Celebration of Songkran, or Thai New Year, is certainly not limited to hot spots like Khaosarn Road
or Chiang Mai City Moat, as Thais living overseas also celebrate the occasion in their residence
countries.
An example of such away-from-home Songkran celebration is the one held at
Tak Ku Ling Road Garden, in the district of Kowloon City, Hong Kong, an area well-known for a
sizable population of Thai nationals who settled in the special administrative region. Restaurants
and stores operated by Thais are common sight in the Little Thailand.
The annual event was
co-hosted by Royal Thai Consulate-General and Thai Regional Alliance in Hong Kong, and featured all
the trademark stuff one would expect to see in Songkran: a Buddha image shrine (pour water onto the
figure to ask for good luck), folk dancing, and – of course – waterfights.
Thais and
foreigners jostled under the constant barrages of waterfights, many faces pasted with the white
powder mixed in water – another omnipresent specialty of Songkran. Those without waterguns resorted
to using bottles and bowls of water to splash the (sometimes ice-cold) ammunition at their immediate
neighbors.
The festive, chaotic, and jovial atmosphere could easily rival Khaosarn Road, our
correspondent reported from the scene.
Apart from Tak Ku Ling Road, waterfights also broke
out in front of some Thai-owned shops in the vicinity.