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Sawadee Pii Mai - Splash!
The Songkran Festival -
annual deluge, loved by some, actively avoided by others Text: Brian Hubbard
Images: SP
No-one stays dry
Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year
celebration. It marks the time when the sun
passes from the zodiac sign of Aries into Taurus and it
takes place on 13th, 14th and 15th of April every year.
Thais also celebrate the International New Year on 1st
January and the Chinese New Year, which usually
falls sometime in late February or early March.
Songkran is more significant for Thais though because it
also coincides with the time in between the harvesting
of the last rice crop and the sowing of the next one.
It's a period of relatively free time for farmers, so a
chance for people to let their hair down and celebrate
what has hopefully been a good harvest.
April is also, notionally, coming towards the end of
the dry months, another cause for celebration for having
survived the dry season, and a chance to show the gods
that they survived it well and with so much water to spare
that there's enough to throw around and have some fun
with. Interestingly, although Thailand is thought of as a
Buddhist country, Songkran isn't a Buddhist festival. It has its roots
in Brahmanism and Animism. The spirits of the land, water
and fertility are very important to farmers. they depend on
their benign benevolence for their continued existence,
so honouring and propitiating the spirit world is an
important part of life for rural folk.
Annual Songkran outing
Songkran has always been associated with water.
Traditionally, respects are paid to elder relatives and friends by
gently pouring a small amount of scented water over their hands or
on their shoulder while intoning a chant of blessings for the
coming year. It's also a time for 'spring cleaning' the house and washing
the household Buddha images with scented water. A fresh start for
a new year, in other words. In addition to these more
reverential ways of paying respect, water is also thrown around in
large amounts by everybody, at everybody.
The throwing of large amounts of water is something
that has developed over the years. Anthropologists have attempted
to explain it as 'sympathetic magic', in that as April is the hottest
month of the year, a time when water is most scarce, it's
deliberately squandered in an orgy of water-battles during Songkran as a
way of ensuring that the next rainy season will be a good one. It's
the same way in life really, if you try to hold on to something, the
chances are that by trying to hold on to it you'll lose it, but if you're
prepared to let it go then more will always come along. Thai people, up
until recently, had the same attitude to money. But when you come
down to it, Songkran is really all about sanuk - having fun and letting go.
It's the one time in the year when you can throw a bucket of water
over a policeman or your boss or the grouchy old man at the
corner shop, and stand there with a smile on your face and say
Sawadee pii mai and get away with it, more or less.
In spite of what may appear to be utter chaos and
a free-for-all, there are some Do's and Don'ts for
Songkran, which are more or less observed by most people. Some
of the do's are, if you do throw water over someone do it
with a good heart, jai dee, smile and wish them a happy new
year, sawadee pii mai. And when someone throws water
over you, keep a cool heart, jai yen, even if it's ice cold and
the shock takes your breath away, it's all in fun, accept it as
that. One of the most important don'ts would be, don't throw
buckets of water over elderly people, people carrying babies
and monks and nuns; treat them with respect. Another of
the don'ts would be that if you anticipate having a problem
with joining in the fun, then don't go out. Instead, get yourself
a stock of DVDs and enough food and drink, and stay at
home. If you are going to go out then the dress code for
Songkran is T-shirt (or, if you want to 'blend in' with the Thais, a
blue work shirt), a pair of shorts and your money in a plastic
bag. One of the drawbacks to wearing the blue work shirt,
however, is that the indigo dye is not fast. When you take it off
at the end of a day's water revelling you'll find you body
has gone blue. But don't worry. It washes off eventually.
Also, when you go out leave your watch, wallet, camera
and anything else you don't want to lose by 'drowning', in your
room. Another don't would be, don't ride your motorbike. A farang on a
bike is a prime target and a bucket of water in your face at 30 or
40 kliks an hour will hurt, and probably take you off. Also, if you're
in a car then lock all the doors and close the windows. It's not unknown for aqua-revellers to open car doors and
drench the hitherto dry occupants. Talking of motorbikes and
cars, the road accident rate is always very high over
Songkran; definitely a time when alcohol and water don't mix.
You're safer walking, but watch out crossing the road.
Another thing to be aware of is that while the actual Songkran
Festival itself is officially only three days, the water
throwing, especially out in the villages, will start anything up to
two weeks before that, and probably continue on for some
time after. Also, throwing water is only supposed to be
done during daylight hours, from dawn to dusk, but if you're
around the moat at the town centre, especially in the bars, on
any evening during Songkran, you're almost guaranteed to
get wet.
The wetter, the better
There is more to Songkran than just throwing
water. Every day there are processions along Thapae Road
of Buddha images from the wats, which people can
throw water over for good luck: boat races on the Ping River:
and there's something happening in Thapae Square every
evening. If you go to a wat early in the morning you'll see
people bringing sand into the compound. It's believed that this
brings health and prosperity, and the more sand the better.
They use the sand to build miniature chedi and then garland
them with flowers. For most Thais, Songkran starts early in
the morning with merit making; offering food to the monks,
releasing caged birds into the air, putting fish into the
river and paying homage to their ancestors' spirits.
So if you're the sort of person who enjoys downing
a few beers under a warm sun whilst throwing the
occasional bucket of water over passers-by, and watching
beautiful young Thai women parading around in wet T-shirts for
three or four days, then Songkran is just right for you.
Sawadee pii mai.
 Text © 2008 Brian Hubbard
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