The largest water fight known to man.... The Bhuddist New Year

(This pic was not taken at the time I am describing...) The bridge was lined with players filling their weapons with the water spewing from small tubes along the rail—probably fed from the river water. There were only a few cars out; mostly the roads were crowded with pick up trucks, bikes--motorcycles, (and occasionally a songtaew, a kind of local taxi) overflowing with people, mostly younger/teenage, throwing water from the barrels in the middle of the truck beds. Along the street, however, people of every age could be seen joining in the fight, from a child just big enough to use the water gun to the elderly woman sitting behind her shop table, almost everyone plays (at least in this part of town). The weapons consisted of waterguns of varying size, small pails dipped into large barrels of water, hoses, and large buckets filled from the same barrels.
It seems the trick was nothing more than to get everyone as wet as humanly possible, and everyone does their part-- like a Mardi Gras, with water, not beads. The locals played, but seemed to get special delight out of targeting the foreigners among them, and there were plenty to choose from. Many people would simply pour the water over your head or shoulders as you passed by, with the visual resemblance to a blessing being poured. This was usually done with a gentle, warm smile and sometimes the “Happy New Year.” However, many of the younger people and children have learned the art of timing a tossed bucket of water so as to nail the passerbyer in the face as they speed by on a bike, songtaew, ect. (making this festival time one of the most dangerous times of the year with way too many people dying in traffic accidents or drowning in the moat after drinking too much). This might also be accompanied by a “Happy New Year” but more often simply the laughter of the person who had successfully hit his target. The festival demands a ridiculous amount of water; people especially line the moat and use its muddy, warm water for attack, throwing their buckets down from the road with a string and pulling them back up or simply climbing down in it and swimming as they refill. Traffic here is impossible, but no one really seems to mind as it's the center of the water fight. Apart from the moat, the trucks almost all carry a large barrel of water in order to keep their supply mobile. This water is sometimes iced down and gives an extra shock to the victim when hit.
We were scolded more than once for trying to refill water from certain barrels; I never figured out what signified a water source as public access or not.
Over all it was an incredible experience. Like a child, wide-eyed, I walked through the largest water fight I’ve ever seen. As long as you don’t mind every inch of your body being utterly soaked with water from every imaginable temperature and you really have nowhere in particular to go, it is great fun. I especially enjoyed spraying the children. They played because it is fun and that’s what kids do. And you wonder if you should spray back in response, smile, ignore them, squeal and laugh, or be annoyed (at least pretend to be as though they shouldn’t do such things). But you know that deep inside you're enjoying it just as much as they are...