Throwing Water, Powder is not True Thai Songkran Tradition by Phairath Khampha 19 April 2002 Owing to the Thai people's ignorance and selfinishness, Songkran (the Thai new year, the water festival) every year degrades further and further into something it was never traiditonally meant to be. And with it more and more people die or are seriously injured. While some villagers suffer through the drought with sparing use of water, others are foolishly throwing water and powder at each other in one of the most immature displays of idiocy known in Thailand. It is only surpassed in recklessness and filth by throwing explosives at each other and dumping huge amounts of trash in the rivers at Loy Krathong. The following is not an unlikely scenario in Thailand during this time. Picture a small, unstable motorcycle loaded with a family of four (mother, father and two small children) followed down a road by a pickup truck at moderate speed. From the side of the road a group of people throw water in the face of the motorcycle driver. He closes his eyes and swerves a bit, slightly slipping on the wet pavement. A three-year-old child holding a water pistol jumps out on the road and one of the people throws some coloured powder that gets in the cyclist's eyes and the eyes of his children. There are gales of laughter and hilarity from the side of the road, as after more swerving and slipping, the motorcycle falls on the slick road. The pickup truck, its windows covered in water and filthy powder, tries to stop but not in time to miss running over and killing the mother and one child. The father and the other child lose only an arm and vision in one eye. The driver of the pickup is devastated by the carnage he seems to have caused. The group at the side of the road is having too much fun (sanook) to really care about this inconvenience and carnage to their Songkran amusement. This scene plays out hundreds of thousands of times a day all over Thailand during the lead up to Songkran. The only difference over the few days of Songkran will be that the motorcyclist, pickup driver and most of the crowd at the side of the road will be drunk. It is any wonder that there are so many deaths? When will stupidity of the Thai people, the senselessness of throwing water and powder during Songkran stop? While alcohol may be a contributor, the act of throwing water and other things at each other sets the stage for tragedy on the roads. This stupidity is not a part of Thai culture and should be abandoned in favour of a return to the real Songkran traditions.