Songkran 13th - 15th April

Not to be confused with a very popular and inexpensive Thai whiskey, Songkran is Thai New Year.
Love it or hate it it is going to happen and many expats here are already planing their escape.
For 3 days if you are lucky and 5 if you are not, the streets will be full of happy fun people drowning each other with water.

Traditionally a time for children to return home and pay respect to their Parents and bring gifts, big family feasts and visits to the temple.
People go to a Wat to pray and give food to monks. They also clean Buddha images in temples with water and gentle Thai perfume, as it is believed that this will bring good luck and prosperity for the New Year. In many cities, such as Chiang Mai the Buddha statues from all of the Wat's in the city are paraded through the streets so that people can wash them as they pass by. People carry handfuls of sand to their temple to in order to recompense the dirt that they carry away on their feet during the rest of the year. The sand is then piled into large, tiered piles and decorated with colorful flags. Later in the day, people also do community services. Going to Wat and doing community service teach people to give, the most basic way to happiness in Buddhism.

Traditionally lustra water, see wikipedia.com, is this a Betty quiz?, was poured over the hands or the shoulder in a calm and gentle fashion to show respect. Over the years and probably with the asistance of foreigners taking it one step beyond, Thailand is now the annual host to the worlds largest and longest water fight. Outside of just about every home and shop there will be barrels of water and people with buckets and water pistols aiming at anyone they can. From around 7am to 6pm the place is literally awash with fun and antics. Families fill up the pick up trucks with barrells and drive around and hoards of motorcycles with water pistols, it is very dangerous as many come off their bikes due to the extremely slippery surface.

Around the moat in chiangmai every inch is taken up with people selling food, drink and blocks of ice. The ice is for the barrels of water not the drinks, as it seems the colder the water the more fun it is to get people, how cruel?

It doesn't matter if you are young or old in shorts or on your way to work in a suit if you are not in a covered car with your windows closed, you are considered fair game and you are going to get WET. People even run up behind the red two bench buses and throw water inside!

One day of play can be fun but 3 gets a bit much.

Do's: wear shorts, buy the biggest water pistol you can, wrap mobile phones and wallets cameras etc in a plastic bag and do not get them out in the street, only use waterproof cameras and videos preferably waterproof to 2000 ft! Have fun.

Dont's: Try to avoid riding a motor bike during the day as it is extremely dangerous with many deaths each year, just because your a foreigner isn't going to get you off the hook, in fact i think it's more points!
Do not get upset about getting wet, it is a local tradition and it would only spoil peoples fun, if you want to stay dry STAY INDOORS.

Having said all that it is fun and everybody shares, if you have run out of water there will be plenty of offers to fill you back up, it is very community spirited and you will be made to feel more than welcome.
Have fun, be safe be happy and share.