Young and old gather to pour
lustral water on the Buddha.
Staff reporters
From north to south, east to west, Pattaya was awash in
water as the area celebrated the climax of a week-long Songkran festival
during which not even monks and parades can stay dry.
Capping a frenzy of street battles that started
prematurely on April 9, Songkran came to a close April 18 in Naklua and
April 19 in Pattaya with public officials trying to bring a semblance of
tradition to Pattaya’s perverted Thai New Year celebration.
Navy officials and employees
of Sattahip Naval base pour water on a Buddha statue and a statue of the
Father of the Thai Navy, to celebrate Songkran.
In Naklua, the “wan lai” festivities began April 18 at
7:30 a.m. when Naklua Market-area merchants and residents marked the area’s
official Songkran water-throwing day not with buckets of ice water, but
religion and tradition.
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay lit candles and incense and
led the April 18 offering of alms to nine monks. The monks in turn blessed
those attending the ceremony and lightly sprinkled water on them to remove
bad fortunes. Members of the Pattaya City Council in attendance donated
necessities to the monks before offering them lunch.
Songkran alms offering and luncheons are old traditions
that have been passed on from many generations. It is seen not only as a
sign of respect, but a way to start the new year with hopes for prosperity.
This was followed by sprinkling of water on Buddha
figures and senior citizens and, at 10 a.m., a Buddhist parade with students
from Pattaya public schools participating, that ran from Lan Po to Sawang
Fah Road to the Sawang Boriboon Foundation office and back again.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome
pours lustral water on young monks at Wat Chaiyamongkol in South Pattaya.
Residents poured out of their houses to enjoy the water
throwing festival by mid-day, paralyzing traffic despite the best efforts of
police and traffic volunteers. Revelers didn’t care they were causing
gridlock, instead splashing water and throwing powder on anyone they could
find.
Similar scenes played out in Pattaya the next morning as
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome led the ceremony to give alms to 103 monks at
Chaimongkol Temple at 8:30 a.m., followed by the usual sprinkling of water
on senior citizens and monks before leaving the temple gates to be hit with
much larger quantities of the wet stuff.
The Pattaya Songkran Rose Parade struggled through
crowded streets at 12:30, pushing through aquatic barrages from the temple
to Walking Street to Central Festival Pattaya Beach and back again.
The city closed traffic on Beach Road to accommodate the
revelers from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with hundreds packing in shoulder-to-shoulder
up and down the boulevard, including at music stages at Central Festival to
enjoy the tunes and get doused from upper level hoses.
Wan Lai day fun wasn’t restricted to downtown, with
Songkran madness spreading all the way to Sukhumvit Road, which was bogged
down with traffic trying to enter and escape the insanity. Police and
volunteers tried to keep the cars flowing and prevent Songkran-fueled road
rage under a scorching sun.
A Buddhist monk makes his way
down Beach Road, sprinkling lustral water on the crowd.
Officers work hard to help
clear traffic even though they are often targets of water and powder during
Wan Lai Pattaya.
Sukhumvit Road, South Pattaya
Road, Central Pattaya Road and North Pattaya Road were veritable parking
lots, as traffic was almost completely stopped for the day.
(L to R) Sopin Thappajug,
Lewis Woody Underwood, Nittaya Patimasongkroh, Bernie Tuppin and Elfi Seitz
have lustral water poured on their hands at the Songkran festivities at the
Diana Garden Resort.
Chonburi Deputy Mayor
Pornchai Khwansakul pours lustral water on an elder person during Banglamung
Elderly Home’s Songkran Festival.
A more traditional approach to
celebrating this holiday in Naklua.
Women dressed in their best
flowery blouses march in the Naklua parade.
Young dancers from the north
perform at Wat Chaiyamongkol in South Pattaya.
One of the floats in the
Naklua Wan Lai parade.
Sukhumvit Road is back up for
over 5 km.
For this one day, it is
quicker to walk down Sukhumvit Road than drive.
Elephants go wild, spraying
water on guests at the Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens.
Beautiful foreign guests give
their best Charlie’s Angels pose.
Coyote girls dance at the Hard
Rock Pattaya mini-concert.
This photo says it all…
It’s a banner day for
pick-ups, each holding no less than three buckets of water and a half dozen
partiers splashing water.
Massic Travel set up a booth
to enjoy the revelry.
The cool water sometimes helps
combat the nearly unbearable heat.
Children enjoy the foam party.
Not foaming at the mouth, but
certainly foaming at the feet in the crazy Pattaya heat.
This little squirt-gunner is
prepared for the worst, and ready to dish it out, too.
Beach Road was packed from one
end to the other with Songkran revelers.
