Songkran - Our New Favorite Holiday

Thai New Year – also known as “Songkran” – is a traditional Thai holiday celebrating the coming of the New Year. At its origin, Songkran was a period of three days where Thais would sprinkle water upon one another representing a “cleansing of the soul;” all of the sins and wrongdoings that occurred in the previous year would be washed away and the soul would yet again become pure. In addition to water, talcum powder is gently smeared upon the cheeks of the townspeople as a blessing and as an additional sign of purity. It is celebrated country-wide (Songkran is also celebrated in a handful of the surrounding countries) with music, parades, food, dancing, a few spirits, and a lot of laughs. As time evolved, so did the traditions of Songkran.

*Google Image: Traditional Songkran

*Emily's Image: Modern Day Songkran

Modern day Songkran: A utopia for children and teens, a censored spring break for party animals, and a Mecca for turning mature, fully-functional adults into packs of giddy little water devils. What was once a long, conservative dress has shortened over the years to a skirt that shows a bit more skin. The light, playful splashes of water have been promoted to water guns of all shapes and sizes, coupled with water stations lining the streets, all equipped with garbage pails filled to the brim with water so cold that it would surely require a wetsuit. Instead of having cute dollops of talcum powder patted onto your cheeks, walking down the street will often result in civilians wearing a mask of menthol-laced talcum paired with paper mache-esque gak. House Music blares from pickup trucks carrying a plethora of passengers in their beds as water-wars take place on every square inch of pavement in every sector of the exuberant and smiley country of Thailand. No matter your age, race, gender, political/religious beliefs, shape, size, mood, or sign, the playful wrath of Songkran welcomes all with a squishy, saturated hug.

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               Following the slightly awkward, yet friendly puffs of air blurted in our direction that yelled, “Phimai! You have to go to Phimai!” from a round, snowman-like hippie man at a nearby bus station, we decided we might as well give the place a shot – for one thing, we didn’t have a plan as to where we would lay our travel worn bodies that night. A mere 2 hours from the bustling mini-metropolis of Nakhon Ratchasima, lay the quaint, reserved village of Phimai. On the surface, Phimai was an old town, built around Khmer ruins that lay untouched from when they were erected years ago. The locals were a friendly bunch. Numb to the necessities of your average big city dweller, Phimai residents thrive on local business, resulting in tasty soups, and the best cup of iced green tea on this side of the Mekong River!

             The locals never hesitated to make a couple farangs like us feel like we were right smack dab in our comfort zones. While cruising around on our suave, yet squeaky rental bikes, frequent smiles flashed as we whizzed around the sleepy town streets. There were echoes of “HELLLLLLLLLO!” which were consistently belted out by locals who rarely caught glimpses of travelers in these smaller Thai towns. We pulled over a few times to take some scenic photos and found ourselves surrounded by local Thai children who were bashful, yet incredibly bold to show off their goofy antics as soon as they realized our attention had been captured. Riding away from the miniature Thai entertainers, we came across a large extended family of Thais who called us over to their home for a few drinks and some outstanding local food, making it a point to extend the invitation for the entire weekend, which would take us into the Songkran holiday. As all of these events were unfolding, we began to realize that the snowman hippie’s words began to develop some form of credibility – maybe it was a good thing we had listened to him after all. Although our plans were to stay a mere two days, our friendly discoveries at the commencement of our Phimai stint had subconsciously planted a seed in our minds; we had become somewhat loyal to the community of Phimai and there was no other place we could fathom spending our Songkran holiday while on Thai soil.

           
             It was Friday and in our minds, Songkran had already begun. We had no idea what the festivities of the holiday entailed, nor did we know how to present ourselves. We were well aware that there was supposed to be a water fight, but the extent to which that water fight would rise to, was the topic that remained foreign. We figured the best way to sort everything out would be to go back to the family’s house and follow their lead, but when we arrived and they were nowhere in sight, we found ourselves caught with our pants down. It is never a good feeling when you are caught in a situation like this (especially because we had brought them a gift basket of fruit and flowers from the local market), but we had two things that worked to our advantage. First, up until this point in our travels, we rarely had anything go according to plan; stumbling over hurtles had essentially become etched into our daily routine like tying a tie is for a businessman. Secondly, we happened to be staying at one of the most hospitable guesthouses in Phimai, but our feeble little minds had no idea until this dilemma had come upon us… 

            Meet Noah: 25 years old with the best English in Phimai, musically and artistically talented, the swag, style and finesse of Pharrell, and a damn good friend. Noah would be the one to introduce us to an amazing travel experience. Not only would we spend Songkran with a group of Thai locals, but it was a group of Thai locals in which some had been friends since they were in Pull-Ups (not sure what the Thai translation for “Pull-Up” is). From the second we had a conversation with Noah and were introduced to the Phimai crew, we were treated as if we were members of their wolf pack. After informing us that Songkran really didn’t start until the following day, they took us to an open mic, where Noah was performing. It was a night of many Leos, a friendly atmosphere, weird, yet tasty food, and a perfect base layer for Songkran the following day.

Snacks at the open mic - the spicy frog dish did not prepare us for pigs ears the following day.

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            The mid-morning sun rose into the sky and pulsated down with rays that could easily be mistaken for high noon desert heat. It was a couple hours before noon and the streets were silent – eerily silent for the commencement of Songkran. I had just received a fresh cut from the barber formerly known as Noah and was quite anxious to partake in the festivities I had been hearing so much about. Waiting for Songkran on your first experience is very similar to being the first child awake on Christmas morning – you are beyond ready to get the party started and start tearing into all the surprises that lay at your fingertips, but all you can do with these mysterious objects is peer at them with a mixture of curiosity and slight irritation. I knew the festivities were so close to kicking off, yet I had trouble understanding the Thai chatter that was going on around me for the better part of the morning. It must have been the Buddhism in the air because I developed a sense of patience and center clarity that I never had before – patience that allowed me to appreciate what was about to happen and if it weren’t for Noah and friends, my travel partner and I would not be in the ideal situation that we found ourselves in at that moment in time.

Crooked Head? Yes, Noah, I'm aware, but I mean well...

Ready for the Ruckus

             High Noon came and we marched away from the guesthouse, armed with a large garbage bin, multiple buckets, and an Angry Birds squirt gun (the red bird – I know the red bird is the most basic one in the game, but it over served its purpose in this scenario). Setting up shop on the corner right past the convenience store, we found ourselves amidst the battlefront. A motorbike pulled up with two members of our crew aboard, accompanied by 4 large blocks of ice, which were strategically placed in the garbage pail before water was added. A table unfolded, where members of the crew placed numerous bottles of Baby Powder, water artillery, beverages and snacks… many snacks. We all took our positions and as we lined up on the sidewalk ready for the biggest water fight of our career, I happened to glance back at our table of snacks. There was a plastic cup filled with water sitting on the table, which, just like in Jurassic Park, began to ripple as mind-numbing bass began to clamor and flood the Phimai streets. Ready or not, it was time for Songkran.

            From 12:00 PM on Saturday afternoon until well after 12:00 midnight, it was as if we had fallen into an alternate universe – the innocent town of Phimai had become an untamed water dragon that no one could control. It didn’t matter if you had your back turned or you were in the middle of a conversation; anyone roaming the streets on Songkran weekend was a target. Whether they liked it or not, they would be cleansed from all of their poor decisions and actions from the previous year. In the case of modern day Songkran, that meant you were getting squirted from every angle with water guns. Men, women, and children would not hesitate to douse you with continuous buckets of liquid ice. If you decided to make the bold move of walking down a crowded street, you would be welcomed by a swarm of mischievous locals, encompassing beaming smiles, armed with baby powder, water, and sometimes for us farang, hugs.

"Papeng Noi Krap" 

            Although you are continuously watching your every step, once you embrace the water fight (which honestly takes less than 2 minutes), Songkran becomes one of the most invigorating and hilariously genuine experiences on the planet. When you take a closer look at the scenario, the entire country of Thailand is participating in a water fight for 3 whole days (in some cities like Chiang Mai, it goes on for close to a week). The holiday is pure fun. Everybody is smiling and acting like kids. If I could make it happen, the entire world would participate because when it comes down to it, sometimes a little bit of fun is all we need.

This is fun!

This very well may be MORE fun...

              Needless to say our Phimai adventures ended with teary eyes and a positive outlook on the remainder of our pre-teaching adventures. The Phimai locals, Noah and crew included, have a great philosophy on life: work very hard and take passion in what you do and have fun. Whether is was a police officer, coffee shop owner, guest house, or street hustler, every community member in Phimai knows how to live life to the fullest no matter what hand they are dealt. Sometimes, that can be difficult to do, but our experiences there gave us the motivation to work hard to pass that philosophy along on our travels that await.

*A quick side note that I forgot to put in the story. We were lucky enough to witness and participate in a Songkran ceremony with Noah’s family. Noah’s mom and dad sat in a pair of chairs as we went up to them one-by-one. We dipped a cup into a bucket filled with water saturated with flower petals, knelt in front of each of them, and poured the water into their hands, which they then dabbed on our heads as we exchanged a few nice words with one another as a blessing; one thing in particular that Noah’s mother said to us was “I hope you are happy forever.” In my book, this is one of the nicest things somebody could wish upon you in a circumstance like this, and I’ll never forget that. We were honored to be a part of the ceremony and initially were at a loss for words. All we could say was, “Thank you for letting us stay with you. It has been a great experience meeting all of you.” Phimai will go down in the books as a standup place in Thailand. Our hats go off to Phimai, Noah, family and friends. Not only do you guys rock as well as roll, but you throw one hell of a Songkran!

There were a ton of pictures from Emily's GoPro......so here are a bunch of them!

Front Page News

We were introduced to the holiday pretty quickly 

A Little Chilly!

You can guess what happens next 

Emily showing the Thai's who the real "Jenny From the Block" is...

No idea where he came from, but one of the funniest little guys on the planet

He was also relentless with the water guns. I'm pretty sure he never stopped spraying.

Home Base

This guy invited us over for some Thai hospitality after he gave us a standard powder...

Cute, but he won't hesitate to soak ya!

Artsy photo of me getting sloshed.

Told you the locals were friendly

Breakdance Fighting - I took two breakdance classes with my friend Nick Smatt when I was younger....unfortunately, that did not compare to this guy's skills.