I went to the world’s wettest Pride parade where everyone gets soaked

I’m sitting in the police station soaking wet, still clutching my super-soaker as I drip on the tiles and wait for the officer to finish typing up my report. Not exactly how I’d expected my first day in Bangkok to end.

I’d come to Thailand’s capital for Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year festival that turns the streets of the city into a giant water fight every April.

I’d hoped I might dry off on the ride over, but sitting on the back of the motorbike only made me a moving target. That’s the thing about Songkran, nobody is off limits. Police officers, Buddhist monks, the elderly and small children – I’d seen them all targeted with rapid-firing squirt guns and freezing buckets of water. It seems that there really are no exceptions.

If you step onto the street, you’re consenting to getting wet.

That’s why I’d put all my things into a waterproof bag. Squirting strangers as I ducked and dodged and sought out my next victim, I let my guard down only to realise I’d just become a victim myself.

Feeling my bag snag on something, I turn to find the pockets zipped wide open – my second passport, money and credit cards all stolen. I glance around the crowd of saturated revellers, but whoever had taken them had already disappeared.

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I try my best not to let it dampen my spirits – the money was minimal, my bank cards were immediately cancelled, and my primary passport was tucked away dry in the hotel safe.

But then I realised they’d taken something infinitely more valuable.

My second passport had my US visa in it – my only ticket to entering the United States. This may not seem like all that big of a deal, but with a new visa likely taking months, it was about to unravel all my carefully laid plans.

This year, I’m on a journey to experience Pride all over the world, and having already booked flights to San Francisco – the birthplace of Pride – and World Pride in Washington DC, I realised it was now unlikely I’d be able to go to either.

But this year is also what brought me here to Thailand. On the second day of the festivities, the LGBT+ community come together to get soaked in the Songkran Pride Parade. Being robbed the night before didn’t exactly fill me with joy, but if I’ve learned anything on this journey, it’s that the queer community always know how to lift my spirits.

A hidden gem

Finding the parade presented a new challenge in itself. While Pride events are usually heavily documented, for this one, I struggled to find any information at all. In fact, I started to question whether it actually existed. I didn’t have a start time, or an exact location, all I knew was that it took place somewhere along Silom Road.

For the uninitiated, that’s the beating heart of Bangkok’s queer scene, but during Songkran, it becomes the centre of the party for everyone.

It’s easy to understand why – the queer community spill out of the bars to party in the streets, pop up stages are erected, and spontaneous K-pop choreography catches like wildfire. The raucous spectacle speaks to Thailand’s acceptance of the community.

The queer party is the party, and everyone wants to be involved. Though with such wide-sweeping acceptance, queer spaces can sometimes become diluted, making us once again the minority. That’s why a pride parade here is so important, it reclaims the space and tips the balance back towards centering queerness.

Despite the lack of information online, it doesn’t take long for me to find the festivities.

I’d assumed it would be a small parade – given the fact that the streets are already so crowded – but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was quite the opposite. A dozen floats are lined up ready to depart, bubble cannons firing in all directions, rainbow fabric drenched in water and sweat as dancers perform in the sweltering heat. One drag queen has fashioned an outfit out of super-soakers, while another’s make-up streams down her face as she performs on the back of a truck.

The current Miss LGBT+ Thailand poses for a photo with the winners of the past four years, while Mr Bear Bangkok is soaked by his countless admirers.

There’s a tremendous sense of camaraderie here, and even though I’m travelling solo, I quickly feel I’m amongst friends. People approach to chat – or to attack me with their water pistols – one boy even pulls me in for a kiss after I turn his white shirt see-through.

A place for everyone

It quickly becomes apparent that it isn’t just the Thai community that’s come to celebrate either. There are queer people from all over. There’s a float decked out in Filipino flags, and one in Taiwan’s colours too. I meet people from India, Cambodia, Japan, China and Korea. I even meet some who’ve travelled from Malaysia, where LGBT+ identities are still considered criminal.

For some, Songkran is another excuse to party, but for others, it’s a form of escapism, one of the only times of year when they can truly be themselves.

‘Songkran is one of the most diverse and inclusive events I’ve ever attended,’ Taiwanese personal trainer Patrick Chen tells me as he shields his boyfriend from an incoming bucket of water. ‘It’s something everyone should experience at least once.’

Vietnamese influencer Milton echoes this sentiment. ‘It’s one of the best memories I’ve ever made. A place where everyone – regardless of religion, language barrier, or sexual orientation – comes together to have fun and get wet. You don’t need alcohol or drugs, you’d be amazed how many friends you can make by just splashing water in their faces.’

Talking to people from right across the Asian diaspora helps me realise how important it is to have this space in Asia, where there are comparatively fewer spaces for the LGBT+ community.

Songkran also coincides with GCIRCUIT, Asia’s largest LGBT+ dance festival, giving extra incentive for people to make the journey to come here.

‘We wanted to create a safe space where our community can come together from all over Asia,’ Tom Tan, who founded GCIRCUIT with his partner, explains.

‘From our earlier years, where sponsors weren’t interested in gay events, to now having the endorsement of big brands, it’s evident to see the shift in perception of our community. We’re proud to keep pushing for that while championing visibility, acceptance and inclusion.’

Booking.com’s Travel Proud research shows that 63% of LGBT+ travellers prioritise destinations where they can be their authentic selves – and that’s exactly what Bangkok delivers. It doesn’t just welcome queerness, it soaks it in unashamed joy.

Inclusive and proud

There’s an enormous emphasis on the trans community here, too.

Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia to have never been colonised, and as a result, its centuries old practise of trans inclusion has been preserved. While legal rights for trans people are still far from perfect, Thailand is now leading the world in areas like gender affirming care, with people travelling from all over the globe for treatment.

Still, this visibility comes with a dark side.

Kathoey is the term traditionally used for transfeminine people in Thailand, but the use of the westernised ‘la***oy’ slur has become commonplace.

While some reclaim the word, or brush it off as harmless, for others it’s deeply offensive, and only contributes to segregating them further from society.

With sex tourism on the rise, trans people are often objectified and fetishised, sometimes with horrifying consequences. In April, trans woman Woranan Pannacha was violently mutilated and murdered by a Chinese tourist after she refused to have sex with him.

That’s why it’s so important to see such loud and proud trans representation in the parade. Some march for sex worker rights, with signs that read ‘my pussy, my business,’ while others wave flags and gleefully soak the crowd with water canons. It’s still very much a celebration, but there’s an undertone of protest too – and that combination, for me, is exactly what Pride everywhere is all about.

By the time the parade is over, I’ve all but forgotten about the robbery from the night before.

New friends invite me to dinner, and I remind myself that this is what this journey was always about. It’s too early to say whether or not the robbery has completely derailed my plans for the rest of the year, but no matter what happens, I have no regrets in coming here.

Songkran Pride is one of the best things I’ve ever experienced, I’m already planning on coming back.