Thai New Year Songkran: 'You love it or you hate it!'
Vassamon Anansukkasem / Shutterstock.com
Soon Songkran will erupt again. Thailand celebrates the New Year on April 13. The Songkran water festival, one of the most famous and popular festivals in Thailand, evokes mixed feelings among Thais and expats. While some love the party and festivities, others find it horrible and prefer to avoid the crowds and splashing water.
Proponents of the Songkran water festival consider it a unique and joyful way to celebrate the Thai New Year. They enjoy the tradition of dousing each other with water, symbolizing cleansing of the body and mind, and washing off the misfortune of the past year. The festival also provides an opportunity to spend time with family and friends and participate in cultural activities such as visiting temples, giving alms to monks, and honoring parents and grandparents.
Haters
On the other hand, there are people who find the Songkran water festival terrible. They see the disadvantages of the celebration, such as the huge crowds, the noise and the excess of water that is wasted during the celebration. In addition, the party can sometimes get out of hand, resulting in reckless behavior, public intoxication and traffic accidents. These people prefer to stay indoors during Songkran or even leave the country to escape the craziness.
In short, the Songkran water festival is a divisive event. Some see it as a vibrant and joyful celebration of Thai culture, while others consider it a nuisance and prefer to stay away from the festivities.
Which camp do you belong to? Do you like it or hate it?
About this blogger
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Known as Khun Peter (62), lives alternately in Apeldoorn and Pattaya. In a relationship with Kanchana for 14 years. Not yet retired, have my own company, something with insurance. Crazy about animals, especially dogs and music.
Enough hobbies, but unfortunately little time: writing for Thailandblog, fitness, health and nutrition, shooting sports, chatting with friends and some other oddities.
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I belong to the camp of the haters. It's not the throwing water that bothers me the most, but the accompanying drinking parties with all the misery that entails.
I don't show myself in the crowded places during this festival.
Songkran is not the same everywhere, just like Carnival in the Netherlands is not the same everywhere.
It doesn't make the event any easier because water wastage is common in some parts of the country and not in others. Songkran has gotten too much over the last 10 years; things that have nothing to do with Songkran anymore but with wantonness, stupidity, drunkenness and the lack of personal responsibility and empathy. In my opinion, this applies in particular to the major cities and tourist areas and much less in the villages in the north-east, west and south.
I think liking or hating is age related, I used to love it and couldn't get enough of it.
Now I try to avoid it as much as possible, the drunken revelers are not very pleasant, but I still traditionally thank my mother-in-law and wash my feet.
I think it's a fantastic party
wonderful to play with water at the high temperatures
and partying that gets out of hand is not something typical for Songkran.
look at the netherlands at fairs and fairs
I went to Pattaya last year to experience songkran for the first time….That was a disappointment. The first evening there was some partying here and there, but the rest of the week there was nothing to do. (After-effects of the covid)
I will go back sometime to really experience it
Good advice Patrick, save yourself the trouble. It's one big mess.
We have been avoiding it for years.
Lots of drunk people and weirdos.
Sometimes buckets of water with ice cubes are thrown on moving mopeds.
In Laos it is still celebrated in the old civilized way.
In my neighborhood in Bangkok (in the past), ice-cold water was more the rule than the exception.
Thrown by Thais who were drunk all day from noon (then they get out of bed).
That's what I mean by stupidity.
And especially foreigners get the full brunt.
Also not handy if you thought you would go out with a passport.
That's why I always keep my passport in a sealed plastic bag.
We always have our entire luggage in plastic bags.
Also useful when you end up in a tropical shower during the rainy season.
I once put my backpack in the back of a pickup truck, got caught in a downpour and the backpack floated in the cargo area
Khun Moo, people prefer to throw at the face of people on bicycles and mopeds. That is precisely the way to cause serious accidents. Get your legs wet! Then the concentration remains on the road and road users. But alcohol unfortunately plays a major role in Songkran and then the mind is at the bottom of the bottle…
.
We celebrated Songkran twice, once in Phuket and once in Pattaya.
On Phuket I thought it was a very nice party. Lasted one day with the day before some kids with water pistols. The day itself was one big water ballet and lots of fun. Here we really enjoyed the party and the “water fights”. Partly because of the friendly atmosphere.
In Pattaya, however, the "party" lasts a few days and I don't like that at all.
Constantly wearing a wet suit for days on end. Can't enter air-conditioned rooms because you will die of the cold. And also a lot of drunk farangs. With Songkran they won't find me again in Pattayabb
So whether or not Songkran really depends on where you celebrate it…
I arrive on the 21st… says enough, I think. As said before, all those drunken weirdos and after I got a block of ice from the masses against my head a few times and once someone from about 50 cm close by sprayed one of those super large water cannons in my eye, damaging my retina touched, I give up! I wish everyone their fun but I let it pass.
I belong to the haters' camp and when I was young I liked it. The question is whether this has to do with age. About 40 years ago I was in a hotel in Bangkok. On the morning of Songkran, the receptionist came to me with a bowl of water and applied water to my forehead with her fingers and wished me a happy pee mai. I will, no doubt, have changed over the years, but Songkran has changed more than I have. Water cannons. Bowls of ice water that splash down on you completely unsolicited, that doesn't seem like a party to anyone. But apparently some love it.
I realized it too late and fly back to the Netherlands on the 20th. A week earlier would have been much better of course. Hopefully it will be dry in the Netherlands by then.
I'm a fan, but really, I don't complain about what other Thai / Fallang people have to and or want, it's a big party young and old participate in it. In the morning, shelters are set up in the street to flood the old people's hands with fragrant water with the necessary prev elements. A stage is set up on the street where people dance around. The streets themselves organize places with music and people are laid bone to bone to eat something to drink together and to get each other wet. Really super. The days after, slow-moving pick-ups and everything that can roll are driven through the streets in parade style to throw each other wet or spray, I am certainly among them with my 66 years, from time to time someone smears you or you them with talcum powder and you only see smiling faces.
that there is drinking or at which party are you always sober? live and let live. I know that we usually get on the pick-up for a day ourselves with 4 large barrels of water tied in the corners and drive to udon thani and ride in the parade. It is super hot in those weeks so you can cool off certainly no harm. it's actually like carnival love it or hate it
I like them, I'm in anyway
Hello.
I think it's a wonderful party near where I live
just live a nice party.
I've lived here for 27 years and I'm looking forward to it.
I too have now turned 80 years old, but I l
let me get wet one more time.
I don't throw myself. Have fun with Song Crane. Bye French
Getting ice cold and sometimes dirty water over your head…and then the white powder in your eyes…A drunken gang going crazy to make it another deadliest week on the road…I really don't see the fun in it .
Here in Korat one had the route in the center city with cars.
Spectators who would like a party shower with water can go there to watch.
In my region [suburb] there are sometimes still some lost children.
In short, if you are not looking for it, it is also minimal.
Drinking is a much bigger problem and unfortunately little is done about it with often fake check posts on the transport of mopeds and cars.
I don't hate it, but I certainly don't seek it out either.
It falls into the same box as fireworks and booze for me.
I don't understand the hatred towards Songkran.
I suppose: we are all adults who know what Songkran is in combination with Pattaya or Phuket for example.
The dates of the Songkran celebrations are fixed years in advance.
Everyone in Thailand will know: Songkran and Pattaya is a combination of wild water fights and drunk people. Some drunk people like to pick a fight and then use dirty (water) tricks to challenge you, where other drunk people have fun in life and tell you the same story 20 times. (And for some, the ideal time to take care of that simpleton that has been annoying you for days / weeks. Oops, accidentally threw a block of ice against your head.)
Songkran and here on the outside is just what you want to make of it. In a manner of speaking, if I want to, I can't get a drop of water on me. If you want to have water fights, the local governments have communicated the dates and routes where water fights are allowed long in advance. If you want to participate, go to that route. If you don't feel like it, stay home or go out, far away from those routes.
And that's why I don't understand this hatred towards Songkran. Don't like it, understandably, my female relatives don't like it either. The water fights are not a problem, but being touched by boys / men who want to rub your face, they don't like that. But hate, that goes too far.
I myself am the only member of the family who loves (water fights) Songkran. I go to Pattaya especially for it.
If you don't want to participate, adjust your schedule so that you have what you want.
Going to Pattaya and then complaining about a lot of water and drunk people is not possible with me, you know what awaits you, don't you?
Even in Pattaya during Songkran, a lot depends on your choice of hotel. For example, if you choose a hotel in the middle of the water fight zones, don't be surprised if you get wet.
But feeling hatred because you might have to adjust your schedule a bit for a week, gosh, no, I don't understand that.
But well, these days getting / expressing hatred or ′′ I feel hurt ′′ are part of modern society.
(I actually understand. I used to be a fan of carnival in Limburg, almost constantly drunk and dressed up for 1 week. We didn't throw water but confetti. But you also always had "tourists" who complained about night noise, confetti and drunk people. We looked forward to it for almost a whole year. First working day of the year, the days off for carnival were immediately reserved.)
Whether you are a fan of Songkran or not, these are often times when people do things that you would never do in your normal day-to-day life.
What should you call something like this: an outlet from a year of hard work, a lot of stress and tension? or just because you enjoy throwing a block of ice at someone's head?
and then have the guts to say, oops, sorry?
I call that a hooligan mentality. Excesses of society.
I wonder now that cannabis has been released, what the impact will be on Songkran.
I hold my breath.
I experienced it once and that was enough.
I don't know what it's like now, but years ago a friend of mine, born in Valkenburg, told me that a lot of people squandered so much money during carnival that they even had to sell parts of the household effects to get a decent sandwich on the table.
The 1st time I experienced it was in 2006 when I came to Thailand for the 2nd time to visit my current girlfriend again. Then very nice to experience and had a lot of fun on Ko Sichang with the Thai 'friends and girlfriends' and even participated in 'appropriate drunkenness' (just a few beers). To then experience the adverse consequences in the years that follow and experience them up close. Now, apart from the waste of water, it is a party that got out of hand. There is no party anymore when you see the increase in hospital admissions. In my humble opinion, the government & parents will have to act against this crazy form of entertainment. Parents will also have to point out the dangers to their children and pass on old norms and values in their upbringing. This also applies to the entire world population. Due to, among other things, the super handy smart phone, most of them can now be qualified as humanDOM. One even gets into panic and stress when the adored device stops working due to water damage or the battery runs out. It is sad to see how this has turned our society into a society. I am aware that I am getting older and perhaps that is why I long for the days before the mobile phone. Less stress, less being lived, having to have less and therefore more joy in life. This is often not even readable by all those spoiled children's faces. Who can barely function normally and overreact when their favorite toy is taken away. Learned young = ruined old is unfortunately the NEW NORMAL. I can't and don't want to do it anymore.
What you don't write about what others shouldn't and shouldn't. And then also believe that old norms and values deserve an update. Nothing stays, everything changes, the world is dynamic, people live in their own zeitgeist. That you seek salvation in a static world view so that you can better handle your environment? Be aware that you are getting older and don't let your old normal prevail, because before you know it you will be completely behind in the queue and you will no longer be able to keep up with the "world". And who says that those spoiled children's heads don't have more joie de vivre than you?
I experienced it for the last time in 2019, and I loved it!
In my sixties I felt like a young person again who could play childishly with a water pistol.
And I thought the ambiance in BKK and Pattaya was fantastic.
Also the closure on the Beachroad Ptty with all those performances and the masses of people ... nice.
I make sure I have done and bought everything before those days. Then I stay home those days. I wish it for the people, but I'm not a big party anyway…. I have experienced Songkran active (during the day) a few times and I like it that way. Not repeatable for me.
I think it's fun, my birthday is on 13/04 , that gives a little extra to "my" day. I then go to the beach in our small village near Pratchuap and walk up and down it and immerse myself in the festivities. The next day I take the scooter and drive through the quiet streets near the border with Myanmar, there are often small children waiting for someone to pass by. They are always surprised when “fallang” passes by and then ask if they can wet you. You get the happy faces for free. Should not be more. For all Sawadee pimai.
I think Songkran is great because it is a celebration of the people of Thailand, which we must learn to understand. Same as Carnival. So we have to adapt to our wishes. These days we have been invited for food many times, but we have had to decline because we already have enough food.
Throwing water is washing away the problems, so one year I asked to throw even more.
A problem is the traffic, then you have to make sure you are not on the road, so not on the busy roads for a week.
For us, it's parties with family close to home and fun, so don't complain about any problems.
Well, 300 road deaths in a week and a multiple of injuries. I've never heard of Carnival before.