“Two million people have left town,” says my driver, Chum as we negotiate the central Bangkok traffic. “That only leaves about six million for the water fight,” I answer. Our head counts may not be too accurate, but many of Bangkok’s approximately seven million residents leave town at this time of year, mid-April, to travel back to their home villages and towns. The occasion is Songkran, traditional Thai New Year. Those who remain in the city aren’t necessarily “stay-at-homes”. In fact, the young ones come out in force to join in the world’s biggest water-fight. Today the half-kilometre long street is closed to traffic. The roadside stalls that normally sell pirate DVDs and fake IDs (“want to be an FBI agent, Travel Journalist?”) are absent, replaced by huge piles of bottled water for sale. [2003]
