Songkran - The Water Festival

So hot and humid in the mid April, what else would you be doing in Thailand to keep yourself fresh and cool. No problem, as virtually wherever you are the Water Festival is the answer. With the temperature potentially rising up to 40 degree centigrade and with presumably ample amount of fresh water despite the dry season, water plays a big, central role throughout the country -- Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Pattaya, Phuket, you name it! Starting already from as early as the beginning of the month, people in provincial towns throw water to passerby on major streets. But, the real festivities are on April 13th - 15th when the Thai people travel purposefully to see their families. The Water Festival is also considered the traditional Thai New Year with its legacy dated back to more than 10 centuries. The Thai New Year had been practically used as the start of the year in Thailand until 1940, when it adopted the solar calendar system. Traditionally, this festival teaches people to respect the elderly by paying a visit, to express gratitude to those having fostered them, to make boon (according to the Buddhism's doctrine), and in short just to be with the family. I personally find this well compares with Christmas in the West, though the climate differs greatly. So, we throw water to other people out off the bowl, splash off the bucket, squirt off the hose, yet most mobile, shoot off the water pistol; and thereby, cool ourselves down.

The Water Festival is just so much fun, so much water, so much wet, and so much cooling you down as you would like to expect!

Now, let's take a glimpse of the Water Festival "Songkran" at this official invitation footage 2006:



Contrast to to the Thai traditions, see how Westerners and also some Thais enjoy water fighting. Here is a clip from Koh Samui:



Sincerely,
Boone (http://smilingland.blogspot.com)

Can't Scuba Dive!

No problem at all. You can still enjoy the colorfulness of marine lives. What you essentially need is simply a snorkeling set, viz. a mask and a breathing tube which is better familiar as a snorkel. These two pieces of equipment usually come as a single package with an elastic strip holding both together. To increase mobility at the skin of and under water, a pair of fins are particularly quite helpful, though not indispensable. Once putting on these, you are good to go. I met several non-swimmers who could get along with this equipment very well and had had a great time at the sea level. Snorkel is absolutely an amazing device; its structure and technology are fairly simple, but its usability and effectiveness are enormous. You might be able to stay in the pool water for ten minutes, trying to keep your head above the water. You could most likely do much shorter in the sea water if the waves are a little raging. But with the tube, you could stay for in for the whole afternoon. It helps slow down the state of exhaustion, as you no longer need to push yourself vertically. The head stays literally underwater most of the time, gazing at those fish and seahorses. All your body energy is then used most economically to kick the fins and propel yourself to that cluster of sea fans. The time really does not matter any more as it stops right there. I once felt that the whole afternoon was just a short moment that I needed it prolonged, until I realized the burning pain on my back and shoulder because of the sun. After that trip, the scarfskin on those parts started to peel off, and it felt really strange!

It's a lot cheaper to go on a snorkeling trip than a scuba trip due to lower equipment requirements. The experience may not be quite identical as of scuba diving, but I am sure you will get quite a lot out of it. To give some idea, a snorkeling day-trip to the Coral Island or Koh Hae (just 15 minutes offshore off Phuket's south by speedboat) including equipment and lunch costs from only 500Baht (roughly equivalent to 10EUR or 13US$)

Sincerely,
Boone (http://smilingland.blogspot.com)

PS: Be informed that fins are normally not included in the package and hardly be available even with extra cost. Instead, a live vest is provided for the novices. The only reason is to protect shallow-water corals which are usually hard and get broken easily when being walked upon. Some people walk -- with fins on -- on the hard corals and thereby damage them with no bad intentions. These corals takes decades to naturally grow, so please help protect them. Fins are a great propeller for divers but at the same time a great danger to the beauty we are after.

Scuba Diving at Phuket Island

The Pearl of the Andaman Sea is given as a metaphorical name of the provincial island of Phuket. Tourists to Thailand usually know this province best -- if not Chiang Mai -- after the capital metropolitan of Bangkok. The name is justified by its impeccable location just offshore the west coastline of the Thai South. The island itself hosts several white-sandy beaches enticing to lie on, but Phuket is much more than its island proper. There are several satellite islets and colorful coral reefs clustering around. Hence, scuba diving is one of the most popular activities at Phuket. It offers a large selection of dive sites ranging from as shallow as 8 meters to as deep as 40 meters. No matter what level your skill and experience, there is always something for you. Last time, we went diving for 2 dives at Koh Racha Yai (Big Royal Island) at the depth of 9-18 meters. The day was bright, the water was crystal clear, and the tide was still. In all, it's such a memorable smiling activity in the land of smiles ;-)

Sincerely,
Boone (http://smilingland.blogspot.com)