New Year in Chiang Mai

We arrived in Chiang Mai on 12th April, on the overnight train from Bangkok. Our arrival co-incided with the start of Songkran, the Thai New Year, and Chiang Mai was a wet place to be! Thais celebrate Songkran with fervour and enthusiasm, and with liberal sprinklings of water. From what I've read about it, I understand that the water focus of the festival has its origins in sprinkling water over monks and elders, as a means of showing respect, but Songkran as it is celebrated now - or at least in Chiang Mai - has gone beyond the sprinkling of water over a select few. The main aim is to ensure that everyone gets wet; and not only partially wet but thoroughly soaked. People go out of their way to see to it that everything you are wearing or carrying is made as wet as possible - they do this with much humour and goodwill, and with determination. Water is not only sprinkled, it is thrown from buckets, squirted from water pistols and sprayed from hose pipes. Some aim for extra effect by adding ice to the water and this certainly provides shock value. Actually a bucket-full of lukewarm water in the face is quite a shock anyway and momentarily painful if it gets you full on, especially in the eye or across the ear. I know, because I got several hits like that!

Special pumps are installed in the moat in Chiang Mai in preparation for Songkran. The pavements on either side of the moat are lined with people armed with implements for the dispensation of water. As the photo shows, people lower buckets into the water. The street vendors pile their stalls high with plastic buckets and with water pistols in various colours and sizes. Elsewhere in the city, people stand outside shops and houses with oil drums full of water, or hose pipes.

Paul and I had decided to go and investigate the Night Bazaar on our first evening in Chiang Mai and. I had suggested earlier in the day that we should arm ourselves with water pistols if we were going out later on. Paul seemed reluctant at first (his teacher side was still to the fore at this stage I think!) but by the time we'd got 100 yards down the road we were both getting a bit wet and the streets were thronging with people by this time. We stopped and bought a small water pistol and a larger 'weapon' with a pump action which was filled from a handy water-carrier backpack. Paul was already carrying a backpack, so I took the larger weapon and acted as the advance guard, Paul following on behind with his pistol. Paul tells this event differently; in his version - which he of course illustrates with mimed actions and reactions - I took the offensive and he got all of the retaliatory soakings (he likes to tell this story) . In fact we were both soaked through before we even got halfway to the Night Bazaar! We were as wet as the people in the photo below.

I do wonder why this strange custom came about. Water is a cooling element and Thailand in April is very hot, so it does have a practical purpose. It's towards the end of the dry season too so perhaps serves the purpose of letting people vent frustrations whilst also acting as a precursor and celebration of the wet season to come. I've just googled 'Songkran' and found the following:

'Songkran is a Thai word which means "move" or "change place" as it is the day when the sun changes its position in the zodiac. It is also known as the "Water Festival" as people believe that water will wash away bad luck. [...] [It] provides the opportunity for family members to gather in order to express their respects to the elders by pouring scented water onto the hands of their parents and grandparents and to present them gifts including making merits to dedicate the result to their ancestors. The elders in return wish the youngsters good luck and prosperity. In the afternoon, after performing a bathing rite for Buddha images and the monks,the celebrants both young and old, joyfully splash water on each other. The most-talked about celebration takes place in the northern province of Chiang Mai where ... people from all parts of the country flock there to enjoy the water festival, to watch the Miss Songkran Contest and the beautiful parades.'

Songkran is celebrated over four days, from the 12th to the 15th April. Before we left Bangkok, we had booked to do a three-day trek from Chiang Mai, from 13th to 15th. As we discussed with our fellow trekkers, this was probably a good decision as it wouldn't have been possible to do much in Chiang Mai, or at least not without getting wet.