Thais celebrate New Year with lots of splashing

By Jim Hatton [10 pts ML]

BANGKOK, (AFP): Thais on Wednesday celebrated their most exuberant festival of the year -- Songkran -- marking the start of the Thai New Year with lots of traditional splashing.

Not even a feared water shortage could keep thousands of Thais and foreigners, friends and strangers alike, from dousing each other with great glee.

Groups of young men rode up and down Bangkok streets on the backs of pickup trucks carrying huge drums of water, ready to hurl bucketfuls on unsuspecting pedestrians.

Other groups waited at bus stops to ambush passengers aboard the widows-open vehicles. Still others stalked the streets with high-powered, plastic water rifles, zapping people from several meters (yards) away.

No one venturing outdoors was safe. Gone are the days when Thais just douse each other and politely ask foreigners if they mind getting wet.

In fact, Thais like Songkran so much they have made it a three-day, official holiday. Many Bangkok residents take advantage of the break to head for their hometowns, jamming trains, buses and roads.

Some younger Thais start the dousings several days early and keep going for several days afterwards.

Restraint

But the main day is April 13, the Thai New Year.

The government cooperates by pumping more water through the system to meet demand. This year, however, officials also asked revelers to use restraint, noting the country faces a potentially serious water shortage.

Few people appeared to be heeding the request.

In northern Chiang Mai, where Songkran is celebrated with the greatest gusto, officials also put up a sign on the city moat -- the favored source of water -- telling residents the water has become too polluted to be poured on people.

Thai police also said they were tightening security and warned foreigners to be alert, saying they might fall prey to gangs from other countries who come here to take advantage of the revelry.

The water festival always comes at a good time because this is the hottest part of the year here, with daily temperatures in Bangkok reaching 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) and higher.

For a few days, anyway, Thais beat the heat with Songkran.

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