My trip to Thailand started last week in Bangkok & coincided with the Songkran national holiday. Songkran is a water festival to celebrate the new lunar year. I was staying on the Kho San Road - a pretty busy place at the best of times, but during Songkran it was manic! Imagine the Nottinghill Carnival taking place on Carnaby Street & all the revellers armed with water pistols! Added to this watery mayhem are buckets of flour/talcum powder paste which people smear over fellow revellers, passers by & anything else that moves! No one is immune, but it all takes place with the utmost goodwill & friendliness. It seems the Thai people really know how to have a good time!
I have been wondering if this type of festival could happen anywhere else... Indonesia could certainly do with an event this jovial, but I think the people are too reserved. In England it might be a little too cold & I imagine that all too quickly it would turn violent. It's sad that I should make these assumptions - maybe you disagree?
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