Two main festivals in Thailand and consequently in Pattaya. In April - Song Khran. This is the Thai New Year, and is celebrated by throwing of water....over anything and anyone...this is accompanied by clouds of a talcum-like powder.
In Pattaya this lasts for about a WEEK and is particularly boisterous. If you think you can get by without getting drenched you are mistaken...everybody including the police gets covered in water, powder and the resulting paste. There is NO escape. You will have to carry any valuables wrapped in a plastic bag as you will be soaked through.
At the climax of this festival the main road into Pattaya and the entire town is completely blocked with thousands of pick-up trucks loaded with barrels of ice cold water and people armed with buckets and pump-guns spraying all in sight. Some farangs get carried away and get a bit aggressive but in general the Thais remain very cheery, treating every ice cold drenching as if it was the first they'd ever seen and greeting it with peels of laughter.
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The second festival is in November, this is Loi Khrathong. The festival remembers the Goddess (?) of water. Rivers and water are central to Thai culture, to celebrate this people dress in lavish traditional costume and make "Khrathong" little rafts with flowers and candles on them, they then float them out onto rivers ponds lakes, any nearby water. In Pattaya by late evening the sea is besprinkled with tiny lights floating out across the bay, this is further enhanced by the launching of small hot air balloons with little spirit burners underneath. In Pattaya it's worth going just to see all the girls dressed in Traditional costume...they look absolutely wonderful!
