BootsnAll Travel Network



happy (thai) new year!

every year from april 13th through april 15th in thailand, chaos breaks loose on the streets. you may think everyone’s gone mad, but really it’s a celebration of the thai new year, also known as songkran. we were lucky enough to be in bangkok for this crazy water festival this year.


me after attempting to catch a motobike taxi on the last day of songkran:
i got songkran-ed!

people pile into the backs of pickup trucks and cruise the streets, looking to dump buckets of water (sometimes mixed with a powder or clay) onto passersby:
songkran in bangkok

and other people line the streets with hoses and buckets, dancing and trying to shoot the cars that drive past. some are in costume, and others are wearing almost nothing.

this one girl looked like she was wearing a lasagna noodle:
songkran in bangkok

while waiting to hail a cab (and dressed in our finest, as we were on our way out to dinner to celebrate our last night in bangkok) we got soaked by a group of kids on the street! at first, it was just one little boy that ran over and dumped a bucket of water all over me, catching jess in the back, and leaving eric completely dry. then the kid ran back to their side of the street while we looked in vain for a passing cab, and suddenly six or seven of them ran over with water guns and buckets to splash us. a little girl shot me with her gun, then just stood there holding it up at me.

what was i supposed to do? of course, i grabbed it and turned it right back at her! haha.

and just in the nick of time, our cab pulled up to rescue us and take us safely off to our last massage at healthland, followed by a beautiful teppanyaki dinner at drinks with a view at vertigo. what a way to celebrate!! and it really was magical – the smog and heat that i’d been used to in bangkok faded away and in the evening we could even see – get this! – stars in the bangkok sky. yes, starS. there were two. =) ahhhhh, thailand. we’ll miss you.

we'll miss you, thailand!



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5 responses to “happy (thai) new year!”

  1. Mom says:

    What an interesting tradition?! Must feel good to cool off in the hot heat though?:)

  2. kim says:

    ooohhhhh…..those kids would’ve GOT IT from me!!! HAHA. have fun in singapore! =)

  3. wisa says:

    OMG I would have worn a noodle too!!!

  4. cousin says:

    man… talk about fun!!! shesh i need a vacation!!!

  5. […] just for me in hoi an, vietnam 12 – slurped down some snake blood in hanoi, vietnam 14 – got covered with water at the songkran festival in thailand 22 – visited singapore’s fish spa, complete with […]

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