Songkran! April 2009

The big Thai holiday in April is Songkran. This is a holiday that is like a new year’s celebration, and is pretty much a 3 day party here, where people pay respect to their elders but then also “wash” away all the bad of the previous year by having massive water fights in the streets! You can go down the main roads in Bangkok (okay, from what I hear, anywhere in Thailand!) and you just have to expect to be doused with buckets of water, sprayed by water guns, and blasted by water canyons from passing by trucks and cars! All in good fun, though! We actually were out of town for Songkran (we went to Sydney…more to come on that) but there was some celebrating even before we left. We picked Rick up from work in the Friday before Songkran to head to the airport for Australia, and he was SOAKED! At work they had had a Songkran party and all the Thais took great delight in dumping full buckets of water over Rick and 3 or 4 of the other expat managers there. Fortunately, Rick had a dry shirt and pants to change into. Unfortunately, he didn’t bring dry underwear or socks! He said his socks and underwear didn’t dry until we hit Australia, about 11 hours later! Ewww!

At preschool, Nate’s class also had a Songkran party. It was really neat because the Thai parents planned it all, so it was a neat introduction to the holiday. The kids swam (his school has a small pool) and sprayed each other with water guns. They also ATE tons of good Thai food! They sang songs, read stories, and then made Thai crafts like making flower leis with frangipani blossoms. The kids also dressed in their traditional Songkran clothes, which pretty much are Hawaiian type shirts. Here’s a few pictures from Nate’s party!