Lao New Year - War of the Worlds Part 2

AP just reported that more than 440 died on the roads during the Songkran in Thailand this year with thousands injured. In Laos, statistics of road accidents have not been released yet but it is not going to be pretty. Some pics of vehicular carnage I have seen:

Road accidents in Laos is a pet topic of mine so I will leave it for the future when I have more time to go into it in more details. Some pictures of the mayhem over the past few days:

(Good luck washing those paint out)

(Lorry load of Lao people in scary goon masks)

(A father showing his kids how to use the supersoaker. He sprayed my car later as an example. Damn.)

(More water chaos. Absolute mess on the streets as party animals crowd onto the road)

(More cross-dressing hos! You think he/she is carrying a LV bag?)

I mentioned earlier my car has a flat tyre and I had to borrow an ancient Toyota Tercel to move around. Some pics of the cars.

(My lovely car in Laos . . . with a flat tyre at the rear. Damn. I suspect one of those Lao people stuck a nail behind the wheel as I left my car for lunch. It appeared to be a common ploy by some saboteurs)

(Behold the ancient Toyota Tercel. It looks so beat up the Lao people didn't even bother to throw water on it. )

Thus ends the entry on Lao New Year. Everything is reverting to normal. The streets are awfully quiet as most Lao people are recuperating from their exertions (and alcohol consumption) over the last few days.

In conclusion, of all the things I have witnessed during my travels, the Lao New Year is one of the strangest event. You see, the Lao people is usually a shy and polite people. They are among the most sincere and humble people I have ever met and the only time which I agreed with Lonely Planet. Truly, we can do with more "Lao-ness" in some of us. But every year during the Lao New Year, it is as the moon turns full which makes every polite Lao turns wild. Those juvenile delinquents became law breakers and outright defied social order and norms. I hate to say I am a prude but the number of men dressing up in bras and women's underwear is extremely disturbing for me. Perhaps it is represents subconscious defiance against poverty, lack of gainful employment, widening income gap in the society and a chance to rail against the dying lights of their ambition to be English-educated and breaking out of the poverty cycle. Or perhaps they just enjoyed an official excuse to be drunk and create trouble. You decide.