Songkran is back in full swing!
Only after arriving and nearing the end of my trip did I realise that April is actually the best time to come to Thailand as Songkran, the national holiday and new year are going to be celebrated. Perhaps some of you know the festival as the water gun festival where people shoot each other with water. In the past, I have known about the festival only from the international tv news section. However, it seems like this celebration is quite a huge deal in Thailand much like the celebration in Indonesia with its ramadan, Songkran to the locals is also an important celebration.
From what I gathered, this year 2023 Songkran is going to be the first after hiatus due to covid. So, “it’s going to be lit” as I quote from my Thai friend. But before that, there are some events going on and people start gearing up for Songkran. From what I was told too, the guy will wear flowery designed shirts and so are the girls during the celebrations. People from Bangkok will leave the city to their hometown to celebrate it with their family.
A week before Songkran, there are local fair markets where people are having fun and prepping for Songkran. This is similar to the night market across Thailand but there are quite a few distinctions. You will not see many foreigners and even neatly packaged arranged food. It’s as local as you can get and it was such an interesting experience especially when I was visiting the place I was with my German,Spanish and a Thai friend.
We walked from the MRT Huai Khwang to the Huai Khwang local stadium. Even on the way from the walk, we’ve seen some lights that were in different shapes indicating that it was the “fair” market. Once we reached the area, people were already flocking it and there were many thai “ street” food but also places where visitors can play bingo, shooting ranges and a very small ferris wheel. But our first plan there was only checking out the place. Then we find out about Moo Kata and Morlam!
Moo Kata
We circled the place and saw food stalls where people sit down on the mat and barbecue meat with a traditional pot. It looks really fun and I asked my Thai friend about it. She told me it’s called Moo Kata. Then it was decided that the dinner would be Moo Kata, although one of the guys was hesitant about sitting on the floor. Luckily they had a small stool that helped him when we were sitting to get our Moo Kata.
In terms of preparation, the staff will provide the grilling bowl and a dome-like skillet to grill the meat. Then, there's a water pitcher to add to the pan. And after that you have to choose the meat that you want to have. They start from 39 Baht to 299 Baht. Since there were four of us, we decided to get the 39 Baht, 99 Baht and the 200 Baht. In each plate we will get glass noodles, vegetables and assorted pig meat.
The drinks options are either water or coke which in that place, we choose water instead of coke.
Everything in this place is quite traditional unlike in shopping malls where moo kata uses an eclectic stove and fancier pot. Sitting at a small table sharing food was such a joy. When I looked around people were having a great time with either their family, friends and even partners. It was the same with our table. We had fun tasting different meat and were quite fascinated about this experience grilling with traditional thai way. The guys were saying that they’re not that full while for me and the Thai girl, we felt very full especially with the vegetables and glass noodles combined. We were also quite an odd table because the guys were the only foreigners who ate moo kata in that place.
Mor Lam
As we finished eating, we decided to circle around the place and in one of the spots, we came across a stage with two expressionless girls dancing. The music played was quite hip-hop-ish and the Thai girl told me that this is what they call “ Mor Lam” which apparently means people dancing and singing folk songs and songs against the previous government. It was quite an interesting melody as it reminded me of “Dangdut” which is folk music and the concert can get rowdy.
The Thai girl explained that from her origin, Issan, Mor lam is a huge deal. It’s where people gather to dance their hearts out but once it gets too energetic, and if there’s someone bumping into one another, fights would happen and sometimes guns would be pulled out and the old people would try to leave the area quickly. From what I saw on stage at the time, people were dancing and the singer and dancers were sexily dressed and had almost nothing on their body.
We all really enjoyed the music and dancing around. One of the things that was similar to Indonesia was something called “Sawer” which basically you give small tips to the singers. Some people do it inappropriately but some genuinely like the singer and how they dance. My friend tried to give a tip to the singer and the locals were cheering on him. It was really fun and we didn’t know that we actually stood there, enjoying the music in a foreign language that we don’t know, watching the expressionless dancer who doesn’t have passion at all. For some reason for us, it was the funny part about it.
“ I can’t believe we get to see this in bangkok. It’s Bangkok, you know. And you see dances like this and things that are super local” said a friend to me.
I just nodded knowing that I am sure in the midst of the bustling city and the modernization of Bangkok, people would certainly still need to preserve their culture and provide affordable entertainment. There’s no fee to get inside, you just walk, and the food area is also cheaper than most street markets around the area. Not to mention, this is only once in a while and nearing songkran days.
More things you can find in the fair
If you enjoy shopping you would love this place as things in this fair can be much cheaper and offers interesting knick knacks as well. One of the things that was very interesting was that I found Indonesian batik sold in this fair.
It’s definitely much more expensive but it’s an interesting sight that products from there are sold in Thailand and even locals apparently buy them. There’s also everything for 10 baht from scissors, glass, socks, etc.
Everything for 10 Baht
For 5 Baht you can also get coloured water ice cream that tastes like Fanta and water.
You can spend less than 50 Baht in this fair and already get a couple of snacks, even perhaps a small knick knacks for 10 Baht. If you have come across this kind of fair, you definitely should check it out as it has more local feels and interesting things that you don’t normally see in the market catered for foreigners.
You can read my Bangkok wandering here :
Bangkok Missions: A Fast and Furious Wandering Tale
The Journey Begins: A Wandering Tale Adventure!
Timeless Architecture : 16th Century Royal Monastery Wat Phra Chetuphon
Weekend Strolls: Exploring the Beauty of Lumphini Park
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 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |