AraiGordai in Thailand

missing the water fight

i probably will participate in sonkran water festival even if i'm old n grey, as long as i have strength to squirt a water gun i would.

since the first year i've been back to thailand i would get very excited about songkran just as i did when i was a little kid. there's so much fun and i loved it then, still do now. but this is the first year that i didn't get to participate in water fight during songkran festival.

i went to samet island to do photo shoot and web update for the client's resort. this seems to be the only time i can find to do this as the interior construction work stop during this time. i thought i could just go to samet for 2 days, take the pictures then go to Klung for songkran, then later do the web stuff. but i end up loosing my phone which makes it difficult to contact my family in klung, and the update work is a bit more than i antipipated. anyhow, i end up speding 4 days in samet. I also had my computer gear with me, i certainly don't want to get it wet. so this year, i didn't get to play, but i did get to talk to a lot of the people who didn't care so much for it.

Some girls said they just don't like songkran, and they think it is dirty and degrading to woman. It is one of those time that men takes advantages of woman by touching them.. this is in many ways true, and there are also woman who do enjoys getting that kind of attention and do like the fact that they feel sexually desired by men around them. for me, i think it is mainly how you positioned yourself in the scene and the message you are sending out. It maybe wise to use common sense to evaluate 'where', and 'what' choice of cloth to be in ( there's different type of message advertised when you wear skin-tight white thin t-shirt compared to a darker or multi color loose clothing) more importantly, the 'who' you are there with. i know one of the point of going out is to also meet with new people, but it would be safe to go with somone you know that you can run to if shit happens.

Now if you don't have friends and just walk on skimpy wet t-shirt heading towards a bunch of drunk boys with loud music on, it is most likely you will be greeted with aggressive sexual approaches. During our crazy water fight days, we took the girl friends on the truck rides and they simply had one heck of a good time. i know that men have much more flexibility during songkran, but i think there are just as many woman who brought along the right attitude to have fun. and there are also those who will enjoy staying home and enjoy more quite time with the family.

the sad part is the bitter people that hates songkran and feel like they are trapped at home and not able to go out. i just think maybe they don't have a group of friends to tag along for a good time. That being said, there are always sad, nasty, scary side to everything. so it depends on which situation you want to pick to make such impression, but for me, i will take the best of what has songkran water festival has to offered - instant ego wash, the wide non pretentious smile and laughter.

Last year, i went back to my mom's hometown to join the festival. Like most small town, songkran water fight only goes on one day, and people from all around the region would come in to play. The days for klung was on the 15th of august. the 16th and 17th would be for the next province down south.. So caravan of water warriors would hop on a pickup truck and play until they are sick of it.

I went to klung last year to both play and take picture of the scene. To see men, woman young and old from all types of work splashing water at each other is just priceless. Because I do know some of these townies as i did do part of the growing up here, I also know that some of these neighbors don't have much reason to interact. To see them spraying water at each other and giggling is something. In a normal circumstances, each has got their own lives to attend, and what, in any other day would triggered such joyful interaction. there are simply no reason to. many of us even think that we can do just fine without having to deal with each other. one probably had to evaluate the potential benefit and risk of getting to know more people before doing so. All that careful, thoughtful, fearful (paranoid?) precaution simply gets washed down the drain together with the bulk of water that lands spashed on their body. for that miraculous day, everyone in town is friendly. when is that possible without songkran? how could i miss witnessing something like this.

all the seven years that i've been back to thailand i always had so much fun with the water fight. riding the back of pickup trucks, hanging on to your big tank of water - and ice of course. we go round and round till water goes out then continue on at night (if we are in bangkok) to clubs that allow water fight. this goes round and round for a few days and even with the ruetinal "vitamin c Dope", some of us would still cath a flue, and just call it a day. i mean a holiday.

posted by AraiGordai @ 10:38 PM