In case you're wondering, we did survive. It was a close one, though. This is one loony place for Thai New Year - Sawatdi pi mai! Unfortunately, our experience involved so much water that cameras were not an option. The photo above (oops, won't load, maybe later) was taken on the third day of songkran, the most tame day, from our car. The entry below was from Saturday, the day before the holiday officially began. We went out Sunday. Instead of hitting up Khao San road which is notorious for being full of foreigners and elbow-to-elbow, we just walked to Soi 4. Soi 4 is the heart of Nana. I wore a bathing suit with shorts and a tank top, Pat wore his swimsuit with a t-shirt. We left our apartment building and walked down the narrow street out front. Taxis that turned onto our street from the Soi 11 direction were either wet, covered in powder, or both. People zoomed by in tuk tuks soaking wet. White people walked by with huge, high-powered water guns. When we turned onto to the quiet end of Soi 11, you could see water flying down the street. Just as we turned that corner, Thai teenagers walked by and squirted us with water guns. We were not half-way down the street before we were completely doused with water and "blessed" by the white powder on our faces. Pat had to get money out of the atm at Villa Market. A group of Thais (men, women, little kids) outside Villa had a giant trash can full of water and I was so dripping wet after those guys that I waited outside for Pat so that I wouldn't get their store any more wet that it probably was. I stood there dripping and one of the Thai guys handed me a bowl so that I could start splashing other dry folks. They turned out to be really nice and offered me a beer which I declined. There was one white guy with them who kept squirting my chest with his water gun...not funny. Finally, Pat came out with money and a couple small water guns which was all they had left.
We crossed over the main road using the flyover and made it to Soi 6 to meet our friends. They were soaked and had been that way since 1pm - it was now about 4:00. We decided to buy some of the high-powered guns and gave our little ones to kids. Now, I'll tell what Soi 4 was like. All bars, all "sexy ladies" and white guys. The ladies wore button down floral shirts (very modest) since nothing says "Happy New Year" in Bangkok like a Hawaiian shirt. The entire street, every square inch, was wet and this is a very hot and sunny day. Every few feet along the sidewalk are coolers or trash cans. Of course, they're full of water, but I finally learned why some is warm and some is freezing. Every so often, you'd see a guy walking down the street pulling a hand truck with a huge block of ice. They put the blocks in the coolers. The warm water is from the hose. I really wish I had a aerial view of Soi 4 so that you can get a better visual than my 5th grade writing allows. Water is flying straight up, across the street, down the street. The guys instantly became 15-year-olds and were aiming for eyeballs. I aimed for the trunk but sometimes I couldn't resist getting someone in the butt, especially kathoy with their g-strings hanging out.
As seedy as this place can be, the water throwing is all in good fun. People didn't get out of hand, no fights, no pushing or shoving. The idea is that the water washes away the bad luck of the previous year. I'm not sure if this is seen as symbolic or if they believe they're literally washing it off of you. If it's literal, then I won't have bad luck for a long time. Some of the women take the powder pretty seriously. They say all sorts of things rubbing the powder (oh, it's usually baby powder by the way) onto your cheeks and forehead. I tried to act grateful but it does get old. Jessie and I lasted an hour and that was about all we could take of being soaked. The sun was setting behind the buildings and left us freezing in the shade. We retreated early and let the guys continue to play GI Joe. The day ended with pizza and once I was home and dry, my "sure, I'm ready for round two" quickly turned into, "you know it's so nice to just be dry and warm." Some things I'll do differently next year: have a disposable waterproof camera ready, have hot chocolate waiting at home, have a set of dry clothes waiting at our friend's on Soi 6. Just that one day of fun was enough. The next 2 days we hulled up and stayed inside. We cooked or ordered delivery and didn't do much at all.
Also, our flights have been booked and we're on our way! We'll be in Maryland May 17 and leave Maryland June 14. Somewhere in there is a trip to Ft. Laud. from May 28 to June 9. We're so excited to see everyone and all the new babies especially!
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