well Educated, person - not an arrogant, ignorant, talking-above-my-station stick-in-the-mud.

[losername]

2 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

Horse Hockey. You would deny other people their right to participate in a Thai festival - in Thailand - and P and M about your rights ?  You have the right to stay, or go somewhere else. The right to partake, or the right to Whine and Snivel on a public internet forum. 'Oh Poor Me' Pathetic

What is "P and M"?

[nudgerman]

With the water pressure in some of those guns .... could lose an eye

Or ride your bike and get knocked off by a bucket of water and end up in hospital.

Prats .... not all ..... but too many

Oh .... Happy New Year Everyone.

[smotherb]

3 hours ago, losername said:

We all have our rights and freedom.  Those rights and that freedom exist so that we can choose to do something as well as choosing not to do something.  I choose not to smoke.  If someone comes into a bar, sits next to me and blows smoke in my face he is denying me my choice.  Same with Songkran.  I am a prisoner in my own room because I choose not to play water games at Songkran but the streets are full of people who deny me the option of going out and exercising my right to go freely on my way without a soaking with cold water. 

You sound like the home-owner who complains of aircraft noise, even though he bought near an airport. You chose to come to Thailand.

[losername]

3 minutes ago, smotherb said:

You sound like the home-owner who complains of aircraft noise, even though he bought near an airport. You chose to come to Thailand.

That is a well made point but I had thought of this thread as being about Songkran starting early rather than the bigger issue of where we choose to live.

[ballzafire]

Ah, the annual madness returns. Nothing like getting pelted in the eye from a pressure pistol with 'sacred' klong water while trying to navigate traffic on a motorbike...

The one holiday I absolutely do NOT miss about Thailand...

Good thing in the South it was limited to only a day or two. When I lived in the North, the kids would get started at least a week before, and continue until at least a week AFTER...

[smotherb]

2 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

it is for the children, teenagers, low class and low educated adult thais and various foreign idiots.

 

educated, middle/upper class thais dislike and avoid what songkran has become as much as the rest of us normal people

I sat last night in an open-air restaurant enjoying Songkran with four friends.  Three of them are Thai: a property owner and cell service provider--education level unknown; a Harley Sales and Service shop owner--education level unknown; and a Thai Rubber Industry lawyer (LLB). The fourth friend is a retired electrical engineer (MS) from Canada; and me, a retired consultant (DBA) from the US. 

 

None of us is under 50. I believe you could say we were all educated, middle/upper class people; although, I have been called a foreign idiot. 

 

Your generalizations; like all others, is full of  . . . . holes.

[smotherb]

34 minutes ago, losername said:

That is a well made point but I had thought of this thread as being about Songkran starting early rather than the bigger issue of where we choose to live.

Not sure of the exact boundaries of this thread, but by the second post it was complaining about the Songkran revelers. Your post, the one to which I responded, was complaining about the Songkran revelers.

 

You seem to have a struggle finding a correlation between what happens to you and where you are.  

[losername]

29 minutes ago, smotherb said:

I sat last night in an open-air restaurant enjoying Songkran with four friends.

To be honest, I think you are making his point for him.  It does not sound as though you and your friends were sitting at your table with water guns loaded, buckets full of iced water etc.  It sounds like you were having a thoroughly civilised evening out.  That is what I enjoy as well.  Generalisations are seldom very accurate but they can sometimes  be used to make a point.

Edited April 13, 2017 by losername
deleted "in"

[losername]

8 minutes ago, smotherb said:

Not sure of the exact boundaries of this thread, but by the second post it was complaining about the Songkran revelers. Your post, the one to which I responded, was complaining about the Songkran revelers.

 

You seem to have a struggle finding a correlation between what happens to you and where you are.  

No.  I'm not sure of the boundaries of the thread either.  Previous contributors have alleged that I am trying to tell Thais and their visitors how to celebrate their festival.  I am not, but I do think that there is mileage in exercising an element of discretion.  Various agencies have designated times, places and styles of the celebration.  I support all of that and would happily shut up if there was a return to traditional styles of celebration that would allow me, simply, to join in or not as I choose.

[canthai55]

1 hour ago, losername said:

What is "P and M"?

P*ss and Moan

 

[losername]

Just now, canthai55 said:

P*ss and Moan

 

Thanks (or is that too passive aggressive?).  I guessed the moan but failed on the other.

[smotherb]

45 minutes ago, losername said:

To be honest, I think you are making his point for him.  It does not sound as though you and your friends were sitting at your table with water guns loaded, buckets full of iced water etc.  It sounds like you were having a thoroughly civilised evening out.  That is what I enjoy as well.  Generalisations are seldom very accurate but they can sometimes  be used to make a point.

no, we limited ours to ice buckets of cold water; so I fail to see your point as well