#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Laos Forum >  >  Songkran Hell In Luang Prabang

## Scottish Gary

I thought I would escape the horror of Pattaya and head to lovely tranquil Luang Prabang to see out the living hell that is Songkran. I know that Laos celebrates it as well but surely LP won't be a touch on Pattaya when it comes to throwing filthy water over complete strangers and drunken mayhem in the streets.....how wrong could I be. 
For a start the quiet streets have  been taken over by mobs of  pissed locals playing deafening techno at jet engine volumes from early morning until after midnight. 
All the usual visitor attractions are closed and the tuk tuk drivers have trebled their prices to take you anywhere.  
This morning some chicken head drenched me with a bucket of water while I was withdrawing money from the ATM. 
The only advantage LP has over Pattaya is that the farangs involved are all peace loving backpackers as opposed to middle aged football hooligans. 
At the moment I'm lying in my hotel room listening to the pounding music out on the street while my drenched clothes are on the floor
I fucking detest Songkran

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## Bower

Try Rangoon next year .
I found it a real pleasure during Songkran in past years.

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## thaimeme

You make it sound as if Luang Prabang was your only option, Gary....

The place has been a tourist/Farang ghetto for quite a time now [not the LP of 20-25 years ago] - what might you expect over Songkran?

Plenty of places to escape the seasonal madness.

I do have to wonder as to how some think [logical process] -

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## nidhogg

Should have stayed in bk mate.  My suburb is as quiet as the proverbial grave.  No water stations, not seen a super soaker.  Nothing. Not a single sign.

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## Pragmatic

> For a start the quiet streets have been taken over by mobs of pissed locals playing deafening techno at jet engine volumes from early morning until after midnight.


Thais have no consideration for others. It's not just Songkran. Monks party's, funerals, weddings and national holidays are a fcuking nightmare where I live. They start at 5:30am and finish at midnight. Even if their nextdoor neighbour was on their deathbed, have a newborn or works nights they don't give 2 shits. It's the one thing that pisses me off the most here.
When my first born arrived back from the hospital there were elections coming up. Just about every other daylight hour the pick up tannoy would come around belting out the candidate to vote for. This caused my daughter to wake up. In the end I used to lob eggs at them.

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## nidhogg

> Originally Posted by Scottish Gary
> 
> For a start the quiet streets have been taken over by mobs of pissed locals playing deafening techno at jet engine volumes from early morning until after midnight.
> 
> 
> Thais have no consideration for others.


Absolutely.

Well, except that SC is talking about Laos of course.

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## mikeinthailand

> Originally Posted by Scottish Gary
> 
> For a start the quiet streets have been taken over by mobs of pissed locals playing deafening techno at jet engine volumes from early morning until after midnight.
> 
> 
> Thais have no consideration for others. It's not just Songkran. Monks party's, funerals, weddings and national holidays are a fcuking nightmare where I live. They start at 5:30am and finish at midnight. Even if their nextdoor neighbour was on their deathbed, have a newborn or works nights they don't give 2 shits. It's the one thing that pisses me off the most here.
> When my first born arrived back from the hospital there were elections coming up. Just about every other daylight hour the pick up tannoy would come around belting out the candidate to vote for. This caused my daughter to wake up. In the end I used to lob eggs at them.


I don't think it's that they don't care but that most Thai people don't mind.

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## mikeinthailand

> I thought I would escape the horror of Pattaya and head to lovely tranquil Luang Prabang to see out the living hell that is Songkran. I know that Laos celebrates it as well but surely LP won't be a touch on Pattaya when it comes to throwing filthy water over complete strangers and drunken mayhem in the streets.....how wrong could I be. 
> For a start the quiet streets have  been taken over by mobs of  pissed locals playing deafening techno at jet engine volumes from early morning until after midnight. 
> All the usual visitor attractions are closed and the tuk tuk drivers have trebled their prices to take you anywhere.  
> This morning some chicken head drenched me with a bucket of water while I was withdrawing money from the ATM. 
> The only advantage LP has over Pattaya is that the farangs involved are all peace loving backpackers as opposed to middle aged football hooligans. 
> At the moment I'm lying in my hotel room listening to the pounding music out on the street while my drenched clothes are on the floor
> I fucking detest Songkran


LP is tourist hell so not sure why you expected it to be any different to what it was. A quick google search would have shown you what it was like at Songkran. Why didn't you go somewhere that they don't celebrate it?

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## Kurgen

> Why didn't you go somewhere that they don't celebrate it?


Jaywick is nice at this time of year  :St George:

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## BaitongBoy

Heh...Laughing out loud, Gary...Chickenhead...555...I just do laundry every morning...

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## kingwilly

Krabi  is nice this time of year

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## beerlaodrinker

Could be worse Gary. You could be in Vientiane. There's some lunacy going on here, I can't escape it I'm on call from work.

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## Conche

> Jaywick is nice at this time of year


Sarcasm aside Jaywick would still be a far better option at most times of the year tbh 

Glad to see your living the dream Gary , hope you find some sanity soon

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## Airportwo

> Originally Posted by Pragmatic
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by Scottish Gary
> ...


I used to think this, but when you question them they have a fear of complaining as they know so many of their fellow citizens are raving nutters! especially those that play music at insane levels!

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## PeeCoffee

Nobody celebrating Songkraan in Vietnam. Bread is fresh and not drenched too.

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## Pragmatic

> Well, except that SC is talking about Laos of course.


Is that SC or SG? Okay I fcuked up. We all do.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## nidhogg

> Originally Posted by nidhogg
> 
>  Well, except that SC is talking about Laos of course.
> 
> 
> Is that SC or SG? Okay I fcuked up. We all do.


Yup - meant SG....

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## Scottish Gary

The thing is I can handle the water throwing even if it is a pain in the arse. It's being done during the day mostly  by the local kids and it stops around 7pm.   What gets me is the constant pounding music.  Accross from my hotel there is a small beauty salon which has about 6 Locals drinking outside it.   They have music on so loud i have to turn up my TV and I'm on the 4th floor.   It must be impossible for them to have a conversation.   I asked staff at my reception if they could have a word and I got the usual smile, shrug of the shoulders and was told " it's ok they have party".   So in other words " stop complaining you farang piece of shit"

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## Seekingasylum

You should have popped off to Penang if the aim was to avoid the madness without having to travel too far.
A couple of days in the E&O in Georgetown and thence to their sister hotel on Batu Ferringhi for a few days on the beach - perfect.

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## BaitongBoy

> Nobody celebrating Songkraan in Vietnam. Bread is fresh and not drenched too.


Sounds like a plan...

I went out to the beach in Cha Am at "sling arms," but all was fine and the food was great...Some sweet honey showed up...Really nice smile...Bonus...

Seems they shot their bolt on Opening Day...And a good day, it was...Met many new friends...And a few drenching "enemies"...

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## beerlaodrinker

If it wasn't for work commitments I would usually get right the fuk out of dodge  as I usually do . Songkran Thai or Lao amuses me for the first couple of days  but after that I'm over it . It is nice to see the Lao folk having fun and letting there inhibitions go and they get so much fun out of throwing a bucket of of water at random strangers, there's eye candy galore and the mood is festive,, but fuck, you still need to convey your arse home and try not to turn into into a road fatality statistic , Not that that they would bother to keep count?   Had To go to my office this morning at about 8 am  and they were still going nuts, saw a nasty prang with 2 of those wee scooters they call sumo , blood and scooter parts everwhere, horrible . Pretty sure they all died.  Can't get the image out of my head now.

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## katie23

I escaped being drenched in Mawlamyine,  but not here in Yangon. In Maylamyine, as I walked along the riverfront road yday, whenever I said no, no, to the youth throwing water & those w/ water hoses, they would give way, knowing I'm a foringga. But then I wore a hat, shades & jacket. I think in Mawlamyine, when the foringgas said No, they respected it & spared them from drenching. 

This afternoon, I was invited by some staff & another guest to go around the city. I accepted & we went to the area/ park near the Sule pagoda. They put up a stage there & there was music & dancers (traditional dances) performed on stage. There were water sprinklers overhead & after some time, i got totally drenched. It was fun for a while but I soon got tired of it. I was also afraid for my stuff. I brought my handbag & it had my camera, phone, etc. So after taking a few pix, I went back to the GH. Now my clothes have been washed & are hanging to dry. My bed is full of papers.that have been semi wet & I'm giving them an airing. Songkran/thingyan is interesting, w/ loud.music & happily crazy, but i think I wouldnt want to visit again during this time. I didnt want to visit during the festivities, but it's the only time I can get leave.

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## BaitongBoy

Carry a beach bag with another plastic bag inside it containing all the stuff you wanna keep dry including a change of shorts and shirt...Stuff small bills in yer pocket and yer good to go...Change into dry shite when yer ready to eat at the restaurant...They're off limits...

It's a simple military exercise...Keep yer eyes roving for attackers and strike hard first with yer saber...Heh...

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