OUTSIDE BANGKOK: SONGKRAN FESTIVAL IN KRABI

Songkran (aka the Thai New Year) is celebrated every year from April 13-15. Since we were on holiday, we got to witness some traditional festivities as provided by the Central Krabi Resort. This included a procession of the Buddha, music and costumed dancers.

One of the main themes of Songkran is the cleansing of the soul and spirit. People are supposed to pour water on their elders and wash Buddha images out of respect and in hopes of gaining good luck and fortune. Over the years, this has evolved into a reason to stage public water fights complete with squirt guns, garden hoses and giant buckets of H2O. It's all in good fun and most people seem to get into it.

We made our way over to the nearby resort town of Ao Nang to do some shopping and check out the Songkran scene. I personally didn't mind getting squirted since April is so hot over here. It was kind of refreshing and fun. I did object to some old bat from Australia sneaking up behind me and pouring an entire bottle of water down my back, but I didn't get too worked up over it.

The scene was kind of wild, with pickup trucks driving by filled with would-be water-assassins. Notice the giant blue bucket of water in the next pic:

You can see that the pavement in these pictures is pretty wet, but this is all from the splashing and water throwing jollification (there was no rainfall that day). Also, check out the adults in the background with their giant squirt guns. This is the kind of holiday that kids and grown-ups can all enjoy, especially in the sweltering heat.

No matter where you turned, their was an water-toting assailant waiting in the wings with an itchy trigger finger.

Another Songkran tradition is to wipe plaster on the faces of people you meet. This is derived from facts that monks use plaster to mark blessings. We ran into many people who were only too happy to smear our faces with this stuff.

All in all, it was a good time, but I'm sure Songkran was downright crazy in Bangkok. As I was getting drenched in Ao Nang, I couldn't help but have visions of a cadre of old male Farangs riding elephants, brandishing squirt guns and water balloons, and attacking young Thai women in a drunken frenzy. I'm sure it was a site to behold.

Oh well, maybe next year...