Songkran 2010 Videos
By Talen on Apr 17, 2010 in Thai Festivals
Songkran is the Thai New Year and without a doubt the most fantastic of all Thai festivals. These videos come from all over Thailand and you can really see what great fun Songkran really is. The first video will help you to understand Songkran’s origins and just what it is all about.
For more Songkran videos and videos about every aspect of Thailand please visit the Video gallery where there are over 600 videos for your viewing pleasure.
The video “SongKran 2010 with Matt Galas” is in serious bad taste, pathetic actually, the driver of the motorbike is riding around with a replica German Stahlhelm WW II Helmet with a swastika decal on. One of the many reasons I will never visit Pattaya.
Lloyd | Apr 18, 2010 | Reply
I am probably just a stick in the mud, but the second video (Songkran Pattaya 2010) illustrates precisely why I avoid Pattaya during Songkran.
I am never in the mood to be douched by some drunken falang while sitting in the back of a taxi.
If they restrict the water cannons to the bar sois (Pattayaland 1/2, Post Office, Yamato etc…) or Walking Street I would be able to avoid the idiots and be more inclined to visit during the holiday.
Chuckwow | Apr 18, 2010 | Reply
Lloyd – You are condemning a place you have never been because of the actions of its foreign visitors ??
I certainly hope tourists visiting your country do not take any video of their vacation.
ChuckWow | Apr 18, 2010 | Reply
I have not condemned anything I simply pointed out that I will never go there, each to his own! However I have spent enough time in Jomtien and surrounding areas to know just what Pattaya and some of its residents are like, I also work as a consultant to a Thai and I can ensure you not a single person, Thai or farang, I have spoken to about Pattaya has said a good word about it.
You easily condone the wearing of something so disgusting as a Nazi helmet, do you have no morals or common sense?
Lloyd | Apr 18, 2010 | Reply
Lloyd, If you think this occurs only in Pattaya there might be a lot of other places you won’t be going either. You can buy Nazi regalia in Bangkok as well as in the North East of Thailand. The Thai’s have a fascination with it.
When I did a story on the wax works opening in Pattaya the owners used a billboard of Hitler to advertise it and I also added pictures of a senior day production put on by a school where the theme was Nazi.
http://thailandlandofsmiles.com/2009/10/18/hitler-returns-thailand/
I think it’s in bad taste as well but you can’t judge a place and it’s people by such things.
Talen | Apr 18, 2010 | Reply
Chuck, it doesn’t bother me when I’m in the mood to play and looking for it but it does piss me off when the sun has gone down and I’m headed out on the town for the night and some jerk starts throwing water.
It has to suck for those people heading to work during the festivities.
Talen | Apr 18, 2010 | Reply
Lloyd, good and bad can be found wherever you look. Pattaya is no different.
There are some bad elements but I have found quite a few good things there as well.
Talen | Apr 18, 2010 | Reply
Talen I don’t doubt what you say and having travelled and lived in Asia for more than 30 years I think I have a some idea about what we are talking about.
Pattaya has a reputation second to none in Asia, and from the number of blogs, forums and videos that personify everything that is “wrong” with Pattaya its hard to see a reason to go there, or recommend it to anyone who does not wish to partake in such activities which is simply all I commented on.
As for Nazi memorabilia, I have just spent 11 months in Thailand and travelled from north to south and east to west and have NEVER seen any such items for sale outside of areas around Pattaya, Nana Plaza and Patong which would indicate just who their primary clientele are.
Lloyd | Apr 18, 2010 | Reply
Lloyd, I can only speak to what I have seen but I have seen Nazi regalia not only on sale in North East Thailand but have seen Thai’s wearing it as well. The Germans were smart when they came up with the symbols for the Nazi party and while it has negative connotations the look still appeals to many.
Yes, Pattaya has a well deserved reputation but believe t or not it is changing. The Chinese, Russian, Korean and Indian tourists are seeing to that. They spend money where the typical monger doesn’t.
High end shops and eateries as well as condo’s and hotels are springing up everywhere for these tourists and usually at the demise of a bar or gogo.
I wouldn’t say it is a family resort yet but there are many beautiful attractions in and near Pattaya and other activities can be found easily without having the seedier side always smacking you in the face.
Talen | Apr 18, 2010 | Reply
I wont argue with you because its pointless everyone see things in Thailand that others do not, its just such a great country, and people.
Keep up your great writing, but chill out on Thaksin, having lived here for the past year I have come to see that he was just the one who was hung out to dry, so to speak, there are far worse snakes in the grass.
Lloyd | Apr 18, 2010 | Reply
Lloyd, I can agree that Thaksin was a whipping boy to some extent but he definitely has never helped his own cause.
I’ll be moving to Thailand within the next few months so who knows perhaps my perspective will change to some extent.
Talen | Apr 18, 2010 | Reply
Talen – You are most certainly a better man than I am. I would not have had the patience for such a
lengthy discourse with someone who had made such an ignorant statement.
The statement could have been dismissed had it been made by someone who has never left the comfort of their parents basement. To find it was written by someone who has been to Jomtien makes it seem incredibly silly.
Thank goodness they put up the anti-falang wall between Pattaya and Jomtien.
ChuckWow | Apr 19, 2010 | Reply