Dentists and water festivals

I went to the dentist today and he said “Berry good teeth, zig zag, but berry good. Keep on flossing”. So take that all you head-shakers whenever I pull out the floss at all hours of the day. And it only cost me $6.66 all up, including the check up and 2 x-rays of my back teeth to check for cavities. I do love Thailand.

Bangkok city is going crazy right now, the anti-government activists aren’t backing down, they’ve stormed parliament house during session, and are physically protecting a TV station which the government is trying to shut down. Rocket propelled grenade attacks still seem to be ongoing, although it seems like they’re trying to hurt property rather than people despite a few injuries and deaths. The leaders of the army are apparently refusing to physically break up protestors despite being asked to by the government. You see Thais all over Chiang Mai huddled around little radios and TV’s listening to rabble rousing speeches (I don’t understand the words, but the tone is fairly universal). Chiang Mai itself is still emptying, literally every second shop is closed down, although tourist numbers seem to have stabilised they’re still very low.

It’s Songkran in one weeks time, the Thai new year celebration, and from what I hear Chiang Mai is THE place to be for it due to it being a traditionally northern Thai festival (apparently derived from an Indian festival), and the presence of a moat. Basically it’s a massive week long holiday where you can’t go outside without being drenched in water of questionable origin. And it’s not just water pistols, but buckets of water as well. Hence it’s surprising how few Thais there are here. So I’ll obviously be sticking around for it, although the dentist seemed to think it’ll be pretty small this year.