Today is Thai New Year! There are water fights everywhere, people are all in a festive mood and also pretty much drenched from head to toe. A strange and very unique time that most people outside of South East Asia know nothing about. Let me educate you...

The Thai New Year, known as Songkran, is one of the most important and celebrated holidays in Thailand. The holiday is officially celebrated from April 13 to 15, with festivities often lasting an entire week.

The origins of Thai New Year combine Buddhist belief, ancient astrology and the solar calendar.

"Songkran" is a Thai word which means "move" or "change place". It refers to the shift of the sun's position in the zodiac, from Pisces to Aries, beginning a new astrological year.

Songkran consists of four days.

On the first day, houses are cleaned and swept.

The second day involves the preparation of food to be offered to monks the next day.

The third day is New Year's Day and is celebrated by visiting the temple, presenting food and clothing to the monks, bathing the Buddha image with jasmine-scented water and taking part in one of the many rituals believed to bring good luck.

On the last day, homage is paid to ancestors and elders: scented water is gently poured by family members over the hands or shoulders of their parents and grandparents.

Songkran is commonly known as the "water festival" because people believe that water, a symbol of renewal, will cleanse and wash away the bad luck and sorrow from the previous year.

As a result, bathing rites for Buddha images and the monks are performed, as well as playful public water fights.

The most-talked about celebration takes place in the northern province of Chiang Mai.

During the three-day period, people from all parts of the country flock there to enjoy the water festival, to watch the Miss Songkran Contest and the beautiful parades.

The other day, the whole family had a day trip to Ayutthaya. It’s about an hour train ride north of where we live and was a great place to visit.

Quite popular on the tourist circuit but not busy at all as there are about 15 main sites to visit which include ruins, major Buddhist temples, ancient capital building and other very interesting sites.

We rented a tuk-tuk for half a day. The driver gave us a whirlwind tour of most places and we had a lovely lunch by the Chao Phraya River.

The history of Ayutthaya is fascinating; here is the “wiki”:

Ayutthaya city is the capital of Ayutthaya province in Thailand. The city was founded in 1350 by King U-Thong and became capital of his kingdom. The king came to escape smallpox outbreak in Lop Buri. Often referred as the Ayutthaya kingdom or Siam.

Ayutthaya was named after the city of Ayodhya in India, the birthplace of Rama in the Ramayana. In 1776, the Burmese army destroyed the city, and the ruins of the old city now form the Ayutthaya historical park, which is recognized internationally as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was rebuilt a few kilometres to the east.

The city is located at the junction of the Chao Phraya, Lopburi and Pa Sak. The city is located at the junction of the Chao Phraya, Lopburi and Pa Sak rivers, and on the main north-south railway linking Chiang Mai to Bangkok. The old city is on an island formed by a bend of the Chao Phraya on the west and south sides, the Pa Sak on the east side and, on the northern side, the Klong Maung canal rivers, and on the main north-south railway linking Chiang Mai to Bangkok.

What amazed me the most while I visited is the sheer amount of history, culture and spiritual depth that exists in Thailand. This brief visit of Ayutthaya really brought this home.

There are still tons of things we did not get to see, so we will certainly be back soon.

Living in Thailand is great. The weather is almost always perfect; the people are super nice to you. Most people are respectful, serene, the food is amazing, and there is always something very interesting going on somewhere.

However, there is one annoying thing that the majority of foreigners living in Thailand have to do every two or three months. That is to leave Thailand….

Most do not leave because they want to. They leave because they have to. It is one of these silly laws by the Thai government that stipulates that unless you are hired by a Thai company and are paid over an “X “ amount of money, are married to Thai person or are just independently rich or own a business, you must leave the country to re-new your visa outside the country. Actually, the law makes perfect sense but it is still annoying to do.

Having freshly arrived back into Thailand after being gone over a month I had to leave Thailand again for the sake of my wife and kid’s visa renewal, which was almost due. They had been in Thailand for just about two months on a tourist visa and now came the time to renew the visa or change it to a “Non-Immigration” visa now that my wife is now employed (this would give her three months in the country).

The country we chose to have our visa renewed was Laos. It is the cheapest and closest country to Bangkok to do this. A trip into the unknown for a wife and three small children can be very stressful so it was decided that I would accompany them there and help with this ordeal even though I did not need to have my visa renewed then. Actually, the whole experience was great! It proved to be a bit of a family holiday and we all loved the capital Vientiane.

We took an overnight train ride to the North Eastern border town of Nong Kai where we went through the border crossing procedures. After applying for a Lao entry visa at the border, paying (US$42 per person…ouch!) and crossing, we all got unto a tuk-tuk and headed to Vientiane.

Not having any idea where to stay the night or where accommodations were located, we ask some locals some good places to stay. One very nice woman who spoke a few words of English was able to direct the tuk-tuk driver to bring us to a general area on the shores of the Mekong River where many guesthouses congregated. Once we go there, we had a place to stay within a few minutes…very convenient!

Vientiane is a wonderful city, a very relaxed, easy going and easy to get around. After submitting passports at the Thai Embassy in Vientiane, we visited a large Buddha park, the morning markets, the Laos equivalent of the “L’Arc de Triumph” and a few of the old French colony neibourhoods.

We met up with John and Libby, our old friends from Tonghua who have moved to Vientiane the previous summer, had a great French dinner, drank wine (it is very cheap in Laos) and learned about Laos’s culture.

The fact that you can buy fresh French baguettes, croissant and excellent coffee on mornings anywhere in Vientiane for just a few pennies was a great plus for us. Therefore, after picking up our passports with new Thai visas the next day, we headed back into Thailand and home to Bangkok and we vowed to come back to Laos’s semi regularly. If not for a holiday, certainly for another Thai imposed “Visa Run”….

Spending 6 days in sunny Samui was just great. We all had an excellent time and are contemplating setting up a residence and business here. Maybe a bar, small winery or hotel...who knows? I am sure a lot of people come here and fall in love with the place and try to find ways to be able to stay permanently. We all decided to be back next year and look into this concept a little more seriously.


The trip back to Bangkok was more interesting then the short flight in. We decided to do this the “backpacker” way and did a series of mini-van, boat, bus, second class train and pick-up truck transport methods back to the capital. Very interesting and event filled 24 hours from Samui to downtown Bangkok the next day.

The last couple of days in Bangkok were spent doing a bit of shopping, going down canals by boat and spending some time with Clare's cousin who is an English teacher in the north and came down to Bangkok visit with us.

Its back to cold and snowy China tomorrow...we don't want to leave, long live the king!