Historically, April 13th has been the beginning of a three day festival to greet the New Year and the start of the new harvest season. It also occurred at the hottest time of the year. Traditionally, Thais would greet visitors and friends with a little water, sprinkled over he hands.

 

Over the years, this gentle tradition has been taken to extremes; today, all out street water fights occur in cities, town and villages around the country. Some places are a little more crazy than other. Often it is the available water supply which limits the action: Chiang Mai has a moat, a very large moat, one which runs around all four of the old city perimeter walls. Therefore, it should be of no surprise to discover Chiang Mai has the largest water fight in Thailand: Some suggest it might actually be the largest in the world. Whatever the speculative statistics, one thing is for certain, the local inhabitants do their level best to empty the city moat by distributing it liberally over anyone within range.

 

Number 1 Bistro is located about 100m from the City's moat. This has never prevented the bar from getting onto the spirit of the occasion, using hoses and soi-side water tanks to ensure the water festival is celebrated to the fullest.

 

Over the next three days, we will publish photos from the bar and other locations around the city, sharing with our friends and readers around the world a little of the mayhem. If you are in Chiang Mai, please drop by and see us. Besides the water, the Bistro is operating near-normally and there is plenty of refreshments to revive a flagging reveler.