Songkran part 2 - Khon Kaen

On the Train Journey back from Bangkok we did the same as going there and set up our beds and headed to the drinks car only to have our hearts sink, as standing at the top of the car was none other than our buddy Nurse Ratchett (read previous blog :). She locked eyes with us and came straight down to take our orders. Once we got a few beers at the high price of 120 baht ( €3) per large Chang or Leo we played a few rounds of cards before Nurse Ratchett appeared again demanding all people in our party not drinking had to leave the car and that we had brought our own booze onto the train the last time.
She never once smiled the whole time but I did catch her joking with the other staff on the train. I tried to make the effort to win her over and after chatting a bit and giving a small tip for the staff, she was smiling and was pretty cool about it. I can only imagine how many times she does that trip from Non Khai to Bangkok every week, having to deal with drunken travelers every time.


We arrived back very early morning and got a quick nap in before re-grouping and heading to a friends restaurant called “Mickeys Pizza” in the city. They have some of the best pizza in town and a lot of German beers at decent prices, also some of the best baguettes around. 
The owner had his kids playing out front and every business on the street had huge coolers of water filled with ice bags ready to go. The owners dogs had just had puppies and we met the last one, as all the others had been given away.
I believe he said 14 hours labour and about 17 puppies... poor mother. 

However one of our friends fell in love with the dog and asked if he still wanted to sell him and ended up bringing home a new animal member to the Supans bar's, already growing animal clientele. So now we have Boner the cat, Guinness the dog and the newest member “Dulli” (A half bulldog half boxer, soon to be a medium sized horse going by the size of his parents).

Around mid-day the street started to get busy and kids and adults were running around the streets laughing and joking and throwing copious amounts of water and Ice water at each other. When two pickups or jeeps would pass each other of get stuck beside each other because of traffic, there would be an all out war as they had 10 gallon drums of Ice water sitting in the back as did most of the jeeps that went past.

In Bangkok and some of the big cities you are also likely to see elephants walking through the towns joining in the fun and squirting tourists with trunks full of water which is not something you would ever believe you would see but its Thailand. People come from around the world to see and be part of this event and I highly recommend you do it if you have the chance. However the madness of Bangkok can be a bit much, so maybe do one day there and then head to Chiang Mai or a smaller city to enjoy it the ways the Thais do, rather than being surrounded by mostly tourists, who can tend to get a bit too drunk from standing around in the sun all day drinking very cheap drinks.

Around 2pm it started to get quite dark above us and once the wind came we knew a storm was upon us. The heavy rainfall tends to come and go and does a great job of cooling the place down. But when it rains it really rains. We had maybe 2 hours of rain and it was enough to flood the street but did not stop the festivities as it was still 40 degrees. The water level came up about a foot in that time and I made a few Thai's shout out "ting tong falang" (crazy foreigner) when I decided to go for a swim in the street but it was to their amusement. We prayed this wasn't the start of wet season but after some searching we found we still have some time, the rainy season is roughly June to September and gets a bad reputation, there are some bonuses: temperatures tend to be cooler, tourists are fewer and the landscape is lush and green. Depending on the region and month, the rainfall might be only an hour long downpours in the afternoon but is all good after that.

Every time a cop / police officer would drive by kids and adults,, people really went crazy, trying to hit them. And they had their real guns in plastic bags on their belts so I wasn't too inclined to do the same.
In saying that 2 days earlier in Bangkok I was pretty, lets say Merry and walking down Rhambuttri Road beside Kao San I spotted a bunch of cops sitting at a table on the street having a few beers and watching the street. One of the older cops asked to borrow my gun while asking where I was from. He then proceeded to turn and spray one of the younger cops in the face and they all burst out laughing.
So after chatting I asked him for a pic and jumped on his lap... hmmm wouldn't have done that sober or what I did next. So while they were taking the pic I slowly brought the water gun over my shoulder until it was upside down and pointed directly at the younger cop behind me and as the pics were being taken I pulled the trigger to the roars of laughter from the other cops. I jumped up and luckily the cop took it as a joke and we shook hands with them before disappearing into the night to be soaked as we went.

Speaking of water they have opened an Olympic sized swimming pool inside Khon Kaen university next to the football stadium and field and running track. The running track is free and the pool is 15 baht (€0.40) for the whole day, so we have started going swimming as many nights a week as we can and running the other nights with 2 nights of Insanity training. Insanity is pure evil but it reminded me of a lesser form of the TRX which we use to do in Ireland and we highly recommend it. It feels good to be back working out.We can't do it too early because of the heat during the day as it is creeping up to the 40's

I (Stephen) have also just got all my paper work back and also had to get a medical done as I've been offered a full time role working with Kristine in the kindergarten. Once I go to Laos and get my Non immigrant B visa in 2 weeks, I can get a work permit and be legal in Thailand putting my self into the 20% of legal teachers as apposed to the 80% of illegal, but they could never kick them all out as Thailand is very behind in the education department and have to catch up with others countries like Laos, Cambodia, Burma and many others for the joining of the countries through the ASEAN community which is akin to the EU in Europe. They have selected English as the base language, so there is a big push to get kids from a young age speaking fluently.. no pressure!

So next week we will be heading back to Laos to get a new visa and have decided that this time we are heading to Savannakhet rather than Vientiane, as we have heard good things. I will post a detailed travel blog for this, as we have been told its 100 times easier to get the visa and in much less time. We have written previously about the nightmare that is the Thai Embassy in Vientiane, so we are hoping for a easier experience this time around.

Oh and it was 42 degrees yesterday and I wore a suit to work and not a bead of sweat was lost. Not sure if us acclimatising is good or bad as we're going back to Ireland in August for a holiday and I'll will look like an absolute lunatic wearing 6 layers of clothing incl. hoodies and jackets, while everyone else is burning to death in 20 degrees :) 

Songkran part 1 – Bangkok

It had arrived at last our first experience of Songkran in Thailand. It goes from the 12^th of April til the 16^th of April and nobody in the country is safe from the biggest “water fight” party in the world with everyone from young to old getting involved and having fun. Songkran, which is Thailand's New Years celebration, with the water symbolising the cleaning or washing away of all your sins. Oh and also it was the start of the Year 2557 on their calender, so I'm living a couple of hundred years in the future... still no hover-boards though :-(

We decided to spend 2 days in Bangkok and 2 days back in Khon Kaen, as it starts a bit earlier in BKK and is located all around the city with the largest collection of people set up around Kao San Road and Rambutri Road. We took the night train to Bangkok from Khon Kaen which left at 8 pm and was due to arrive at 6 am (saves you a nights accommodation). We had decided to take the train as we have taken many in the past and they usually turn out to be a lot of fun. 

We booked second class sleepers and boarded heading straight for the drinks car. Here you could smoke and drink as they made up your very beds which are surprisingly really comfortable and I've often had some of the best nights sleep on these trains and all for 480 Baht one way, which is a very cheap and comfortable way to travel. So we sat down and played some cards in the drinks cart and met a another few groups of farangs doing the same, as is the norm with the night trains and always fun.. or so we thought, as this one was being run by the formally named Nurse Ratchett. 

Nurse Ratchett was running on the drinks cart but clearly had  fell out of love with the job a long time ago, as with every cheer from a drunk traveler or song that would break out, you could see the veins in her forehead ready to burst. She accused us of bringing our own alcohol onto the train, which is allowed just not in the drinks car, but we were trying to do it on the cheap and out of sight, so would go back to our cabins and fill up the drinks we had. At 10 pm sharp she began demanding we finish our drinks and get out as they wanted to sleep there. This was a 1^st for us as all other night trains we have gotten the bar stayed open until 1-2 am. So we purchased a few more drinks and headed for the bathroom section as it was large enough to sit down and play music, as it doubled as one of the staffs' sleeping quarters, but he wasn't around on this particular train.


We arrived in BKK one day before the festival and asked if the water fight had begun, as we needed to go buy our weapons for the upcoming battle. We managed to pick up some decent “big ass”water guns for 250 Baht ( 6 Euro) after shopping around. Also always ask to test the gun before walking away as from what we seen, every second one was faulty. We wandered around the MBK shopping center, the biggest I'm guessing in Thailand, as it is like a small town inside and it sells everything. I think we counted at least 10 dentists offices in the place and got lost in a market style section of the place that sold clothes.

We headed to Kao San to see if they had started the festivities already and luckily we had purchased a water proof bag in the MBK (for about 200 Baht) as the moment we stepped from a taxi Kristine had a large bucket of ice water poured down her back and let out a huge scream. Now we have to survive 4 days of this ☺. We filled up our guns with ice water from the numerous coolers outside every bar and restaurant. 
It's hard to describe as I pictured a few people getting involved but you couldn't walk 5 minutes through the entire city without families from young to old laughing dancing and throwing water at passing pedestrians, cars, buses with open windows with people dressed in work gear and especially Tuk Tuks with out retribution from the now soaked and cold travelers. 
There was no angry replies just genuine smiles and laughs or to our surprise a small water gun would be pulled out and sprayed back. Every one was wearing water proof neck bags, as I'm sure the number of broken and water damaged electronics must be a godsend for Apple and Samsung here in the days following the party, as it's impossible not to get drenched.


We walked the full length of the street shooting into the crowd and having numerous buckets of ice water thrown at us and which during the day is amazing and cooling but after being wet for 6 hours and it starts getting cooler it becomes an evil shock to the system and if you get frustrated easily we would advise to find a bar and set up shop. We traveled around a lot trying different bars and trying to navigate through thousands of party goers does get annoying after a while as there is no “people traffic” system and on occasion the crowd just keeps pushing until the inevitable crushing of people into bars and restaurants adjacent to the road happened, and with kids in the crowd this annoyed me a lot.
The bars had girls on podiums outside who's job it was to get sprayed with water for the day and night and hold signs trying to get customers in offering 3 beers for 100 baht (yep, only €2.50). I did find it unusual that a lot of the bars had live music and singers holding hooked up mics as people sprayed them with water but Thailand never had the highest health and safety restraints.

We stayed and partied for 2 days. We had an amazing time, although after the day was over I felt like it would have been better to do Songkran in a less chaotic part of Thailand. Luckily we had planned 2 days of Songkran in Khon Kaen, were we wouldn't have to wait 45 minutes to walk a 5 minute road because the organizers had set up beer tents in the middle of the road, which made no sense.

So after 2 days of madness and as we were getting the night train back to Khon Kaen at 9 pm, we decided to take a break and went to the Siam City Park, which is like the Disneyland/Universal of Thailand. It had a huge water park attached and we joked how we wanted to get away from being soaked all day, so where better to go then a water park :)

It was only 500 baht entry, had some of the biggest looping roller coaster in the world.. or so they claimed and the biggest wave pool in the world but not the strongest by a long shot as it was more ripples than waves. The water park was amazing with fountain areas and good slides set up around the park. Food wasn't too over priced as is with a lot of these amusement parks and the longest queue was for the log flume clocking in 40 minutes. All other rides and roller coasters were a 5-15 minutes wait only. 

They had a huge dinosaur section with Jurassic park style rides and walk through animatronic dinosaur experience, which was interesting. The copyright people would have a field day here as they have a tiny town which is blaring “ Its a small world after all” the Disney ride that everyone loves to hate.

And we had a go on a ride covered in spider man pictures only when we asked the translated name from Thai we were told its the “spider devil ride”... yeah that will fool them.

As we were leaving we spotted two guys on stilts and one leaned down and a mother handed him a baby. Brave move on the mothers part.


That night our group of 7 took the night train, due to arrive back at 5 am in Khon Kaen for one more day of craziness at Songkran..

Attending a Monks Ordination and visiting the monkey village.

This week we were extremely  privileged to be invited to an ordination procedure of our friend's cousin in becoming a Monk, which is a huge deal for the family and to celebrate they throw a big party with all family members and friends invited, as well as the local ordained monks to preform the ceremony. The ordination procedure for Buddhist monks, known, as the 'Going forth', begins with the applicant's formal request (Pabbajja) to a senior monk or bhikkhu for the novice (samanera) ordination.

On receiving permission, the applicant prepares for the ceremony by acquiring a complete set of robes and getting the help of the monks in the monastery to shave his head.The applicant then makes a formal request for the novice ordination. The senior monk acquiescing administers the Three Refuges and the Ten Precepts or training rules. 

The rules to be accepted by the applicant are:

The Ten Precepts:

1. I undertake to abstain from harming or taking life.

2. I undertake to abstain from taking what is not given.

3. I undertake to abstain from any sexual contact.

4. I undertake to abstain from false speech.

5. I undertake to abstain from the use of intoxicants.

6. I undertake to abstain from taking food after midday.

7. I undertake to abstain from dancing, singing, music or any kind of entertainment.

8. I undertake to abstain from the use of garlands, perfumes, unguents and adornments.

9. I undertake to abstain from using luxurious seats.

10. I undertake to abstain from accepting and holding money.

The first part of the ceremony involves the man's head and eyebrows being shaved off. After this, he is dressed in a white robe and is then taken to the temple, carried on a few of his close friend's shoulders, with his family and friends following. Once at the temple, followed by family and friends, he will walk around the temple three times with friends and family carrying offerings for the temple monks.

The whole ceremony lasts a full day and after food and praying the the applicant has his head shaved and then all the family crawl on their knees on the alter up to the monk to tie a blessed bracelet on the monks wrist to show respect. 
We were asked to be a part of this which was an amazing experience as this is not something you get to do by following the guide books or going to the touristy areas. This was an invitation from a good friend of ours (Rainny) and her parents and it was amazing to see this side of Thailand.

When we first arrived we greeted all her family and were shown to a table in the garden where they had large tents set up and plenty of fans directly facing the tables as it was close to 40 degrees and the heat was close to unbearable.

We had only been sitting for maybe 1 minute when out of nowhere, 5 members of her family were walking from the house to our table placing plate after plate of food in front of us.
The three of us sat at the table with Rainny and her sister and we smiled graciously as the table surface was slowly disappearing with the insane amount of food being put in front of us. And then as soon as a plate was cleared by us another one magically appeared in its place. Members of her family would approach us to greet us using their arsenal of English phrases they knew and we would attempt some Thai in return.

 Interesting fact we found out, is that most men in Thailand will eventually become monks. Not for life like priests or monks in western culture. Being a monk in Thailand can be as short as a week, month or as long as the rest of the mans life. Some businesses even offer unpaid leave to allow men to do this process

Once their loved one is officially a monk, one by one or in groups, members of his family and friends will sit in front of him to have their photos taken with the new monk. This will continue until every one has had their photos taken. Everyone except the monk is allowed to smile for the photos too.

Once the ceremony was over it is tradition for the family to do a lap of the town/village singing and dancing as they go (except for the monk). During the day we jumped back in the car and drove 5 minutes down the road to the Monkey village, which is pretty self explanatory but I (Stephen) was hoping it would be a village run entirely by monkeys - not too much to ask for right?. So all the taxi drivers, shop assistants and police would be just monkeys ... possibly in tuxedos... Unfortunately, that was not the case but it was a pretty crazy experience none the less. 

We drove through the entrance and immediately we're surround by easily 100's of small monkeys and some not so small. They seemed tame but a few would come close to us, teeth bared and fully jacked, muscle wise. The odd monkey would retract their lips and cheeks, to show their very scary shark like teeth, if you got too close.  

Rainny jumped into the river for a swim and I attempted to communicate with the monkeys and offered them food. The first attempt was not well planned as I approached a large monkey and offered it food from my hand, which I was not carrying at the time but was simulating to get him close enough for a sneaky up close pic. But once he seen I had no food for him he got pretty aggressive, started swiping the ground and jumped forward to take a swipe at my legs. 
We did manage to get some food eventually and we got some nice up close and personal moments with the monkeys which was very cool to just sit there and watch as they stroll a couple of feet from you doing all manner of unusual things. 

I also came to realise some of them were pure evil, as one monkey chased another out onto a branch over the river and proceeded to shake the branch with all his might to make the other drop, jumping and laughing as he did. 

We made our journey through and came to a large market they had at the exit, which was also over run by these monkeys but also a ridiculous amount of rubbish (garbage for my American friends) and we don't know if it's from the people at the market or if it's all the plunder that's been stolen by the monkeys and brought back by them to make their pile, as they are happy to eat absolutely anything that's available to them.

On the drive home we got a bit of shock as we were overtaken by.. well I don't actually know how to describe it so have a look at the pic. We got out to get a closer look by flagging him over to find out he was selling stickers and decals and only had a small slot at the front to see out of. Did we mention we were driving on the highway and this thing was doing easily 70-80 mph? 

But hey it's Thailand, where road safety isn't a priority. We have seen many insane things on the road, from sugar cane trucks stacked 3 times the height of the front cab and swaying from side to side as it goes, to pickups with 40 cages filled with live pigs squealing down the highway. But we made it home safe after the long day.



In a few weeks it's Songkran, the biggest water fight party in the world and it goes on for 3-6 days here, so we will have to get water proof everything, if we want to take pics.

Here is a Songkran video from 2 years ago and even the cops aren't safe. I seen videos were elephants walk the street spraying people from buckets..cant wait :-)