Songkran

Songkran Festival - the Chiang Mai Way

I have never seen so many happy faces in one place in my life. By one place, I mean the entire population of the city of Chiang Mai along with the tens of thousands of tourists and other visitors who came for this weekend's celebration. I say weekend celebration with caution since the denizens of Chiang Mai stretch this particular weekend into 4 days. Songkran is a celebration of the Thai New Year and a religious/spiritual rite as well. Yesterday I walked around 4 km along Huay Kaew Road and along two sides of he moat that surrounds the 800 year old walled city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.

 
The first 500 meters along Huay Kaew Road was closed to traffic. This road is four lanes wide with a boulevard in the center and separates a large regional mall, and a smaller outdoor mall across the street. Both malls have large pedestrian walk ways and stairways leading up and into them. This makes for a perfect set up for multilevel stages and for gathering a fairly large cram of people. I say “cram” of people because that is what it was, thousands of people crammed into this space spread out along 300 meters or so, along Huay Kaew Road.

 

My walking route along Huay Kaew Road and the moat.

The first stage was built in front of a very large convention sized hotel. They had loud Thai music kicking out and 3 or 4 people in front with fire hoses drenching any passerby. Luckily they had the pressure turned down so there were no injuries. Stage two is the main stage and across the street from the hotel. It is built on a large concrete stairway, (about 30 steps) that leads up to a second level outdoor mall and has a lattice work of metal frames encompassing the stage's sides and spanning the top. This frame work is in fact a large sprinkler system that blasts water, at times, completely across the four lane road and drenching the large crowd in front. This, in my opinion, is a great idea for any Canadian based outdoor concert during the hot times of year.
 

This stage has three levels and a huge, for the location, sound system that was being tested by some serious high end amps. When I passed by this stage, they had the obligatory dozen or so drop-dead gorgeous Thai ladies dancing and wiggling about. I took note of this only in aid of writing this blog. After about 15-20 minutes or so, I wandered farther along Huay Kaew Road and came to stages number three and four, both of which had several people spaying water from hoses and large water guns. They were not as loud as the main stage but still pretty loud.

By the time I reached the corner of Huay Kaew and Bunrueang Rit, which is the road the runs along the western side of the moat, the crowd began to thicken because it was now mixed with Chiang Mai traffic. Remember I used the collective noun a “cram” of people? Well, this became a super-cram of people packed in with cars, pick-up trucks and motorbikes. There were times along the first few hundred meters where the crowd stopped moving completely, because there was simply nowhere to move to. This slow, slow movement along what is now Manee Nopparat Road, which is the road that runs along the north side of the moat, allowed people to perfect their water tossing skills. There were also entertainment stops every few hundred meters. One set up was, get this, a three story water slide. Yeah, a water park in the middle of a water festival.

As I said, there were a lot of hoses and water guns used along the first 500 meters of my Songkran walking tour, but here in the second leg, the water tossing got serious. Now they were using buckets of all different sizes. Yes, there were still those large pumper water guns being used but, they were tiny when compared to some of the bucket loads I was now receiving. By the time I'd finally gotten through the first super-cram, I was fully drenched and my shoes had filled with water. It was, in someways, a very schizophrenic experience. Some of the revelers who were in the backs of the slow moving pick-up trucks, thought it hilarious to put large blocks of ice in their big garbage can sized water containers for that extra cold splash. But the folks on the sidewalk side were drawing their water from the moat which is quite a bit warmer since, as always, the temperature was in the low to mid 30s. So, just like the half-white, half-black guy on the old Star-Trek episode, a bucket load of freezing cold water hits one side while the other side is pelted with a bucket load of warm canal water.

Many Thais, most of whom are playful to begin with, would take one look at this farang, and with an ear to ear grin, would blast me with their water guns or toss a bucket of water face on while shouting Swatdee Krop/Ka (hi/good day/hello etc) or Suk Wan Songkran (Happy Songkran Day). It was about this time that I remembered an article I'd read about Songkran. As I said, there is a spiritual side to this celebration. Part of that spiritual celebration is hounoring their families, friends, neighbours, and showing respect for their elders. In quieter places than where I was, older people were lightly sprinkled with water, or some water would be gently poured on a shoulder as a gesture of respect. A quote from Wikipedia is in order here to help explain where all of this comes from: “The throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder. Among young people the holiday evolved to include dousing strangers with water to relieve the heat, since April is the hottest month in Thailand (temperatures can rise to over 100°F or 40°C on some days). This has further evolved into water fights and splashing water over people riding in vehicles.”


Respect huh? A least a couple of dozen times I would spot someone who was about offer me respect as I walked along the street beside the moat. I could see a glint in their eyes as they patiently waited until I got close enough to get that bucket full of water full on. As I said, sometimes it was icy cold, other times it was lukewarm but, it was always wet and accompanied by a smile. One of these incidents stands out. A young girl, maybe around 12 or so, peeked around some people she was standing beside and spotted me, that glint of expectation popped into her eyes. I saw her drop the small pail she had been holding into a large garbage can sized container and draw out a much larger bucket. She turn quickly back to me, I was now almost beside her, and with a huge happy grin on her pretty face, she threw that bucket full right in my face. I couldn't help but laugh out loud while she squealed with delight.

By this time I had made the turn down Chaiyapoom Road, which runs down the east side of the moat, all vehicular traffic was stopped along this stretch. Another of the focal points on Songkran in Chiang Mai is at Tha Pae gate. This is one of the main gates through the 800 year old wall that sits on the inside of the moat which was, or course, protection for the old city. It has a large bricked public square that is used for many celebrations and the well known, and huge, starting point for Chiang Mai's Sunday Walking Street Market. When I reached this point, about half way down the eastern side of the moat, the super-cram had upgraded to a colossal-cram. Movement ceased. There was another big stage and thousands more people packed together under plums of water. I moved back up the street, against the natural flow (I tend to do that sort of thing) and found a small soi (lane-way) that crossed over to a side street that led me around the main colossal-cram.

This was much nicer, quieter stroll. Oh, there were still people there determined to soak me down even more. Some standing in front of a small guest house with a hose in hand while others in front of a restaurant or some other business with small buckets of water to toss at me. Now, this is another of the many times I bust out laughing. As I walked along this soi, I saw a policeman walking up the street with a young woman. They were having what looked like a serious conversation, he had his notebook in hand and was diligently writing in it as the woman spoke to him. My thoughts were that there was a complaint being laid and the officer was about to investigate. That was when I spotted two very young girls, maybe 6 or 7 years old, standing in the back of a parked pick-up truck on the side of the narrow street. One was holding a hose that led up and over the fence behind them, while the other had a small bucket in her hand. They looked at the policeman, looked at each other as if questioning whether they should or they shouldn't. Then two mischievous smiles broke out and they nuked the guy. The policeman's arms dropped to his sides, he turned with a scowl on his dripping wet face, spotted who had just soaked him down, and the he laughed out loud. We looked at each other and we both laughed again. A wonderful moment to be sure.

My walk continued down along the moat past a couple of Go-Go bars which, in Thailand, is were the higher-end working girls ply their trade. Now you would think, considering that this day is tantamount to a national wet t-shirt competition, that there would be some sights to see there. Nope. That is not the Thai way. No matter what you may have heard, Thais are very respectful on the streets. Yes, the working girls will grab at us old farangs and try to drag us into the bar they work out of, but nothing happens on the street. They may dress sexy, but the do not dress like <insert your own derogatory descriptive here>. They were dancing on tables in front of the Go-Gos while tossing water on passersby but, nothing lewd.

Finally I made it to my target street, Loi Kroh. I have a friend who owns convenience store on Soi 1 just off Loi Kroh. The beer is cheap (50 baht, about $1.75 for a 650 ml bottle) and the conversation always good. This street, Loi Kroh, at the western end, is lined with beer bars, which are one step down from the Go-Go bars, mixed with a few nice shops, a large hotel, a couple of pubs, a drug store etc. It is, in-the-end, a party street. When I looked down the somewhat narrow street, the first two blocks or so, there was a veritable fog of water flying from one side of the street to the other. All of the bars along this stretch have open fronts. So each one had a line of people standing in front with water guns and buckets at the ready. With no traffic allowed on the street I could walk down the center lane and get seriously soaked from both sides. People were yelping and howling in delight as some of the walkers fought back with their water guns. Many of the bars along there were nice enough to put out big coolers full of water so those properly armed could reload as they walked.

I spotted a guy I know standing in front of a massage shop where his girlfriend works, he had gone back to the States a few months ago on personal business and had just returned. Happy to see each other again, I walked over and shook hands with him, and his girlfriend shot me in the face with ice water from close range. By this time, I had been sprayed by water guns literally hundreds, if not thousands of times, so Doug's girlfriend shooting me in the face then had become a normal part of my day, and was simply ignored with a slight smile. She laughed and went about dowsing someone else, Doug and I caught up with our lives a bit.

The rest of my first day at Songkran is a little foggy. That part included some good Thai food from the soaking wet street carts and a local Thai cooking school who had set up a booth in front of their location. The day, at this point, also include much beer and an enormous amount of laughter. I stood in front of the Wild Boar, a small bar that is owned by a guy from Edmonton. As I said, the bar along this stretch are open to the street, so I could stand there, with a line of celebrants, with a large Leo in hand and watch a never ending line of people moving past. There were a couple of guys from Vancouver Island having a hoot spraying people and being shot back at by heavily armed walkers. A Burmese guy who owns a small clothing store next door was one of those evil ones who made sure his water was a cold as possible, as I quickly found out. This went on for hours.

I am going to have a quieter day today while nursing my slight hang-over and in a futile attempt to stay dry. That can't happen because I have to pick up a few groceries and will get drenched for my efforts because I need to pass through the throng in front of the big mall. Tomorrow, my friend Dolly is going to pick me up early, before the small sois around my building are closed and take me out to San Sai, a suburb of Chiang Mai, where she lives. She intends on taking me to her Buddhist Temple so I can take in some the ancient rituals that surround Songkran. I am told that the entire ritual process lasts about 5 hours, so I will try to be well rested before that event.

As a final note to this past day, my first day at a Songkran festival, I have to say that I am very lucky to have had this opportunity to see just how wonderful and happy people can be, all tens of thousands of them.