CREDIT: WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
The Songkran festival in Thailand is one heck of a muddy good time.

It's a cold, blustery Canadian New Year's Eve. You've made your way to a friend's house in knee-deep snow to ring in the New Year. After indulging in a few cocktails (or a few too many), it's again time to battle the cold and snow to make your way home. As you stand on the side of the road with no hope of getting a cab, you start to think why you put yourself in this situation to begin with.

Does this scenario sound familiar to you? For Canadians this is a typical New Year's Eve. But what if you could experience the worlds largest water fight to celebrate the start of a new year. Where, you ask? Well, Thailand, of course.

For the Thais, Songkran, or what we know as New Year's, is celebrated in April with a three- to seven-day party. The country takes a much-needed break to ring in the New Year in a very interesting and fun way that I, for one, am very jealous of. This is guaranteed to be a New Year's you will always remember.

As you make your way through Bangkok, it is evident that something is not right. The streets seem a little too quiet for such a populated city. Heading closer towards the Koh San Road area, it starts to become evident, the city is under siege. Armed with water guns, buckets and mud, the young, the old and anyone in between are crowded into a small stretch of road, ready to ring in the New Year.

Trying to pass through this area without getting wet is virtually impossible, but the challenge is yours to accept. People are ready to take on anyone who is even remotely dry — the less you want to get wet, the more they soak you.

The streets are packed. People are standing on any surface that can give them a view of the action. Hotels and guesthouses have people hanging off balconies waiting for the next victim they will dump a bucket of freezing cold water on. Loud speakers are set up blaring music and getting everyone in the party mood. Now this sounds nothing like the New Year's we celebrate here in Canada, except you are stuck in a snow bank, wet and cold, but somehow that just can't compare.

Swarms of Thai teens approach foreigners to spread the cheer. In this case, cheer is in the form of mud. You can count on your body being painted with it unwillingly while being sprayed in the face with a water gun. Even though that may not seem ideal, you will be hard-pressed to find a person who will not go along with it.

When you are standing in a snowdrift this New Year's, remember, if you make the long journey to Thailand, you could be ringing in the New Year with a water gun in hand, painted with mud. There is no better feeling than being surrounded by people who are so excited by the little things in life, while you are having the time of your life.