Yes, it’s that joyous time of year when everyone in Thailand moves to somewhere else in Thailand to get pissed and chuck dirty water. Unfortunately, Pattaya seems to be a popular “somewhere else” and the roads are already jammed with cars from Bangkok in search of something to do.
A feature of the festival is that the official day for celebrating it varies across the country; this is presumably so those who enjoy catching eye infections from polluted water can move around the country, stocking up on bacteria. The bad news is that Pattaya is at the end of the timeline and does not have an official Songkran day until the 19th. But because Songkran has already started in Bangkok, certain people (mainly drunk white people with tattoos) feel they can start chucking sewage in Pattaya. All this means that the nonsense has already started and will continue for a week. Oh joy.
For many Thais, Songkran is an opportunity for the girls to wear even less than usual and the boys to grope the girls, behaviour which does not sit well with the traditional values of the festival (unlike, say, throwing ice cold buckets of ditch sludge laced with urine over commuting office workers). The National Institute of Development Administration conducted a survey and discovered that 37% of respondents were unhappy with lewd dancing and skimpy clothing during Songkran; presumably meaning that 63% were in either in favour or did not respond because they were too busy having their stomach pumped after ingesting Songkran water.
In previous years I have ventured onto the streets with a waterproof camera. But right now my only waterproof camera is my E-M5, and if you think I am having that drenched in sewage and talcum powder, then you are very much mistaken. Fortunately, she who must be obeyed’s day off coincides with Pattaya Songkran day, so we will lay in supplies and spend the day watching Game of Thrones and staying dry. We might chuck some water over the cats, just to note the occasion.
Comments 🔗
2013-04-12| Kevin Moore saysScantily clad woman, endless free bacteria and a never ending supply of talc for all your sweaty bits I think you should be out there bringing us all the latest images from the street as it happens. I can understand your concerns about your E-M5 so why not take that new lecia that you didn’t buy on the 1st of April and claim it on your insurance. Would make a lovely cash pile ready for those nice new lenses from Panasonic later in the year.
2013-04-12| Mike N saysyep, the water wars have started already in BKK….well the farang/bargirl ghetto of sukhumvit soi 4 part of BKK. I walked down the street at 10.30am friday, nothing going on ….come back an hour later to find the Bar Wars and weapons of mass saturation. amongst the usual suspects of bargirls, lager louts and guys older enough to know better I did note 1 well endowed girl of muslim faith, (im)modestly dressed in hijab and wet t-shirt !
2013-04-13| Barry saysAn excuse for mass hooliganism. And the biggest wet t-shirt show in the world.
2013-04-13| Barry saysI’ve posted the last picture on Facebook with a link to the site, with the following comment: A kid, no doubt without a license or insurance and certainly without the law-required helmet, riding past people who are firing water at him with no care at all that the attack might force him to crash the bike, hopefully into the idiots that are trying to kill him. This is repeated thousands of times a day all over the country. In the first two days of the holiday there have been over 100 people killed and nearly 850 injured. I stay indoors, where the only danger I’ve experienced is a kitten trying to sneak inside.
2013-04-13| Spike saysI posted the second last photo on Facebook with the comment “surprisingly large knockers for a ladyboy.
2013-04-13| genuinej saysFor the benefit of the innocent, which one is the ladyboy?
2013-04-13| Kim Jong Un saysA picture is a secret about a secret, the more it tells you the less you know, but I think the boobs aren’t even a C cup.
Sorry not been to Pattaya Days for a while been ever so busy here recently.
2013-04-13| Grant saysNot the one on the left…
2013-04-13| Grant saysYes, we’d noticed. How are the preparations going for your onslaught against the imperialistic running-dog forces of capitalist evil?
2013-04-14| Wally saysI was sure that I had seen the 2nd photo before - April 18th 2011
2013-04-14| Grant saysRecycling is good - it saves the planet you know…
2013-04-14| Spike saysWhat was it that made you remember it? Probably the same thing that made me use it more than once.
2013-04-14| Wally saysThe bikini clad girls? face and prominent ears.
2013-04-17| ChristianPFC saysI just experienced my first Songkran in Bangkok (ambiguous: I want to say it was my first Songkran and I spent it in Bangkok), I think I won’t participate in any more Songkran festivals.