What are you doing for Songkran?

[cdnmatt]

So what are all you eventful folks doing for Songkran? Going to go play water, maybe you have a truck to drive your BF and friends around in, maybe heading with your BF to his village, maybe shlter yourself inside to avoid the mania, maybe head out of country, or???

I'm just hanging out here with my dogs by myself. Won't even know Songkran is going on except the 10 mins a day I maybe need to goto a local shop to grab something. We did out supply runs before he left, so I'm fine with this.

How about you? Going to celebrate?

[Nirish guy]

Well, I'm stuck ( have happily decided) to stay here in Ireland over Songkran this year, however being Songkran I'm still aware that some water should be involved so, my BF and I have just chartered the boat below and intend spending four days cruising the beautiful Shannon Waterways here in Ireland - and if anything gets wet other than the bottom of my hopefully very large gin glass I'll be most disappointed ! :-)

Enjoy Songkran everyone, I'll be thinking of you all - or not..... :-) Oh and as my boat trip will be costing me literally way less than a TENTH of what my usual songkran trip might cost me to say I'm doubly pleased about that would be an understatement too this year :-)

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[Oliver]

One of the few times of the year when I'm pleased to be away from Thailand. Much of my time will be spent worrying about P.'s safety on Thailand's carnage-stricken roads as he visits his temple in Bangkok.....junta permitting.

[Marsilius]

Having had more than enough of songkran madness in previous years, my husband and I (echoes of Elizabeth Windsor!) will be holed up in the Dusit Thani, Pattaya, for the duration, though we might risk a taxi both ways to eat out once or twice.

Once all the watery shenanigans are over, we plan to decamp to an apartment in Jomtien to resume a more conventionally normal round of Pattaya activities.

[fountainhall]

I'm with Marsillius. Too many years of fun-filled watery madness when once a young cutie on Silom knocked off my spectacles with his massive water gun when shooting at me sideways (goodness, that could certainly be interpreted in a very different way!) We live in a quiet residential district and sre perfectly happy just to be holed up at home with occasional ventures down to the pool and thereafter to the wine cooler for a cheeky little sauvignon blanc.

[Aux1010]

Fortunately / unfortunately I won't make it back to Thailand until August this year, so will just have to consume a lot of water in the form of beer / cider / wine / rum and bourbon instead. To be honest, although it does look like a bit of fun and even though I'm probably half the age of many posters here (so could potentially be perceived to be more attracted to the whole scenario), as a bit of an introverted person Songkran definitely does not appeal to me personally!!

[frequent]

As Jesus said (at this time of the year, too) "I can't hang around here all day."

I'm in Sydney - the best place to enjoy Songkran in Thailand

[Andaman!]

Nirish guy - That vessel is registered in Toulouse in France and the photo looks remarkably like Castelnaudary on the Canal du Midi. Definitely not Irish architecture. Have TUI Le boat now had her shipped to the Shannon? I've always wanted to charter on the Shannon. Have a great trip.

[cdnmatt]

Geez, bunch of party poopers here. Actually, I can understand if you're somewhere like Pattaya. I only did Songkran once in Pattaya, and it was my first Songkran experience. Was a great fun filled day, but basically just one big, dumb party, and you don't really get the vibe it's New Years.

Khon Kaen is a little different, and you do seem to get that New Years vibe from everyone, or at least most people.

Speaking of this, anyone ever do Songkran in a small Issan village? That's quite the surreal experience, eh? I'll never forget that pickup truck slowly pushing about 200 people around the streets of the village, while blasting Issan music from loud speakers.

I would go play water, but not happening. Would actually have been awesome to play water with Leo, but instead I made sure he's back in Laos, and I know that's what he wanted too. No point in him hanging out with me, as that's no fun. Oh well, I'm perfectly happy hanging out with the dogs, will cook up some nice dinners for us, chill out with some whisky and good tunes, and get some work done. Good enough for me. :)

PS. God damn, I'm getting good at this typing thing. I'm almost back at full speed now. :)

[francois]

PS. God damn, I'm getting good at this typing thing. I'm almost back at full speed now. :)

It's a miracle! Praise the Lord.

[arsenal]

Ditto to Francois post. Matt, can I place my order for five loaves and two small fishes with you? Express delivery?

[fountainhall]

Express delivery? Don't you remember that those consumables fed 5,000? Are you paying C.O.D.? Hope you have a ton of grey notes to pay for it.

[francois]

What am I doing for Songkran?

Going home, going home
I am going home
Quiet like, some still day
I am going home.

[bobsaigon2]

When I watch Libera singing that.....somehow my thoughts drift to the corporeal realm.

[Nirish guy]

Ha Andaman youre very observant and I also assume correct as as my trip doesn't start until tomorrow for the Easter break I'd lifted those pics straight from the Le Boat website ( which is how our local boat charter company brand themselves in Europe I believe).

I'm guessing that they must have multiple boats of the same model across their boat yards around Europe as I see the same boats are listed for hire by them from several of their locations.

As I said I'm departing tomorrow morning for my trip so I'll be sure to check that very fact just for my own interest too actually. I normally hire from companies here in Northetn Ireland sailing on the Erne waterway and I can't believe just how cheap this company is knocking out their boats for for sailing from Portunma and Carrick on Shannon. This particular boat is I know certainly old and right at the bottom of their quality offering but in this case as there's only myself and my BF going it'll fit our needs perfectly.

Believe it or not I was actually able to rent that boat ( excluding fuel and insurance) for the grand sum of only £245 for three nights !!!

The guy in the Le Boat call centre in England who handled the booking actually apologised for having to put the price UP too as "it was Easter" as apparently it normally only costs £180 !! and that's for a SIX berth boat - what a brilliant cheap weekend away for a crowd of guys :-)

I'm so looking forward to my trip and as my Asian BF HATES being on the water at any level I've already had great fun telling him he'd better practice his best "never give up Jack" lines from the film Titanic as Leo De Caprio drifted away into the depths as his lover floated away on a door panel leaving him to it lol - as you can imagine that imagery didn't go down so well with him :/)

[Nirish guy]

On that note wouldn't you have thought what with jesus's disciples all apparently being fishermen that he would have been a bit more supportive of his local fishing industry and made it 5 fish and 2 loaves as opposed to the other way about - hmm, with friends like that who needs enemies eh !! Perhaps that explains why Judas did what he did - the man "obviously" was still holding a grudge due to the lack of fish promotion that jesus got involved with it seems !!

[fountainhall]

Has anyone any update on the Bangkok festivities on day 2 of Songkran? Have they been any more muted than on day 1? The government had requested a toning down of celebrations because of mourning for the late King. I wonder if there has been any evidence of that.

[Nirish guy]

From a farang friend who's there in the thick of it in Silom for the duration I asked him the question and he said that if anything today ( Saturday) was busier certainly than the day before, but I guess as Sunday will still be the main event it's yet to be seen will it be curtailed in anyway - but personally I doubt it !

[cdnmatt]

Ditto to Francois post. Matt, can I place my order for five loaves and two small fishes with you? Express delivery?

Ummm, I'm assuming this has some reference to Christianity? Sorry dude, but I learned from a young age religion is bullshit. I think I was 8 when my grandparents dragged me to a church one day pon Christmas Eve. The minister sat all us kids down, then proceeded to telll us that "dog" spelt backwards is "god", hence Snoopy from Charlie Brown cartoons is God for some reason. It was the stupidest fucken thing I ever heard in my life, and is when I realized religion just ain't for me. :)

[fountainhall]

I guess as Sunday will still be the main event it's yet to be seen will it be curtailed in anyway - but personally I doubt it !
I'm curious about the reference to Sunday. The water splashing in Bangkok is normally reserved only for the first two days - i.e. Thursday and Friday. I've often walked around on the 3rd day and seen almost no water at all! What makes it different this year?

[Nirish guy]

Andaman - I got our answer - yes they have exactly the same class of boat ( and many others) here on the Shannon too.

I'm currently trying to work out how to post a pic from my mobile but if I can't figure that I'll do so on my return.

[Marsilius]

Easter Sunday afternoon update:

With no sign of songkran mayhem visible from our Dusit Thani balcony overlooking Beach Road, Pattaya, we gingerly stepped outside the grounds. Within just a minute we'd encountered three young kids with water guns, a wringing-wet male farang (gun-less - an innocent victim?) climbing off a songtaew and a young Thai woman looking utterly wet and pissed off. They all reminded us why we are staying here until things quieten down in a few days. We re-entered the hotel grounds within two minutes of leaving.

[justaguy]

I love Songkran and was able to experience it both in Laos and Thailand. I spend the good part of three days on Silom 4. With trips to Sake and Welcome.

The last day was especially crazy on silom 4. Got groped many times on my way from telephone and the end of the street for a cigarette. Finally I fucked one persistent groper in the toilet, he was eager to see me again yesterday, but I have no time. Later at Welcome had another guy eager to fuck, but since my boyfriend joined me, I declined.

At Sake got jacked off in the toilet. Songkran, best period of the year :)

[justaguy]

Has anyone any update on the Bangkok festivities on day 2 of Songkran? Have they been any more muted than on day 1? The government had requested a toning down of celebrations because of mourning for the late King. I wonder if there has been any evidence of that.

At silom, the last day party over around 8 pm.

[justaguy]

I'm curious about the reference to Sunday. The water splashing in Bangkok is normally reserved only for the first two days - i.e. Thursday and Friday. I've often walked around on the 3rd day and seen almost no water at all! What makes it different this year?

Always three days. Only last year it was only two days due to the draught of last year. And even last year, whilst silom was back to normal, lower sukhumvit was water throwing as usual.

[cdnmatt]

And Songkran is over, fuck yeah!That means honey is coming home tonight. ::)

Still debating whether or not to get some shrimp. He loves shrimp, but will be absolutely pissed if he shows up and I'm cooking shrimp for him. Maybe I'll see if I can hunt down a kid in this area who wants to make a quick 200 baht to goto the market for me.
000

[christianpfc]

...except the 10 mins a day I maybe need to goto a local shop to grab something. We did out supply runs before he left, so I'm fine with this.
I have seen blind people walk the street, so I will let this pass as cdnmatt being a quick learner (from normal vision to blind and doing shopping by himself in less than a year).


Still debating whether or not to get some shrimp. He loves shrimp, but will be absolutely pissed if he shows up and I'm cooking shrimp for him.
But cooking blind, I have never heard of that before!

[cdnmatt]

Quit being an idiot Christian. For example, on Masterchef US season 3 I think it was, Chritine went out to win the entire competition, and she'd blind as a bat. She won it though, including $250,000 USD, her own cookbook, and now even has her own cooking show on cable TV.

Besides, I really don't give a fuck right now because Songkran is over, so my honey will be back in a few hours probably. :)

"oooohhhh, baby, I love your way, everyday". :)

[Nirish guy]

So Andaman as it seems I AM indeed useless at posting pics from my mobile, I've just arrived home so pic or two as promised - just for your info should you ever wonder they actually have three lake class cruisers there ( some pics below) plus a wide range of other bigger and better classes of boat too should that be what's needed. The lake class certainly suited our needs perfectly and I'm glad to say and we made it back in one piece and without any drama - unlike the tosser on the HUGE boat who left at the same time as me and really played up his sailing credentials and was always to be found with his head in some chart or other and / or practicing his knots at the quayside etc - only for him to run aground and all within 100 metres of leaving the pontoon ! :-)) Devine justice I say for him getting on like a total prat all weekend ! :-) Pics below ( hopefully)

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[Smiles]

" ... Pics below ( hopefully) ... "



Nice try, but a bit of a mess. This is somewhat better, but you apparently hosted/pasted such small images that it's a bit blurred when blowing it up even a little bit.




http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/boat1_zpsj9d0kik6.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v18/sawatdeephotos/boat2_zps8vhoftn9.jpg

[scottish-guy]

Alas, poor NIrish! I knew him, Horatio: he went from 5 times a night to 5 miles an hour!

Requiescat In Pace.

:eek:

[Nirish guy]

Ha alas I can only confirm that that is indeed true - on several levels ! :-)

My boating trip was certainly fun but as Skipper I should have factored in a few key facts first before casting off the lines - firstly that my 26 year old Asian BF had never been on a small boat before never mind acted as first mate, cook and bottle washer, so when I was guiding us in to moor against a pontoon in a somewhat brisk wind and us blowing off sideways I SHOULD have explained to him about how cleats work and how just running a rope around one once, then not securing it and instantly walking away to the other way ( as the first one instantly came off again and almost blew us into other boats) wasn't great - and after me (perhaps) shouting "GRAB THE BLOODY ROPE' ( before it became wrapped around my propellor) I received a 26 year old reply of "fuck this, I can't do this, I don't like it, I'm not doing this anymore" ! - Thankfully he realised my 'Just grab that Effing rope" was more important and we got away with it.

Likewise and oh more of the joys of dating a younger guy as the next day and at his request I intentionally moored us on an isolated island away from any pubs ( on Easter Monday no less ! ) we went for a nice long forest walk, however my temper was then tested as after walking him round an old Abbey and church building and my pointing out a load of "interesting" facts and showing him gravestones that were over 400 years old I then stood and watched him take his hundredth "instagram" shot of "me in an Abbey`' and "me at an old gravestone" etc and when I finally cracked and said " Here. come LOOK at this as you haven't even read one of these inscriptions yet" I got a 'Look I'm on snapchat and sending my friend these pics, I just don't care about that stuff ( that he was happily snap chatting away pics of himself "looking at! " Grrr - so apparently the younger generation is all about being SEEN to care and look smart but not ACTUALLY give a fuck - hmm ok, lesson learned......

Or then him later that same night returning back to boat ( to pick up his camera of course) and then losing the entire keys to both the main door and also the engine starter key of the boat ( ( which was attached to a massive floating ball thing making it almost impossible to loose - unless you're Asian it seems !) with him then being dispatched to follow his footsteps to find them - so, after 30 minutes of no joy I then started to get texts saying how it was all of course MY fault as I should have known to take the keys off him as I should have KNOWN that he was going to loose them ! So then as he hadn't found them I too started retracing our steps and of course found the keys sitting on a wall right beside where we were sat and where he'd already checked and walked straight past not 20 minutes earlier ! SO, yes that was all my faulty too it seems ( he didn't get away with that argument for long though I assure you !)

So, yes, our trip WAS fun and no one died, but it DID remind me that I AM dating a 26 year old ASIAN guy - so as I've said before - be careful what you wish for guys as sometimes reality can be a bit TOO real and maybe being in Pattaya playing water just may have been the easier option all round - oh and to top it all, I didn't even get a bloody shag the entire trip and was in bed (exhausted from the fresh air and so quite happy about that ) by about 11pm each evening !! :-) Alas I'm a mere shadow of my former self it seems ! Mind you, I'm going to Bkk, Pattaya and Bali alone in July so I've a funny feeling I might be ok again and full recovered again by then I think :-)

[scottish-guy]

Ah the constant taking of pics of everything from a fucking sandwich (which first has to be carefully placed to its best artistic advantage, with any accompaniments such as a glass of coke tastefully arranged around it) rings a bell. I recently spent 10 days experiencing that.

Not only that but I got driven into the countryside to hang about whilst a hired professional photographer took about 250 photographs of said BF in various artistic poses (for no good reason that I could discern) - which together with hiring the photographer and the travel, took up half a day which I'd rather have spent drinking beer. No doubt as a sop it was insisted I be in about 20 of these photographs which (when I saw the results) frankly just spoiled the other 230

:D

[Nirish guy]

To be fair the photography of food thing along with as you say the careful placing of all thought to be important items around it ( except me usually) is such a daily part of our lives I hardly even notice it now and actually find myself setting up the shot for him as I set his food down in front of him this days ! Thankfully as a lot of them are also captioned "dinner prepared for me by my wonderful BF" etc and as he does post pics of me occasionally I don't mind as I'm waiting someday on walking into a bar in the SE Asia only to hear - AHHHH you're that great cook ( I'm not) / super BF ( even less so) from Ireland - come here immediately as I must SO just fuck you at once ( fine says I as it would be bad manners not too !)

[christianpfc]

...on Masterchef US season 3 I think it was, Chritine went out to win the entire competition, and she'd blind as a bat. She won it though, including $250,000 USD, her own cookbook, and now even has her own cooking show on cable TV.
Indeed. I wouldn't even have thought of googling "blind cook", but now that you beat me to it, here she is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_H%C3%A0
Learn something new every day.

[arsenal]

NIrish: If you think that a few (filched) pics of some boats and a couple of photos of some food somewhere are going to satisfy Minimee that you were actually cruising down the Shannon then you've got another think coming. Minimum requirement is at least 3 receipts, mooring fee slips, booking confirmation e-mails, telephone records and a small piece of cloth from inside the boat. Thank you in advance for your co-operation in this matter.

[scottish-guy]

I had to smuggle a fucking thistle in my knickers all the way to Thailand so it could be photographed sticking out a check bin @ Oscars - how come NIrish gets off so lightly?

[arsenal]

Because Inch High Private High Minimee wants to present a kinder, sweeter and fluffier image to his legions of supporters on this board and beyond.

[Nirish guy]

Alas I fear the fly in the ointment here might be that I could care less as to what anyone thinks, cares or believes as to whether I was in fact there or not as I'm guessing that as far as holidays go that floating down the Shannon River isn't exactly high on many people's bucket lists!

I do actually have most if not all of the items listed as required above all to hand as presentable evidence should they be needed but unfortunately due to my above lack of giving a fuck as to what others such as MM think unfortunately I fear that they won't be being presented anytime soon :-)

I do on the other hand have a few pairs of used and totally wet through soiled and soggy underwear that I could take photographs of and post but as that would just back up a fairly normal dull weekend here I'm not quite sure what's to be gained from that .....perhaps if I'd a pic of those said items with me wearing them AND whilst wearing a Captains hat ringing a ships bell maybe that would suffice?? If so I'll be sure to get right on that straight away now..... or not ;-)

[arsenal]

You've been here long enough to know the rules NIrish. All soiled and soggy underwear should be sent to Sexual Deviant Latin.

[cdnmatt]

Alas I fear the fly in the ointment here might be that I could care less as to what anyone thinks, cares or believes as to whether I was in fact there or not as I'm guessing that as far as holidays go that floating down the Shannon River isn't exactly high on many people's bucket lists!

I do actually have most if not all of the items listed as required above all to hand as presentable evidence should they be needed but unfortunately due to my above lack of giving a fuck as to what others such as MM think unfortunately I fear that they won't be being presented anytime soon :-)

I do on the other hand have a few pairs of used and totally wet through soiled and soggy underwear that I could take photographs of and post but as that would just back up a fairly normal dull weekend here I'm not quite sure what's to be gained from that .....perhaps if I'd a pic of those said items with me wearing them AND whilst wearing a Captains hat ringing a ships bell maybe that would suffice?? If so I'll be sure to get right on that straight away now..... or not ;-)

Nope, you posted it on SGT, so now you're in for it. We need scanned reciepts, photos of you and your BF on the boat, your bank manager's contact details so we can call and confirm the payment, at least 5 signatures on a form that you get notorized, etc.

hehm just kidding. Hope you had a great time out there. :)

[Nirish guy]

At the miserly prices he pays !? No way ! I can get 5 times that much on eBay thank you very much !

[christianpfc]

Back to the OP. I spent 3 days of Songkran in Kanachanaburi, where it is celebrated only lightly. Only a few stray drops of water (aimed at someone else) hit me.

But it's not just the three days of Songkran that are to be avoided in the future. Shops take holiday before and after, and even on Sunday shopping in Klong Toey market was poor because half of the shops were still closed. On Tuesday I found a restaurant I wanted to go to still closed for Songkran. Outrageous!

An entire week, or even 10 days, is spoiled.

[Nirish guy]

An entire week, or even 10 days, is spoiled.

For you, but maybe not the Thai's of course who are at home enjoying holiday time with their families - how DARE they not consider us Farang in their planning quality family away from their businesses - it's outrageous !

[Manforallseasons]

Frankly, I detest Songkran and I could care less what the people do during this "holiday" but rather than harp on it I leave every Songkran and return when the worst of it is over.

[cdnmatt]

Why not just do a supply run, and hang out at home for a week? This year, I didn't even know Songkran happened. Granted I generally wait until close to midnight to go to the store when I need something, because less traffic that way.

It's not hard to get stocked up, and stay inside for a few days though. Or maybe I'm just really boring.

[Manforallseasons]

This time my escape from Songkran was to Hanoi....And a pic of my first Cummunist Hamburger.

[Nirish guy]

Being a communist Burger does that mean that everyone is entitled to a bite then or what ?

[Smiles]

"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"

I wonder whether ManForAllSeasons has checked out his 'Signature' (above) with cndmatt?