Songkran
Songkran is Thailand’s New Year holiday. It falls in April at the peak of the summer. Daytime temperatures are usually around 35 degrees and sometimes as high as 40. It’s also very humid and dry during this time, so there’s not much relief from the weather. Even at night the temperature stays in the high 20’s.
Perhaps it’s no surprise then that Songkran is a water festival, where traditionally offerings of water are made to deities. In modern times this has evolved into giant water fights. Thousands descend on hot spots throughout the city along with water pistols and buckets of water to soak anyone that they come across. Most people get the week off and people are in party mode across the country. Many return to their hometowns from Bangkok.
At first I was sceptical. I’m too old for water fights, or so I thought.
On Wednesday, the first day of Songkran, I went out for dinner with a friend. I expected the celebrations to be concentrated in Khaosan Road or Silom, but it was clear as soon as I stepped out of my apartment that there was no escaping Songkran. The usual busyness of Bangkok was gone, instead people were laughing and relaxed, while others checked over their shoulders to make sure they weren’t the next victim.
I couldn’t help but get swept up in the celebrations and got soaked myself heading to dinner, which turned out to be in a street full of revellers. The next day I decided to enlist.
Khao san seemed like it would be too crowded, so we opted for Silom instead, which as we found out is the gay capital of Bangkok. Part of it looked like a scene from the YMCA music video, and there were a couple of times we took a wrong turn, had our arms grabbed and had to make a run for it. For the most part though, Silom was full of all sorts of people, young and old. And everyone was having a blast.
People were packed all around the BTS (skytrain) station and along the main road. The crowd filed along the footpaths and side streets in two columns. Spraying random people as they walked by. The side of the road was lined by vendors selling water guns and water to refill. Many provided iced water, so that when you spray people it gives them a proper chill.
Everyone was totally soaked, so I figured to make any impact I’d have to adopt a special approach. I’d take note of who shot at me, calmly take the hit while making sure my gun was at full pressure, then deliver a high pressure burst of cold water into their ear or in between the eyes. Women and children were spared.
It was a two way street though. About half way into the day someone hit me with a massive blast of cold water to the back of the head and my neck seized up.
I hadn’t had that much fun in years though. And it made me realise how serious most of us are in day to day life. So caught up in our thoughts. I’ve noticed here in Thailand that the more I’m enjoying life, the less I think and the less I feel the need to write.
There’s nothing wrong with reflection, it’s a good thing. But when you’re enjoying the moment, what need is there for it? Reflection is useful in determining which turn to take next, not as a default mode. You can drive yourself nuts with too much of it. But we hold onto our refelctive and intellectual states so tightly. It’s like an addictive game that you just can’t turn off. Even if it makes you miserable.
Perhaps some of us are better than others at switching out into play mode, either via sport, dance or something else.
Besides that, I’m meeting some great people in Bangkok. Not just locals, but expats from all over Asia. I think in Australia we see ourselves too much as an island cut off from the Western world. The West though is not just in one place any more. It is a set of ideals shared by many around the world. And there are people in our region from places like Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Jakarta that are very much like us in Australia, both in terms of education and outlook. It’s such a pity that we are not more connected with the region.
We certainly are in practice, both in terms of trade and the flow of people. But culturaly and symbolically we are cut off, and that is a great shame. The 19th century belonged to Europe, the 20th to the US and the 21st to Asia. Right now, Asia is the place to be. Where all the action and growth is. Australia is part of Asia, how lucky we are! But we haven’t embraced it yet.
Well I’ve embraced it. Australia will forever be home. But what excites me is having a hand in the current of the region, from Nepal to Indonesia and everywhere in between.