Water guns are in full blast to mark Thai New Year festivities despite worries about heat wave

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL and JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI
Associated Press

It’s water festival time in Thailand where many are marking the country’s traditional New Year, splashing each other with colorful water guns and buckets in an often raucous celebration that draws thousands of people, even as this year the Southeast Asian nation marks record-high temperatures causing concern. The festival, known as Songkran in Thailand, is a three-day shindig that starts Saturday. The holiday is also celebrated under different names in neighboring Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. The festival usually falls at the hottest time of the year. But this year, the unusual heat wave has triggered apprehension, with UNICEF warning that the sweltering weather could put millions of children’s lives at risk