Ah, Songkran. That gentle time, marked by the capturing of water that has been poured over a Buddha image and then placing a few drops onto the shoulder of an elder or family member as a mark of respect. Or alternatively, taking a bucket full of sludge from a nearby open sewer, adding ice and talcum powder, and chucking the lot into the face of a passing motorcyclist.
Yes, the old traditions are long gone, replaced with alcohol-fuelled mayhem on the streets, where pretty much anything goes. But in this land of conservative traditions and demure ladies and no prostitutes, “anything goes” apparently does not extend to the flashing of boobies.
The Silom area of Bangkok is home to many bars where you can witness naked women ejecting ping-pong balls from places a ping-pong ball does not normally reside; and this is deemed OK by the authorities because they are making money out of it. During Songkran, Silom becomes a soaked party area, enjoyed by both tourists and Thais. People dance on top of cars and trucks and everyone has a good time. Then a couple of go-go girls take off their tops, someone takes a video and sticks in on the internet; and all hell breaks loose.
The Thai media, encouraged by the Ministry of Culture, ignoring perhaps more important news such as more killings in the South, goes ballistic. The girls must be hunted down and fined. The person who stuck the video on the net could be facing five years in jail. A ridiculous over-reaction which just makes the country look foolish.
And there is a delicious twist to the story. Prior to the incident, the Ministry of Culture had a heading image on their webpage which advertised Songkran and featured three topless dancers. This was quickly removed; but luckily someone made a screen print.
How delightful.
Songkran is now over in most of the country, but most of the country can and will descend on Pattaya tomorrow for our official Songkran event. The roads will be blocked, which makes it an ideal day for having to fight my way out to Bangkok for the annual general meeting of our condo. And an ideal day for Billy, who arrives in Pattaya tonight and is going to get a shock if he tries to leave his hotel tomorrow. Just hope he doesn’t see any ladies exposing their breasts; he can become rather unpredictable in such circumstances.
Comments 🔗
2011-04-18| Wally saysYou were brave, standing directly in front of that ginormous water pistol and exposing your camera - or were you using the GoPro Hero ?
2011-04-19| Pete saysJudging by the google searches that are hitting this site - the ‘Silom problem’ has got very big.
Anyway - let’s get back to sensible discussions. Those tits in your picture don’t belong to a girl ….
2011-04-20| Spike saysSadly true.
2011-04-21| Spike saysTook the shot 4 years ago with a Canon point and shoot in a waterproof housing.