Considering there are only three four-month seasons annually in this part of the year – winter, summer and wet -- this mid-year New Year’s timing makes sense.
Songkran coincides with the hottest month in this part of Southeast Asia, with temperatures regularly soaring in the mid to high 30s C (90-100 F). This is also the driest period -- with monsoon rains not due for another couple of months. But like a Halloween of more tricks than treats, tourists and locals alike are plummeted with jet streams of water shot variously from flat bed trucks, or from passers-by on the sidewalk. Even staid department store staff are likely to surreptitiously carry miniature hand-held water pistols. For the most outlandish experience, go to Bankgok’s Banglamphu backpacker area along Khao San Rd. There, you’ll be smeared with wet talc (sometimes colored), and douched with ice cold water stored in cooling bins. More charming, however, are the groups of small children gathered outside their homes along country roads, throwing small plastic buckets of water toward every passer-by. Woe to passing motorcyclists!

Somewhat akin to Chinese New Year (although the latter falls on the lunar calendar) these festivities culminate in family reunions across over-burdened roads. Public transport grinds to a go-slow, that is, except in the capital Bangkok, where streets magically become traffic-hassle free – making it a great time to visit this thriving metropolis. This year’s Songkran was also an opportunity for the city to test drive its new subway system, when residents were given free passage. In August, when the train lines officially open – coinciding with the queen’s 72 birthday (a biggie in a country that celebrates life in 12 year cycles) -- Bangkok will be served by both a sky train and subway, markedly improving essential travel through its oft formidable traffic jams.

While there are invariably excesses to any ribald festivities, this year Thai police attempted to set limits to party behaviour – with restrictions to water spraying after 6 p.m; a ban on talc (especially coloured); and in Bangkok and some tourist cities to designated districts. Unsuspecting visitors are still the prime targets everywhere, however, so beware! And if you ever do visit during this holiday, be sure to smile and thank the assailants. Contrary reactions are a bit like the Grinch at Christmas.