Normally we could expect to get doused during our travels about town during the water festival. But not this year, mercifully.
I took motorcycles to work every day, avoiding knots of young revellers by the side of the road.
You know the ones. As musical accompaniment blares, soaked young ones wearing white powdered faces jiggle about in a trance-like state, armed with buckets of water – and in some cases, large water guns, and hoses - as they wait for innocent passersby.
As for Maiyuu, he wears such a miserable face as a matter of course – frowning is his specialty - that young ones do not dare approach. Year after year, he manages to stay dry.
In the past, Maiyuu would go out with friends to celebrate, but now can't be bothered. I feel the same way, and in fact have never joined in the celebrations, as they look rough, and childish.
I do not fancy getting caught in a 10,000-reveller crush in Silom, struggling to move, never mind mind competing for a taxi home when I am dirty, hungry and wet.
For us, Songkran is a passing distraction.
Maiyuu says that a pack of about 10 youths were giving him the evil eye last night in Silom.
Teens appear to rule the streets during Songkran. Was this an angry festival leftover?
He had biked down to buy groceries when he came across a bunch of angry young ones, grumbling and gesturing in his direction as if they wanted to do him harm.
I imagine they had designs on his bike rather than plans to douse him with water as part of the Songkran festivities, which in any event were winding down.
‘Did you say anything?’ I asked him on his return.
‘No...I don’t want trouble. If I had made some smart remark, I doubt I would have made it home,’ he replied.
True. Best not to tempt fate.
The analogy between Songkran and crime is not completely without foundation.
And they say Songkran is a time of paying respect to elders?
Combine that with the horrific road toll every year – 188 dead, and 2,786 injured so far over the ‘seven dangerous days’ of this year's festival – and it is amazing Songkran persists in its present unruly form. That's many sad Songkran spirits dancing about.
On the plus side, the roads in Bangkok are virtually free of traffic, as many Thais celebrate the festival in the provinces. On the minus side, many food outlets and other regular suppliers of our needs close as well.
Roll on normality, I say. It’s drier, and we can at least pretend we enjoy being civilised in each other’s company.
7 comments:
ReplyDeleteAnonymous16 April 2011 at 21:24
I think that your view of Songkran is much too negative, in an almost defeatist way. For most people (including myself), Songkran actually means lots of fun. The comparison to hooligans seems far off the mark. It's a great festival and there's nothing wrong with having such a frenzy for a couple of days once a year, mind you that these days are also public holidays for a reason.
That grumpy-looking spoil-sports attract an extra bucket of water or two from the partying crowds is, well, hardly a surprise.
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Bkkdreamer16 April 2011 at 22:55
It's fun for 'most' people, you say...and how do we know this?
Songkran is celebrated in many different ways. If it is a simple family reunion in the provinces, I am all for it. If it is amassing in large groups to throw water at each other in the centre of town, I'd rather avoid it, as I find that too childish.
Most Thais, save for the young, stay off the streets, and for good reason...they don't want to get wet. If they are women, they are also likely to be groped. Young men line up to paw women victims who play at Songkran. Ostensibly they are applying face paint or whatever...really, they want a good touch and feel.
I recall watching one touching Songkran scene a year ago, when a young woman at my office, on the eve of the holiday, took a small container of water and poured it over the hands of her Thai colleagues.
She went from one person to another and performed a simple, unheralded ceremony which took but a few minutes. It was the last thing she did that night before she quit work.
Her colleagues, male and female alike, obediently held out their hands as she poured water on them, then dried them off.
Some of her friends looked embarrassed, but she was having none of it...she wanted to do it, as the ceremony meant something to her.
This morning, a monk is visiting the slum next to me. Residents have left their shops and homes in the area to visit the monk to make merit, and burn paper to wish each other good luck.
I think those traditional aspects of Songkran are great, memorable, and even touching to witness. I find the water wars, by contrast, are a childish distraction which for me adds no fun to the festival.
Any New Year holiday has its good points and bad. In the West, we deplore youngsters who drink too much and hit the roads. The road toll shoots up every year over the holiday period as a result.
The same thing happens in Thailand over Songkran, which marks the traditional Thai New Year: young people get carried away, drink too much, and have road accidents.
I am no more inclined to give Songkran an across-the-board hurrah as I would the boozy excesses of New Year in the West.
I can just see you on the end of one of those buckets, dousing the 'grumpy spoil sports' as you put it. What fun!
I have lived here a long time, and unlike some of the newer arrivals, don't see the need to impress my Thai hosts.
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Michael Lomker17 April 2011 at 12:53
I can certainly imagine how it'd become tiresome to someone that lives there but I came during Songkran last year, on purpose. I had a great time the afternoon that I spent in Silom. It's not like I could walk around and touch teenage boys' faces any day of the week. ;) There's no doubt that farang are prized targets.
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Hendrikbkk18 April 2011 at 00:47
ReplyDeleteAlso for me, Sonkran is a to-be-missed festival, though I remember my first time. It was in 1997 and I spend one day at kosan road, it was funny and I think more gentle then nowadays. No ice water, hardly any water guns and even the backpackers behaved. Through the years Sonkran came more and more violent and less fun.
As Sonkran is celibrated in Pataya a few days later, one can avoid Sonkran by moving between Pataya and Bangkok, but the best way ofcourse is to leave Thailand during these days.
Loykraton, that is a festival I like.
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Bkkdreamer18 April 2011 at 19:59
Loy Krathong is more civilised, I agree, though Maiyuu and I also avoid that one these days...we float our krathong in the bath.
I don't like crowds...that's a factor. And nor do I enjoy making a spectacle of myself, which I fear might happen if I start throwing water at people, or even venturing into areas where farang are targeted. If I have to be face-painted, or doused in water, I would rather it happen in a small group.
Young Mr Ball went to Silom a few times over Songkran. He says he did not enjoy it this year, as he could barely move, and found it hard to breathe among all the people.
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Anonymous19 April 2011 at 01:52
I guess there's no single proper way to celebrate Songkran, or any festival. The way people celebrate reflects their lifestyle, those who'd otherwise spend their nights in discos with loud music and booze celebrate Songkran in much the same spirit, and this doesn't come as a surprise.
In my opinion, it doesn't make any sense to lament what is going on in the streets during Songkran, seeing that most people engaging in these water battles have a lot of fun more than anything else. Much like carnival elsewhere and also typically once a year for a very limited time, it is as it is, and the boring old farts who are in charge the rest of the year have to yield to the crazy, rough and wild ones for a few days. There's nothing wrong with that.
It's easy enough to avoid getting soaked by staying at home or fleeing the country, if Songkran isn't your cup of tea, considering that the days are set and well-known in advance (same every year), but there's no need to spoil the fun for those who like it.
Sure, a grown-up chasing others with a water gun behaves in a childish way. So what, so does a father playing video games with his children over Christmas. It's the potential festivals/holidays have all over the world. These who are constantly bickering, typically foreigners (you don't see many old Thais complaining about young people having fun over Songkran, as long as it's not some girls dancing topless!), just seem to be frustrated about other people enjoying themselves, because they lead a rather miserable life themselves.
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Bkkdreamer19 April 2011 at 18:24
Songkran is so anti-social that city authorities designate streets for celebrating it, and cut off traffic to those areas.
Revellers are given their own zone where they can let off steam, while the rest of us carry on with our lives.
Older Thais are seldom quoted in the media as complaining about the Songkran waterfights, because the waterfights do not cater for them. They might visit temples instead.
However, it would be silly to assume that Thais have not noticed how aggressive and in-your-face the waterfights have become. They speak out against them, and in fact even appear ashamed of the image they present to Thailand of foreigners.
Their concerns appear misplaced, as foreigners do not seem to care. Thai Rath newspaper reported yesterday that international arrivals to Bangkok's airport over Songkran were 30% up over the period before the festival began.
The festival is worth millions of baht a year to resort cities such as Pattaya, which explains why it persists in its present form, despite the fact that it barely reflects Songkran tradition, or anything else worthy about Thai life.
Tourists like it, and the government likes their money. What more is there to say?
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