Putting the trials and tribulations aside: We celebrated Songkran 2010, in other words : Happy Thai New Year!!!

picture above: It is simply impossible to avoid an abundance of blessings with water during Songkran, and I am no exception haha


One can be busy with politics and what is happening in and around Bangkok, and the world for that matter... when it is Songkran, its Songkran. Specially Thai p[eople have a flexibility to switch from the political and real fighting in Bangkok to simply celebrating its one and only true national holliday: Songkran, THai New Year!

For me personally I didn't want to surrender to the effects of the weekly injection of interferon I received, so we were very focussed on having some sort of a good time together and with our friends here!

Though I must admit I was saddend to see so much less people (tourist) to celebrate this happy Thai event, then previous years... even much less then last year, the year/high season which was dominated by the airport occupation by the now governing yellow shirts and also saw a significant drop in tourism compared with the year before... the last year without any major troubles in Thailand, a financial global meltdown, etc.
Also sad because whatever 'we' say, our governements seem to be determined to classify Thailand as a whole when they advice their inhabitants about travel, but except for a few days in september 2008, when the yellow shirts ran a trial run on 'their' 'own' iland Phuket with closing down the airport here, everything has been as peacefull as peacefull can be, at least on the political front that is ;-)
Its one of Phukets strong points, sadly overlooked by all or allmost all foreign governemnts when they make their assesments of the situation here in Thailand.

BUT when going out on mondaynight to start the celebrations of Songkran, with one of them being the blessings and symbollic washing with water, we all intended to shift aside all the lousy things that have happened to us and simply celebrate and truly hope on a better year, not only for ourselfs but also for our neighbours, friends and familly, among, ofcourse, everybody else ;-)
God and Bhudda only knows how much Kik and I, for one, need that, haha, not to mention everybody else!

It was decided that this year we would all meet in front of My Way to celebrate Songkran there with all the Simon people, and so, that part of Paradise Soi became more unsafe and wet then it allready was by the time we arrived on the scene haha

I was also surprised personally when all of a sudden the whole Simongroup turned on me and pushed me down on a chair, and paid me tribute, honor and wishing me as a group as well as individually a very happy New Year/Songkran.... it left me somewhat flushed and terribly shy.
Me shy? I hear you think, YES! ME!

When things like this are focussed on me personally I can get very very shy indeed, not when playing a role as major or city manager or chairperson of organisation x or y, thats different, a lot different.
BUT ofcourse it was also very cool indeed to receive this small unexpected tribute. I hope it is a sign that at least I do some things right in the way I try to behave here in this country which in its ways is so much different from my own home country.
Though in other aspects.... BUT that might be a subject for another rainy day when there's otherwise nothing much to report... maybe then I might go into the differences and similarities, seen trough my eyes ofocurse, bewteen Thailand and The Netherlands ;-)

Again, all of you, a very happy Songkran and who knows, next year we celebrate together, here on Phuket, in Patong at our Backstage (see also www.backstagethailand.blogspot.com) and/or at our home here!

Songkranhugssss xxx