SONGKRAN, THE WET AND WILD WATERFEST - THAILAND
Peregrina's Journey
Peter and Margie Benziger
Sun 22 Apr 2012 01:16
07:53.0N 98:24.0E
Songkran is Thailand's most famous festival. It is an important event
on the Buddhist calendar, and it marks the beginning of the traditional Thai
New Year. The name Songkran comes from a Sanskrit word meaning 'passing' or
'approaching'.
On April 13th, the first day of
Songkran, I received a call from my friend Dave to join him for a Songkran trip
around the city. He said “wear a bathing suit and don’t bring anything that
cannot get soaked.” Little did I know
how right he was! Margie was working
under a deadline to finish a newsletter for Cheryl Andrews Marketing and
decided to keep typing away. She still is a “workaholic” at heart and really enjoys
staying involved and writing remotely from her “office” aboard Peregrina.
But, in truth, Songkran does have a serious and
traditional side. On the first day of Songkran, the Thai people visit their
local temple to take their family specialty dishes to the monks and participate
in the ritual cleansing of the Buddha images. On the second day, which the Thai
consider to be “New Year’s Eve,” it’s time to clean out your house, get rid of
unwanted junk and banish the bad deeds of the past year.
In some northern
rural areas, fireworks are set off to chase away ghosts. Candles are lit and
piles of wood are burned in front of homes to light the way for spirits of
loved ones who, the ancients believe come out on New Year’s Eve.
On the third and last day of the official
Songkran festival, the Thai visit older relatives and bless them with scented
water to show love and respect. It is this aspect of Songkran that has evolved
into the crazy water fights we see today.
Songkran is a national holiday in Thailand, so
most businesses either close down or go to skeleton staff as people get outside
and enjoy the world’s biggest water festival. Up and down the roads, streets
and alleys, even major highways of Thailand, you’ll find people with buckets,
water pistols, water guns, ANYTHING that will hold water…waiting for you to
walk or drive by to take you by surprise. But it’s all good fun.
Margie took me to
the beach in the dinghy and Dave was waiting with his pickup truck. In the back
were four young children and employees from his girlfriend’s bar “Coconut
Twins.” Also, in the back of the truck, were barrels of water to reload the
squirt guns as well as plastic buckets to throw water.
I jumped in the
back with my GI Joe “Super Magnum” squirt gun (purchased the day before) and
off we went. The city was essentially closed down and everyone was in the
streets throwing or shooting water. I quickly found out that my Super Magnum
squirt gun was not going to overwhelm the competition. I was not the only
warrior on the block with a weapon!
Along the
streets, there were large hoses available from tanker trucks or people’s lawns
to fill up our barrels with water. The real shock comes when you are hit with
freezing water scooped from a large tub with floating ice. Man, it’s COLD!!!
One of the
downsides of this particular holiday is the large number of motor scooter
deaths. Starting early in the morning, a lot of liquor is consumed by both drivers
and street side participants. You see up
to five people riding on one motor scooter all carrying squirt guns. Water is
thrown directly into the face of people driving motor scooters. It’s really a recipe for disaster and very
sad because this is such a joyous festival.
But, I returned
safe and sound - just exhausted and soaked to the bone. All in all, Songkran
is a wet and wild waterfest of Buddhist fun.