Songkran is a stupid festival
Let me get straight to the point: Songkran is (has become) a stupid party. The underpants fun for children and (almost) senile elderly. What's the fun of throwing water at unsuspecting passersby?
I try to stay indoors as much as possible during Songkran, be it at home, in the car or in a mall. I leave my bicycle and scooter behind, because I don't allow the rude crowd the fun of pouring water over me. Certainly not if this has been cooled to almost freezing point with a large pile of ice. Dear people, it's almost 36 degrees outside! Sandbags at the door!
On the way to the center of Hua Hin, you can see them standing there from afar: a group of children with a water cannon and a bucket, ready to baptize you. At the risk of their own lives, they force you to stop to drench you with the greatest glee. Hahaha. Their fun is my annoyance. One or more older people cheerfully join in, just to get a youthful feeling back into their old bones. To make matters worse, you then get some white goo smeared on your face or helmet. Unfortunately, that doesn't give you a free pass at the next jovial checkpoint.
It may be true that Songkran used to be a nice way to express appreciation for the elderly. However, due to non-existent regulations, it has degenerated into a vulgar urinal. The government is now trying to curb the excesses by banning the throwing of ice water and the use of nearly lethal water guns; the average Songkran celebrant pays no attention to this. Loudly encouraged by ignorant foreigners, who in themselves know nothing about Thai culture and also do not know where the boundaries lie.
It can be seen that there are more traffic deaths during Songkran than on other days, although every casualty is one too many. They are 80 percent riders of scooters and motorcycles, so Thai, who die for the excesses of their own culture.
Nor does the Songkran Thai worry about the waste of so much good water at a time when Thailand is struggling with drought. Seize the day, and worry about tomorrow. While the Thai New Year lasts four days or even a good week in many places, in Hua Hin the revelry is limited to one evening and one day. After that, it is business as usual. As if they have realized here that the stupidity should not last too long.
We wait for the first responder to shout: if you don't like it, go back to your own country. My answer: mid-April it is still much too cold in the Netherlands.
– Reposted message –
About this blogger
- Almost 20 years ago, journalist Hans Bos moved to Bangkok. Almost from the beginning, he was involved in the birth of Thailandblog. As a journalist, he worked for Limburg newspapers and for the travel trade journals of what was once called Elsevier. Hans (76) has lived in Hua Hin for 14 years, with his wife Raysiya and daughter Lizzy. He was secretary and vice-chairman of the Dutch association in Hua Hin and Cha Am for about nine years.
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Every country has its drawbacks.
But when I look at that picture, I see smiling happy children.
That's worth something too.
And no, I hate that water-throwing, but I've already brought up the youth well.
Spraying this farang means that you will be reborn in your next life as a freshwater fish in the dead sea.
Well then I think you have a very short next life as a freshwater fish, which is not a problem because it only takes a few minutes and then you quickly go to the next life. That's why that karma cycle has so many lives, now I understand.
It is better to be bombarded with water here than with fireworks in your own country, but you will probably stay indoors.
1 X is the New Year and their party is not allowed.
Piet you mean New Year 3 times a year because that is an established fact in Thailand.
Sawadee Pee Mai!
Best regards. Bz
The nice thing about Songkran is that you don't have to participate
Just like karneval in the Netherlands. or our new year party.
A few days in a year, adjust your daily rhythm
and life goes on as usual.
And as you write yourself, many people have fun with it.
Dear man, go live in the Netherlands again
Then you can get even more annoyed.
Only the nice tempemrature hey, and the friendliness,
yes, you should get rid of that.
Let those people have their fun anyway
that's how it is. My wife and I are both 75. Went downtown in Hua Hin yesterday. Yes soaking wet back home and white faces, but we really enjoyed a nice day. It's about celebration and tradition. (by the way, I've been to carnival, there you get beer over you and clap if you step on someone's toes hahaha)
Dear man Van Rhijn, let those commenters on this blog have and express their opinion, don't be so intolerant and show some respect for other people's opinions! Please…
Dear P,
In the last paragraph, Rob describes *your* reaction!!
So you could have saved yourself the trouble; reading comprehension is an art too.
I think it's a fantastic party just like all my Thai friends!
From me it can stay with 2 days but of course I don't have to choose that.
If you don't like it, that's your right of course, then you can stay inside anyway...
Happy Songkran
The stupid at Songkran is the so-called unsuspecting passer-by. He cannot be innocent, because he will have to know that he is being wet.
I dropped off my wife in Hua Hin near Blúport today, where they wet passers-by, danced and had fun with a bunch of girlfriends. I parked the car in Blúport and walked with my backpack, an old T-shirt, sports shorts and flip flops to Sport Villa to swim. I wasn't that innocent, I took it into account. An old man, smelling slightly of alcohol, brushed paint across my cheek with three fingers. I could wash that off before swimming.
Later, back to Blúport, crossed the Pethkasem so that I could arrive dry. A little later I picked up my wife, who was soaked. They wet a lot of people, most foreigners also had fun, except for one, who almost got into a fight with the group of women. He was advised but to stay at home if he didn't want to get wet.
I enjoyed it from the car, but didn't want to go home wet this time. However, I didn't find it bad. Then I shouldn't have driven into town.
Well, Hans, you are most right on the whole line…Unfortunately, this is reality. There they go like crazy again… last night there were already 49 dead and there will be several hundred more. Stay indoors, at the risk of your own life!… Until the madness has died down again and within 2 weeks there will be another water shortage due to this crazy waste.
I completely agree with you. The elderly people I know in my area all stay at home for at least a week. The fun is long gone.
No, you will not hear me shouting that you have to go back to your own country, but: indeed if it is not your party, there is still the option to stay indoors and to ensure that you have your food and drink at home. It is a Thai party and those people enjoy it to the fullest, even though it has changed over the years, well that is modern times, after all, Sinterklaas has also changed considerably in the Netherlands. Incidentally, the figures about the large number of road deaths is not extremely higher than in the rest of the year, but that is largely due to education and the government
Just respect the customs of the country where you are a guest.
What should Thais think of our parties??
carnival??
We don't think about that at all. We stay away from all those drunk people. We prefer to celebrate our parties ourselves.
stay indoors if you don't like it. It's only a few days. Surely you can. Another option is to go to a lovely nature area those days, it is not that bad. It's a nice outing. Otherwise just join in the fun. And walking you will be thrown wet, but in general it is a lot more pleasant and safer than on the moped.
Then you don't understand too much of Thai culture.
Under the guise of culture you can of course easily sell this happening, but culture is constantly changing.
I think if you ask 1000 Thai teenagers what that water party entails, there are not 10 who can give a decent answer (in accordance with their culture).
Their parents and grandparents, of course.
as an expat or tourist you cannot change the thai new year celebration. Same people who don't like King's Day, for example, here, or the fireworks on New Year's Eve. Is a tradition and should be celebrated according to national custom. That's called adapting and accepting, even if it's not your thing.
Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year. Songkran comes from Sanskrit and means "to move". In this case it is about the sun moving. The New Year used to be inaugurated at that time. Since 1940, Thailand has celebrated the usual "Western" New Year, but Songkran is and remains a very important event for the Thai people. And it is also still a public holiday in Thailand.
Songkran officially lasts three days. During these days there are certain traditions and customs. For example, grandparents, older relatives, and monks are honored by the younger generation. The young pour perfumed water into the palms of the elderly. With this symbolic act, all the bad of the past year is washed away and the young are in turn blessed by the old. Most houses also get a thorough cleaning and this again to be able to start the new year with a clean slate. In the temples, the Buddha images are also blessed with perfumed water.
Songkran is officially celebrated from April 13 to April 15. In some places they start the festivities a little earlier. The party can last 3 to 6 days, but that depends on the location. Many people from big cities are returning to their families, causing a real population migration. Songkran falls in the hottest period in Thailand, temperatures can reach up to 40°C! As a result, most people don't really mind being cooled down a bit on time.
So Songkran is certainly not a stupid party, although Hans Bos thinks it is. And the Thai enjoy these 3 days and also the foreigners (most of them, except Hans Bos). You don't have to go back to the Netherlands for me, Hans, you can also just lock yourself up in your house in Thailand for 3 days. No one forces you to participate in this unique folk festival. At least I do enjoy it. Do agree with Hans that it should not take too long. After 2 days I also quit, then I've had it again.
Hans Bos, I will not say as you predict that you have to go back to your own country, but it is still a typical story of a sourpuss! Just let people have their party and if you don't want to join no one forces you! so you can say in want no songkran, no Sinterklaas, no fireworks, no carnival etc.
You don't have to participate in anything and to be honest I don't care much (anymore) myself but organize in advance that I have something else to do... have a great time!
have a nice day and greetings from chiang mai..
You don't have to go back to your own country, you can go to any other warm country where they don't know Songkran.
For every problem there is a solution, that is not the problem. #thinking
What a pity, this rather sour response. I regularly go to Thailand, but I don't live there.
If at all possible, I plan my stay during Songkran. How I (70-year-old old l.) enjoy this water fun. Stupid? Yes! But how I love it (university graduate) to be able to be wonderfully stupid every now and then and to throw water, and to be overwhelmed with water.
Sure, ice-cold water isn't really fun, and they can also do away with those merciless water spouts. All for. Only laugh until you pee your pants once a year (no one sees anyway), yes, that's what I'm going for!!
Martin I didn't know you had to be a university graduate to be wonderfully stupid every now and then. hahaha nice songkran
ok, your opinion about Sonkran has been read!
I would say lord follow the customs of a country you adapt.
Here in the Netherlands, people also have to adapt who come from abroad.
Be happy that you can stay there for quite some time.
And if you don't like it, go to Africa, for example, it is also warm.
Well, adjusting that in the Netherlands……….. just leave that discussion out for a while…… I wish you could put it in one sentence.
I think Songkran is great, but think a bit, like throwing a bucket of water against a passing motorbike, that's just dangerous. Car, no problem. And why ice in the water over passers-by? Just throw a bowl of water, great.
I have been living in Thailand for quite some time, but this time I was able to experience the traditional ceremony as a guest. I was unprepared and didn't know what the intention was at first. But I soon realized it and I experienced it as a great honor. Many people were present and it was really beautiful moments that I will not easily forget.
Whoa whoa what a response. People don't have to like something. If they don't want to participate, fine. And they can also have an opinion about it. When I'm in the Netherlands I don't participate in everything. I even have opinions about it. Some things are just not fun. So should I just leave? Do I have to adapt and participate? Why?
You wrote it yourself: throwing water is fun for children, senile old people and ignorant foreigners. If you don't belong to one of those groups, you just stay away from certain places on these days. Do the Thai too.
Problem still not solved for sir? Write a sour reader submission to thailandblog then. Which leaves readers exhausted…
A very significant sentence in your message: “their fun is my annoyance”. This also applies to all the complainers about the so-called noise nuisance (who mainly complain about people partying in the countryside). Some people apparently can't take it when others are having fun at a time when it doesn't suit them...
Totally agree with you…but okay it is a Thai party so leave them…what I find terrible are those idiots farangs…and not only the holiday goers but also the ones who live here…ridiculous how they behave…look like toddlers .
Great party, Songkran!!
Wouldn't want to miss it but hey, I'm not old yet.
Very well written, what used to be a few drops of water in the neck and smearing a little powder left and right on your jaws, has grown into throwing buckets of ice water and a bag of flour on top…. I will be abroad by then…..give my horse to the dog, they say in Belgium…..
Frankly, I think it's a totally disrespectful piece, it's a Thai party, a foreigner can think anything of it, but the writer of this piece labeled in this all Thai who celebrate the party for stupid !!! Indirectly he insults eg my girlfriend's family and many Thai friends
Stay inside I would say with all those stupid people outside.
When I read your other contributions here on the blog, your life in Thailand is an agony anyway.
Good luck!!
It is indeed "Underpants lol"! No, just give me the Netherlands with all its fun in making bonfires with car tires. Pyres that recently caused life-threatening situations. And not to forget all its ornamental fireworks which run into the millions of euros with the occasional "avalanche arrow" in between.....!! It is the excesses and the insane who succeed in causing human suffering at every party. Then let me get wet until my ….. And, you can indeed stay at home, but in the Netherlands you are not even safe indoors. Give me "underpants fun"....!!
Just as you used to like Songkran, you must have been a nice person in the past. What a terribly sour response.
Dear Hans, it is good that you now and then make a negative sound. Thailand is a beautiful country for a holiday, but many Dutch people will not like a permanent stay here. Those potential Thailand visitors should be grateful to you.
By the way, I disagree that Songkran is a stupid party; you just live in the wrong part of Thailand. Here in Ubon it is really a great party especially for the older Thai but also for the elderly farang.
I will not disappoint you with my response. Because sometimes I suspect you do it to provoke. Have a nice weekend!
Oh well, we have so many stupid parties like carnival and guess what when football supporters get together.
Then just stop and let people throw some water on you and some talc in the face where they wish you a new year. I prefer that to the fireworks, our pud year riots.
But this piece is written to respond nicely to.
But indeed at home you don't get in the way and others just have fun.
Everyone happy. HAPPY SONGKRAN
I was such an unsuspecting passer-by when I first traveled to Thailand more than 20 years ago with the travel agency Holyday International from The Hague, which was declared bankrupt in 2011. Had never heard of Songkran at the time, had not been informed by the travel agency, and arrived in Bangkok the day before Songkran. Slept in the Tai Pan hotel and the tour organized by the travel agency would start the next day. Went to exchange money in the early morning at a money exchange office on Sukhomvith Road (Asoke) near the hotel, walked a bit in the area and when I came back to the hotel, some young youth with water guns were peeking at me without taking any action . Didn't really understand it until the small tour group I belonged to were picked up at the hotel by van and we saw people everywhere on our way to a boat trip through the klongs of Bangkok, who threw each other wet and told our tour guide that it was the 1st day of Songkran and that this was part of it. After the boat trip and lunch we were taken to Khao San Road where we merged into one partying crowd and I fully enjoyed the countless hugs of Thai beauties, who all wished me a happy new year while I had no dry thread of clothing on my body . Could hardly get enough of it then, but the joy diminished day by day when it turned out that during the one week tour of Thailand we were in fact following Songkran and had to be afraid of an involuntary open-air shower every day. Nowadays I avoid Thailand with Songkran. Although I wish everyone, and certainly the Thai people themselves, their pleasure, the peripheral phenomena around Songkran have taken on too annoying forms for me. Definitely don't appreciate the constant risk of being doused in icy water or having my face smeared with powder mixed with crushed chillies. In the Netherlands I don't go outside on New Year's Eve either. I'd rather avoid idiots who think they can get fun out of throwing firecracker bombs.
Your first sentence sums it all up:
“Songkran is (has become) a stupid party. The underpants fun for children and (almost) senile elderly. What's the fun of throwing water at unsuspecting passers-by?"
I especially follow those (almost) senile parents completely, because I saw an old man who had difficulty walking and who could barely hold his water sprayer motorically speaking, but he sprayed in a childish way ...
Hans, you sound a bit like a sour old man. Give those people the pleasure one day a year.
Songkran is baked in the culture of Thailand, you should respect that! Always pissing vinegar is not good and then it turns out that you would rather be here than in the cold Netherlands in April. What a dilemma you have, Mr Hans Bos.
No, in OUR country there is no deviating behavior at all to be found in our culture: look when Ajax plays (it doesn't even matter whether you win or lose), or King's Day, New Year's Eve. Yes, even if there has been a democratic election, the fence is off the dam. No, let the Thai waste water. Do they have a nice day. But, yes, they have to get into the car or scooter without alcohol. That, for everyone's safety
Dear Hans Bosch,
This is a very nice piece, which you are probably not alone in.
Going after your own country especially at the end is good perhaps to avoid nagging, I personally went back earlier with the result that your comment is correct, in my opinion it is too cool.
greetings from cool Netherlands
After reading all the reactions, the score is clear: 1-1
One half of the population (and residents) in TH. enjoy folk festivals and the other half is annoyed by them.
Nowadays, all the folk festivals around the world are getting out of hand, the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, King's Day in Amsterdam, Holi festival in India and Songkran. There is not much that can be done about it, the people rule in that area. Staying inside is the solution if you don't like it, so I will. Hans Bos, nice analysis!
I experienced it in 1986 in Hua Hin and it was fun.
Here in the village it is only celebrated tomorrow,
where everyone walks around, dancing, through the village,
you also get wet, but never ice water and just cozy.
You can say that it is still celebrated in the old way here
and that is good and you can certainly not compare it with Pattaya , Hua Hin or Bangkok .
It is almost inevitable that Hans is provoking here. If so, he's laughing up his sleeve now.
And if he really means this sourpuss, then to me he belongs to the disrespectful group of expats who wallow in the warmth of Thai culture but don't understand it or don't want to understand it.
I'm guessing and hoping the former.
I hear the same from vle farang, and also quite a lot of Thai, certainly before 2000.
Now I am always a bit cynical and I think that it corresponds very typically exactly with the average mentality of the Thai when it comes to joking. AND above all, never think 1 mm ahead that people on motorcycles, etc. or others sometimes make very dangerous antics.
The communis opinio 'Get out' is common in all farang forums.
Hans Bos what do you actually do in Thailand?? What are you doing here to criticize a culture that is celebrated annually here in Thailand? As a guest in this country you have no right to speak out about this.
You're absolutely right, Hans. Everything in Thailand is stupid. You too because you live there
Of course Hans is provoking. Otherwise he wouldn't have finished his article that way.
Personally, I don't look for throwing water “en masse” if I don't feel like it and then just let it pass me by. I'm not going to pressure those who do.
The only thing that does happen every year is that some statues are sprinkled in the morning and then I get some water from the younger relatives sprinkled over hands, shoulders and feet are washed. That's it then. Nothing wrong with that right?
But maybe Hans had run out of vinegar…. and then you have to go behind a new bottle of course. Because how else will you get through the day 😉
100%+100%+…..agree.
So many drunk idiots with zero sense.
How wonderful when I receive a warm welcome from my (ex-in-law) Mother when I visit, accompanied by a glass of water lovingly emptied into my neck that cools down over my back.
Here in Sattahip, Songkran throwing water is only half a day, from 12 noon to 5 pm and not a drop of water before then. Shops are open before then and close at 12 noon. Always been here, for many years. There are also many Thais who dislike this stupid thing. As Songkran is now, this has nothing to do with culture. My son and daughter are no longer going either. My Thai wife also stays inside. Many fights by drunk teenagers.
Well, it has two sides: a lot of people have a lot of fun. I look at it with a smile.
But a pity about the excesses, as already described above. It cannot be the intention of Songkran that if you are in a full baht taxi with your groceries, you will be drenched 10 times on the way home. Or that on a moped (even on a taxi-motorbike) you get a whole bucket of water over you with the risk that you fall.
What if all water throwers had a – not yet existing? – respect unwritten 'law': you only throw water at people who recognizably 'participate'. Recognizable by carrying a water gun or riding a truck with a bucket of water, etc, etc. And yes, three days is nice (I think) a week is too long.
Perfect, Kees. Unfortunately, your contribution ends up far down in the comments, and mine would have ended up even further down, because I wanted to respond to this story.
You are absolutely right that it shouldn't be the case that you are obliged to participate. I no longer have a car, so I am out in the open if I were to travel. None of the Buddhist respect is visible during Song Khran. You will and must be drenched, even if you are on your way to the doctor, for example.
It is outright war, sparing nothing and no one, and has become increasingly grim over the years, with sadistic tendencies.
In that case, for me, with one eye, there is no fun to be found in it, and I will just stay comfortably at home with plenty of provisions.
Nice if you also give others a favor.
You can put a catchy title in a column and that simply happens here too.
Simply dismissing it as an ordinary party shows a minimal error of judgment since there is certainly respect. It fraternizes (a term that will no longer be allowed in 10 years' time) people of all ranks and ranks and if it is indicated that they prefer not to get wet, they are asked to only get their hands wet.
Jerks are everywhere just to say it's stupid.
In NL they are so concerned about air quality and health costs, but you should see old and new, including the lost hands and eyes. Putting the flowers outside every now and then is of all cultures, including the costs and inconvenience.
Dear Hans
Your piece may be correct for your Hua Hin region, but in the Isaan where I come from things are really different. Every year we still respectfully pour water into the hands of our village elders and receive their blessing for the new year. We make it a party and eat together and listen to music. In the tourist places it may be completely different. Perhaps also under the influence of all those tourists and respect-talking expats who are there and have completely molded Songkran to their will. I wonder if the people commenting here about respecting our customs know how Songkran is really celebrated? Some reactions seem as if a red cloth is being passed over a bull. I take your experience seriously and I think it is also true for Hua Hin. Fortunately, things are done differently elsewhere.
Songkran is not a stupid party, but it has become a license for (too?) many people to:
– display inappropriate, irresponsible and criminal behavior in public, especially on the roads;
– to start and end each Songkran day with alcohol and to be drunk or drunk in all the intervening hours; and to believe that everyone should like it;
– to throw, pour over or spray (not sprinkle) all passers-by, people in public with ordinary, (ice) cold and/or dirty water (e.g. from the ditch or canal), whether they want to or not. People should realize that going down the street with Songkran means you get drenched. It is actually the same reasoning that women who wear bikinis on the beach should realize that they can be touched (ruling of the Prime Minister). In short: own fault, big bump.
In my own environment, a truly Thai neighborhood in Bangkok, I see a change in recent years. The water festivities are regulated to certain places and times so that you can join them if you want to participate. The street terrorism that still prevailed for some years (24 hour surveillance of the main road at about 10 places and being stopped to receive the water and powder, sometimes 4 to 5 times a day, many times by drunken Thais ) has almost disappeared. Not only me but also Thais in my area hated it. I know that many colleagues have fled Thailand with Songkran. That's going too far, isn't it?
Long live common sense, and it's not even enforced by the police.
Same ผopinion
On Samui for the first time 3 days of chaos to attract more tourists. But it was an annoyance for the Thai and many others to get wet again
I can't imagine anyone enjoying getting soaked unless you choose to join the party. But then you are also prepared.
Songkran should be limited to 1 day. It's gotten out of hand now and that has nothing to do with culture,
Just came back from BKK and celebrated Songkran on Friday and Saturday in the streets around Khao San Road, but I have to say that the ice water is very annoying pffff and then also the Falang that sprays directly in your face has little having to do with parties ... I really don't complain quickly and you wouldn't hear me if it was aimed at my body or legs ..
But it is still nice to watch from a terrace how everyone who passes by is thrown wet with buckets of water over their heads and especially the women are the main target….
But recommended do not go on the street without waterproof bags for your things ...
Just let people enjoy themselves, you shouldn't participate in it, is it really so difficult to see that they are happy
A few years ago, I experienced Songkran with my wife's family during Roi et. At the temple, as someone over 60, I was allowed to sit in a circle with the village elders, and the younger people poured a little water over my shoulders. The people really appreciated my presence and participation. Along the way, there were only children pouring water. No clueless farangs who don't even know the meaning of Songkran but still join in with water pistols.