Tuesday 14 April 2009

Songkran 2009 on Koh Samui

Songkran 2009 on Koh Samui

The Songkran edition of 2009 on Koh Samui was a fun affair, once more, just like last year! A good moment to forget about the more serious stuff happening in Bangkok!



Songkran 2009

In the morning we drove around a bit with our car and our children packed inside. This was around 11 am and it was slow goings at that time of the day. We went home and I enjoyed standing at the roadside with my children and throwing water at the occasional lost car or motorbike.

Party time in Chaweng
With my daughter and her cousin, we went to see friends in a bar in Bang Rak, it was definitely busier here, compared to our street and we hung out for a while. It was here that me and Bas decided that it was time to visit Chaweng.
Off we went, after bringing my daughter and her cousin home first.
Baby powder fights galore

Chaweng was steaming by the time we hit town, around 3.30 pm. Long traffic jams leading into the one way system that is always installed for Songkran, but worthwhile the wait for the party revellers. In front of Soi Green mango was absolute party mayhem and loads of water and alcohol flowed freely, although the alcohol bit had to be paid for!
By 6 pm when I left, there was still a very long traffic jam leading into Chaweng, although the party by that time had subsided a bit already.

Always time to pose for a picture

Baby powder fights, cold, iced down water fights (brrrr) and coloured baby powder were everywhere and an ambush was not unheard of.
All day long I saw one single , luckily minor incident, where a car driver lost his patience in front of Soi Green mango and accelerated, endangering party goers. His car was attacked by upset people and he barely escaped, hitting the side walk again a 100 meters further down the road.

A good day was had by all I met and the picture above shows that no one escapes the water fights.
A good thing though that the water fights on Koh Samui are confined to just one day, in contrast to places like Khao San road in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pattaya, where the party rolls on for 3 or 4 days. A tad bit too much for my liking.
See you next year at Songkran 2010.
Camille

5 comments:

Mike said...

Hi Camille glad you are enjoying the party. Looks fun but as you say I think one day is enough. The white paste makes a right mess of the motor!

Camille Lemmens said...

It was fun but it's also getting out of hand. This era Songkran has little to do anymore with the origins of the event!

Watch out for the white powder, time to clean the cars and bikes thoroughly after the party, otherwise your paint may suffer.

BJJ said...

Was te heftig!

Camille said...

Maar wel leuk!

Angel said...

Everybody in the pictures looks like there are having their good time at Songkran.