Song Kran is finally over, five days of mayhem, talcum powder war paint and kids packing water pistols with twin water cylinders on their backs, their teenage peers get someone to drive the family pick-up round town with a huge oil drum of water on the back which they liberally fling water out of. Motorbikes hum up and down he street with entire families riding up and down in an effort to join the fun, in no time at all the roads are slick with water and the milky scum of talcum powder paste.
The streets are lined with people who have rolled like oil drums out of their homes and shops and someone gets to hold the hose, every house has moved some huge speakers out onto the street and dance music floods up and down the street, competing and drowning each others musical choices in sonic waves (which weave in and out and in between the waves of water being flung about). Everyone is soaked all day. It has a real carnival atmosphere and the chicken on a stick sellers are out in force to support it, and did I mention the amount of beer and whisky that are consumed, All day partying takes it's toll and some revellers are at the end of the day to be seen sleeping it all off in quiet doorways.
The girls who work in the restaurant had a great time, O, in particular seemed to enjoy it, she loves any opportunity to harass farang, In fact lots of the staff here at the frog have great personalities, they like to spend their lunch breaks down swimming in the river and lounging in the hammocks in the gardens.
The Bangkok post keeps a running tally of the holiday road toll which is massive, it is rather tastelessly called a "target" which this year was down on last year (and below the projected amount by about one hundred deaths) but still massive. The mess on the streets afterward was incredible, plastic bags and empty booze bottles collected like autumn leaves in the gutters.
They have also had two lots of elections here in the last two weeks or so, the laws in this country are crazy, you can not buy alcohol on the day before or the day of an election. Even though you can't vote after 6pm on election day you still can't have a drink! I think it's so you don't get into alcohol fuelled arguments over politics but who knows! Like any law in Thailand there are those who obey it and those who pay off the cops, so certain bars (notably the girly and dodgy kind) were still open for those who need a drink to cope with the ideas involved with the politics of Thailand (trust me that's all of you!).
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