Songkran

Today is the first day of Songkran, the Thai new year. I'm not sure if the calendar actually flips at this point (I think that's rooted in january), but it should be 2549 by the buddhist calendar.

Songkran is the single greatest holiday anywhere in the world. I dare you to come up with something better. If you do I'll buy a ticket and go there next year. Songkran is a 3 day festival celebrating the new year by cleansing with water. It started long ago by the parents & grandparents gently pouring water over the children's hands. Then the children doing the same thing for the elders. What it's turned into is the greatest 3 day nationwide water fight. It tends to stretch into even 4-5 days in the bigger cities. Starting after work on Songkran eve, you'd see people still dressed in suits from work, dowsed from head to toe with bang (an old fashioned shaving powder) hand prints all over them. Chiang Mai is apparently the place to be, with the festivals stretching a whole week there. The actual days are April 13-15th.

I've been in Thailand twice for this and it's soooo much fun. The first time I went stood soaked to the bone among a mass of people along Khao San Road in Bangkok. There were people from all around the world there. All having a great time and laughing when they'd get dowsed or squirted with a water gun. I stood there and thought to myself, "You could never do this in America. People would wind up dead."

With that said, if you're interested in experiencing it here in LA, they're having an event at the Wat Thai in North Hollywood this weekend April 15th & 16th. And if you're somewhere else in America, take a look in your local Thai community, it's so much fun.

Happy New Year eveybody! Prepare to be dowsed.