The Difference a Year Can Make?

April 13th is Songkran, northern Thailand’s biggest holiday of the year. It is the old new year – before January 1st was adopted – and includes 3 official days off (this year: Thursday, Friday, and Monday).

Songkran is sometimes called a "national water fight" because one of its most noticeable traditions is the throwing of water. In the olden days, scented water was used to gently give a blessing to elders or others in your community. Over the years, the custom morphed so that now, rural the days preceeding Songkran in rural northern Thailand, you must pack your cell phone and wallet carefully in plastic bags whenever you leave the house.

Last year, Robert and I were not big Songkran fans. It occurred shortly after we had arrived at our site. We thought we were supposed to be trying to "work," and here was this blazing hot town filling up with loud music and squirtguns shooting off the backs of pickup trucks. We were prepared for the worst again this year, and instead have been somewhat confused – but relieved – that we have been able to sleep for the last several nights after all, and that the public drunkenness which bothered us so much last year is much less visible this time around.

We are a little unsure as to the reasons for the change. Could it be that our town really is having a quieter Songkran this year? Or that, as our neighbor speculated this afternoon, fewer people came home from Bangkok this time, so there is less traffic all around? Or that the house next door is not having the giant 3-day party they had last year? Or could it be that because we now have a year of experience under our belts, with Songkran 2005 being such a defining point of that experience, the things that once bothered us greatly now seem really quite small. Perhaps just knowing what to expect made all the difference.

Although Annie left this morning (sniff), she was able to observe some of the festivities of the past several days. Yesterday we went for a bike ride around town, and not only were we spashed by many kids with buckets, but when we stopped to buy noodles at one of my favorite shops, several of my students as well as the proprietor enjoyed smearing wet white powder on our faces. I’ll say one thing for water-throwing: when it’s 100 degrees in the shade, it sure does keep you cool!