How to escape songkran - any ideas please?

[FaranginPhetch]

But the lady up north of CM that had a bucket of cold water thrown at her that contained about a 2 or 3 kilo chunk of ice that ruined her brain upon impact with her skull does not think it is fun, well if she could think anymore that is,
Or the one who got the bucket over her head while she was riding in the back of a pickup, bucket tied to a rope and a guy holdnig the end of the rope and broke her neck and almost tore her head off.
No songkran is not fun..
If they had it is certain areas of town, like along one side of the moat for a mile or so and it was kept in that area, if you wanted to play, go into that area, id not stay out.
same with BKK, should have certain areas for it and certain places to stay and anyone that came out and started throwing water should get a 1 year prison term, it would only happen one time, but with the customary 100 baht fine that seems to be given for most infractions, it will continue as is.

[lenss]

Was in thailand for the 2005 water festival. Recall being bombarded with water while a passenger in a pickup. The talcum powder was on everyone. When we got tothe village I got out of the pickup and walked over to where a bunch of folks had gathered. I let them throw water on me and plaster me with powder. I then joined in.
Throwing water on other folks and yes, smearing them with powder. Stunning amount of beer was drunk by lots of folks. Seems all the relatives working in the south in factories showed up. 2 or 3 days of drinking and getting crazy. There was a time when the elderly folks, me included, were asked to sit down on a bench. About 7 of us. Then each person, about 20 of them, came past us , stopped for a moment, put some water and powder on us and said what I think was a word of happiness, and a wish for good fortune. No ice tho. Folks would have to buy it. And they prefer buying beer chang. It is a far cry from the water festival of the seventies. But, it is what it is. I thought of living in thailand at that time. rebuilt a house at a cost of $20,000. Took almost 3 months to build. But then, those feelings of the past. 1986, came back. Stayed there for about 9 months then. The perceived negatives about living in thailand were more than the perceived good things. As many posts by folks living in thailand can attest to. For me, I knew I had to vote with my feet. Left in Sept 05. Had to. Or I know i Would have gone seriously bonkers. Never will live in thailand again. Just visit.

[Sved]

If I dont remember wrong there were something like 50 dead and 500 injured, from the traffic, during Songkran 2006.

Of course many people are travelling during that week to see family etc but there are also lots of drunkdriving and freak accidents with watersplashing and such.

So some caution is advised.

[Richard Barrow]

It is something like 300 dead.

[Betti]

I have just learnt that we are getting an entire week off for songkran, so, with the two weekends, that adds up to 9 full days!

someone told me about the water splashing festival in Yunnan, same time as songkran, celebrated by the Dai minority. I'm researching it now. - has anybody been?
would be very nice to get out of Thailand.

[Richard Barrow]

I have just learnt that we are getting an entire week off for songkran, so, with the two weekends, that adds up to 9 full days!

They are a bit mean. I get a straight two months holiday from my school.

It would be nice to go somewhere different for the holidays. I haven't planned mine yet.

[Betti]

good for you. we all have to work 4 weeks summer school in April, and then back for two weeks in May to prepare for the new year (no kids during that time). we had 2 weeks off in October, 4 weeks now, and twenty-something national holidays during the year.

coming from Taiwan, where all you get is one week off for Chinese new year, and no summer holidays, no holidays, no nothing (ok, maybe there are 3 or 4 national holidays), this is heaven. there, you just drop half dead after a year and a half.

I was planning to go to Burma in March (have been planning forever) but my mother does not want to go - I think Angkor was the furthest I can ever drag her off into the "third world". so, a beach holiday in the south (including the Similans again!) and maybe Kanchanaburi in March.

would love to hear about your plans once you have them.

[billk]

someone told me about the water splashing festival in Yunnan, same time as songkran, celebrated by the Dai minority. I'm researching it now. - has anybody been?
would be very nice to get out of Thailand.

My colleague Lin, who is kon Szechuan, has been and said it's great. It's called the "Water Festival" and happens on the 3rd of March in the lunar calendar, which is always sometime in April. The Dai people all get together and they all carry a bucket of water for splashing each other with. Everybody is welcome to participate but it doesn't get out of hand. Sounds like a jai yen version of Songkran and maybe what Songkran used to be.

[Pailin]

Hey Betti, I'm sorry to be so late joining this thread. Yes, Songkran can be the pits. I would usually just hunker down at home... but can understand your wanting to travel. Have you considered going south to Malaysia? Recent threads on Langkawi have reminded me what an interesting place that is. ....with some historical connections to Thailand.

[Betti]

ok, I will summarise here what I have eventually found out about songkran (water festival) in Xishuangbanna (Sipsongpanna), Yunnan.

boats go from Chiang Saen to Jinghong on the mighty Mekong, leaving Mondays and Wednesdays, sometimes Fridays as well. they leave at 5a.m. and arrive 9p.m., found several reports saying they stopped somewhere for overnight and the boat company paid because they just couldnt make it.
boats come back to Chiang Saen on Tuesdays and Saturdays at the moment. days are constantly being changed, this is the latest as of February 14, 2008.
phone number: 084-0462827 (Juree)
ticket price: 4000 baht, including food and transport from guesthouse to boat.
no need to get a Lao or Myanmar visa!

the road from Huay Xai to Luang Namtha (Laos) has been completed, the bus takes 3-4 hours and the price is down to 55,000 kip. then on to the border and 4 more hours to Jinghong. so, now the entire trip from Chiang Mai to Jinghong can be done on paved road, but looks like it takes 2 days with border crossings. definitely good news for the China - Laos - Thailand overland route!

Thai Airlines fly from Chiang MAi to Kunming on Thursdays and Sundays, from BAngkok every day (via Chiang Mai on Thu and Sat). China Eastern also flies between Bangkok and Kunming. no direct flights to Jinghong though. the prices are all above 10,000 baht (11,400 for the Chiang Mai - Kunming return route, even though it is well under 2 hours to get there.) there are frequent flights from Kunming to Jinghong, or it is a two-day bus trip.

the water festival is THE big holiday in Jinghong, takes place the same time as Thailand (April 13-15) - as it is home to the Dai ethnic group. however, the water splashing only goes on for 1 day, the 14th. everything else sounds pretty much like songkran! very exciting.

I wish I could go but it won't work now. but I definitely want to try next year! I've been reading a lot about Yunnan and I got very interested.

it took me some 4-5 hours to find all this information and figure things out, so I am posting it here, might be useful to others searching the same key words as I did.