In Thailand, like other countries in the region at this time of year, people are building sand stupas at their local temple in order to make merit. The people of Bangsaen in Chonburi have taken this to the next step. Every year, towards the end of Songkran, local residents take part in a chedi building competition on the local beach. The results are quite stunning and it is often hard to believe that they are really only made of sand. The contestants started building their sand chedis yesterday and many of them worked into the night in order to have them finished.

Taking a break from the hectic Songkran celebrations, I went this afternoon to one of my local temples here in Paknam. It was like an oasis in the middle of a war zone. In the surrounding area, roaming pickup trucks, packed with people armed to the teeth, were patrolling the streets looking for people to squirt with their guns. However, here in the temple grounds, families were taking part in a more traditional part of Songkran. That is, the building of sand pagodas, or gor phra chedi sai in Thai.

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR, y'all! I didn't do much by way of Songkran here aside from flicking some water at my husband this morning. Hehe. But Southern California weather today was perfect for a waterfight, quite a relief after a full week of cold, clouds, and rains.

I hope everyone is staying drenched in Thailand! Please someone throw water at somebody and say, "This one is for OakMonster!" for me.

I'm usually not the one to forward "Forwards". You know, an email that gets sent to others over and over and over again. But this one my friend back in Thailand sent to me strikes me as peculiar.

The introduction to the email said that someone posted this statement on a message board somewhere. It was said that it came out of "a foreign language book". "Read on to see how lowly the rest of the world looks at Thailand," the email said.

Around the country, the start of Songkran is marked with a Miss Songkran beauty pageant and a parade. We had our parade today in Samut Prakan. It wasn’t quite like the parade I wrote about last year (Nang Songkran and her Parade). Back then they had the floats (see pictures) and lots of people walking behind them. There was also plenty of singing and dancing. The parade went from the city hall to the roundabout at Taiban and back again. However, this year the city administration decided to link up the celebrations with the Ancient City. So, everyone did the parade on the back of trucks. Not quite the same atmosphere as they had to travel far. And at speed once they were on the highway.