Songkran - Love it or Hate it?

This will be the first time that I will be in Thailand for Songkran, I am planning to stay in BKK and have been told to avoid Pattaya any other places someone might recommend?

This will be the first time that I will be in Thailand for Songkran, I am planning to stay in BKK and have been told to avoid Pattaya any other places someone might recommend?

Songkran is something that you either dislike or enjoy. Pattaya for some reason celebrates Songkran more or less a week later than the rest of Thailand so if you are visiting Bangkok and Pattaya you can, depending on your journey dates, either avoid or get involved in both places. No one seems to stick to actual dates (start - finish) so if you are trying to avoid it altogether then I would change my holiday dates.

[Jellybean]

I was told that the best place to experience Songkran is Chiang Mai. So last year I booked in at the Lavender Lanna Hotel (not sure if it is still gay) which is a terrific location to watch all the crowds circle the old city walls. I was able to join the hotel staff, in-house go-go boys and lady boys out in the hotel forecourt and had easy access to huge buckets of water and water pistols. Some of the staff also used water hoses on the passing crowd! It was 4 days of madness! I canтАЩt remember laughing so much, I found it absolutely hilarious. It was like being a kid again. The hotel had also engaged some of the best DJs I have heard in Thailand to play music non-stop from around 10.00am to 10.00pm.

However, I do sympathise with quiet1, I can well understand his anger at having water poured over his rucksack which contained his laptop and having his clothes ruined. I suppose the rule of thumb is to stay off the streets during the peak hours and leave all valuables, including mobile phones at home. Although, having said that, I bought a plastic waterproof cover for my mobile which was widely available to buy on market stalls, along with various sized water pistols and rifles.

This sounds good. Heard so much about Songkran. Hope to be able to immerse in it when I'm there in April.

The most distressing thing about the Songkran period is the numbers of deaths and injuries from drunken driving and other drink related accidents which always run into four and five figure numbers. Check the local papers afterwards you will be amazed just how many.

[Beachlover]

I was told that the best place to experience Songkran is Chiang Mai. So last year I booked in at the Lavender Lanna Hotel (not sure if it is still gay) which is a terrific location to watch all the crowds circle the old city walls. I was able to join the hotel staff, in-house go-go boys and lady boys out in the hotel forecourt and had easy access to huge buckets of water and water pistols. Some of the staff also used water hoses on the passing crowd! It was 4 days of madness! I canтАЩt remember laughing so much, I found it absolutely hilarious. It was like being a kid again. The hotel had also engaged some of the best DJs I have heard in Thailand to play music non-stop from around 10.00am to 10.00pm.

Thanks, Jellybean... That sounds like it could be fun! I haven't experienced Songkran yet.

The most distressing thing about the Songkran period is the numbers of deaths and injuries from drunken driving and other drink related accidents which always run into four and five figure numbers. Check the local papers afterwards you will be amazed just how many.

This is a sad reality of celebrations in many Asian/developing cities.

When I landed in Vietnam for the first time, it was on the night of some big regional sporting event cup. Relatives warned me the last time Vietnam won this, they celebrated by burning cars etc. The match was in overtime when my plane touched down and the radio confirmed Vietnam won while I was in transit between the airport and hotel. My taxi driver took his hands off the wheel to express his joy and at the same time, the streets exploded with people running about celebrating! There were young guys riding around the streets all night waving giant red flags and letting off fire works.

The next morning I heard multiple people had died in accidents during the celebrations. Sucks huh?

[CoffeeBreak]

In Pattaya Songkran is an excuse for people to assault and injure others and get away with it. The hospitals and clinics are at their busiest dealing not only with the carnage on the roads but the thousands who become ill from foul and polluted water. In particular it is pathetic to see middle aged and elderly westerners "armed" with their water pistols(the plastic ones) living out deluded rambo fantasies spraying and chucking water on all and sundry. Also sad to see farang and thai dead- beats going out of their way to pour buckets of filthy water over people such as onto baht buses full of passengers.
The way Songkran is celebrated in Pattaya it is most certainly mainly for life's losers.

[colmx]

Songkran in Pattaya and many of the outlying cities is April 15 - 17th with the 17th being the worst day as it is Sunday.

Songkran in Pattaya is the 18th and 19th
The Madness will be in North pattaya on the 18th and will pretty must run through until sundown on the 19th

There will usually be an Issan concert on the night of the 18th that can get pretty boisterous!
And walking treet is usually open all night that night...

On the day of the 19th everybody gathers in their local area (eg. South pattaya) and parades their way to Jomtien over the course of the day

This will be the first time that I will be in Thailand for Songkran, I am planning to stay in BKK and have been told to avoid Pattaya any other places someone might recommend?

Songkran is something that you either dislike or enjoy. Pattaya for some reason celebrates Songkran more or less a week later than the rest of Thailand so if you are visiting Bangkok and Pattaya you can, depending on your journey dates, either avoid or get involved in both places. No one seems to stick to actual dates (start - finish) so if you are trying to avoid it altogether then I would change my holiday dates.

Thanks for your reply but I am here for at least 11 months.... I was hoping for a suggestion other than Bangkok or pattaya.

If you are resident in Thailand I don't think you can avoid it all together, if that is your intention. From my limited experience, it is least intrusive in Bangkok as long as you avoid some areas, like Silom. You should probably experience it once though, it can be fun.