The unfortunate side to any holiday is that the line between fun and danger can be blurred in the blink of an eye. If you keep your wits about you and make smart decisions there is no reason for Songkran to be anything but an absolute blast. Merely remembering mother’s advice and using common sense … read the full post

Songkran is the arguably the biggest party of the year in Thailand- it’s New Year’s Day, the Fourth of July/Guy Fawkes Day/Canada Day/Australia Day, and the last day of elementary school, all rolled into one huge week. Songkran was traditionally the time when Thais poured water on statues of Buddha to refresh and clean them, … read the full post

Songkran is the Thai name for the Theravada Buddhist New Year which falls on the 13th April. (The Mahayana Buddhist New Year, in Vietnam or China for example, is based on the lunar calender – in Thailand it’s always a fixed date.) It’s not only Thai New Year but in theory is the same for … read the full post

Every  year from April 13-15 the entire country of Thailand (and neighbouring Laos) breaks out into a no holds barred waterfight. As a foreigner or outsider Songkran can appear to be nothing more than a nationwide party, but there is real history behind the soaking wet mayhem.  What has become buckets of water thrown from … read the full post

Who doesn’t want to wear sweaters, mittens and scarves when you’ve grown up wearing shorts and flip-flops? Who doesn’t want to re-enact all of that ice skating that appears in every Hollywood film made around Christmas? Who will fill this ice rink in the tropics? Thai teenagers will. They are all over ice skating in … read the full post

On almost any street in Bangkok, there seems to be an endless supply of cheap and trendy clothing stalls. Most of these little shops are variations on the same thing with the latest fashions made in cheap fabrics, always with a surplus of polka-dots and frill. Once you cross the river to Thonburi, this type … read the full post