Doc is being the vendor here. Fortunately, everything was free.
Here the elders are being offered scented water to ritually wash themselves and bless the younger ones. The man with the white hair is the head of the board of directors of the Northern Development Foundation. 
Then each had the mike for a little while. The man on the right had spoken earlier. He - I'm not sure when - walked from Chiang Mai to (I think) Ko Samui raising money along the way.
Yesterday Phra Kamphong told us, when we asked what would be appropriate to bring to the temple today for tham boon, that fruit or flowers would be good. Our regular fruit stand man gave us a discount on the bananas and oranges when he found out they were for tham boon. Bop, the manager of our building, got us a tray to bring the offering on. We went into the Viharn, but people very politely told us this was for bringing flowers and the fruit should go in the back.Most Thais are Buddhists, and the daily offering of food to monks, called tham boon tak bàat, is one of the most important Buddhist acts. Every day throughout the country, in urban and rural communities, Thai Buddhist monks receive their daily food during a practice known as bintábàat. Walking through the streets and paths in the early morning, the monks are met by people offering food. Food is also offered at numerous religious shrines and is an important part of most Thai Buddhist ceremonies. from answers.com
We got pointed to the little pavilion where we were to make the offering. It turned out that Phra Kamphong was the monk there. He asked if we wanted to make our offering - and get our blessings - from the abbott, we declined and said we wanted to make our offering with him. He asked for the people who died we wanted to remember and we wrote down my father and J's parents names. Then we gave him the fruit. He gave me two glasses, one with water, one empty and told me to pour the water from the one to the other while he chanted. These are the people who followed us there.Making Merit ‑ Tham boon. You will hear Thai people referring to 'boon' or merit. Why is it important to them? It has got to be top priority if they want to move towards enlightenment and improve their lot. Here is how: lead a good life, observe the 5 precepts, be kind, give to the poor, offer food to monks on their early morning round, and donate to the temple. Highest merit points go to those who become a monk or a nun. You can transfer merit to someone else if that is your wish. Thai Buddhists also make merit by visiting the temple on special holidays, see Festivals, their birthday, or any important anniversary. There is no special day for attendance (such as Sunday for Christians). From Pattaya Vacation
...there is also a ritual performed by monks to the relics of the dead in order to pass on merits to them. This ritual is known as Bangsukun Atthi. It will be performed once during the Songkran festival on any of the three days. From ThaiIndian.com
April 15 marks the Thai New Year. This is the most important day of the Songkran New Year celebrations. It is a day traditionally spent making merit and performing charitable acts such as presenting offerings to the monks and listening to sermons, sprinkling holy water on Buddha images and monks, propping up the sacred Bo tree in the temple grounds, and calling on elders to receive their blessings. A bathing ritual is observed in which lustral water is poured over respected elders in a gesture of respect and reverence. The seeking of their blessing or forgiveness for past wrong-doing is also implied. From tat.com.
The rest of the pictures you can breeze through without my commenting.
On our way home, at the bottom of the stairs, just a couple of minutes from home. One last comment on Songkran.
The throwing of water during Songkran is not a mere amusement, but has some connection with the belief of having abundant rain for the coming season of cultivation. According to the popular belief, it rains because the Nagas or mythical serpents sport themselves by spouting water from the ocean. The more they spout the more abundantly the rain will come. The young people continue to sing dance and play games after the last day of Songkran comes to an end, if the rain has not yet begun. from thaiembassy.jp
The water throwing party I posted Saturday stems from the traditional washing of the Buddha for the New Year. This small Buddha and fragrant water has been at the front door of our building for the last three days.
This [Day Three of Songkran] is the first official day of the New Year and on this day people cleanse the Buddha images in their homes as well as in the temples with scented water. from Chiang Mai.com
On the second day of the New Year festival, Thai people traditionaly carry sand into temples compounds in order to build a small pagoda ("PHRA CHEDI SAI" - พระเจดีย์ทราย). These sand piles represent personal pagodas built as part of the merit-making ritual. People leaving a temple during the previous year have taken with them temple dust. Taking sand into the temple during Songkran festival atones for what they have taken out. from Thaiworldview
Here's a sneak preview of today. The same sand pagoda, already filled with flags when we arrived at 7am.
We walked up to the upper pavillion. You can see a sort of fence an wall along the top of the ridge. I asked him what was up there. It's an open zoo. Hmmm, so maybe this is why there are gaur so close into town. The area above would be contiguous with the area behind Wat Umong where we saw the gaur. Pieces of the puzzle show up when least expected.
Here's one of the two almost life sized wooden elephants in the pavilion. The Buddha you can see, he told us, was one who was able to explain Buddhist philosophy in short, concise stories.
These trees were planted here in January. They are sala trees, the tree under which Buddha was born.Having carried the Boddhisattva in her womb for precisely ten lunar months, Maya gave a birth to him. On the full moon in May, passing by the Lumbini grove on her way to her home town, she was captivated by the beauty of the flowering sala trees and stepped down from her palanquin to walk amongst the trees in the grove. As she reached for a branch of a sala tree, which bent itself down to meet her hand, the pangs of birth came upon her. Thus, while other women are depicted as giving birth sitting or lying down, the Bodhisattva's mother is shown delivering her child while standing and holding on to the branch of a sala tree in the garden of Lumbini. From ORIAS.
Here's a view of Chiang Mai from the Wat Padaeng.After two and a half years of filming in the jungles and mountains of Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and China, "The Music of the Golden Triangle and the Cycles of Life" has moved into post production. The documentary film and CD will be released in 2008.
The Golden Triangle, a Chicago gallery of rare furnishings from Southeast Asia, China and Central Europe, will be hosting a reception to support the ongoing work of "The Music of the Golden Triangle and the Cycles of Life". 22 May 2008
The Golden Triangle
330 N. Clark Street
Chicago, Illinois, 60610.
info@goldentriangle.biz Tel: 1 (312) 755 1266
from Music and the Cycles of Life
The family sprinkling scented water from silver bowls on a Buddha image is a ritual practiced by all Thais in on the third day of Songkran, known as Wan Payawan. This is the first official day of the New Year and on this day people cleanse the Buddha images in their homes as well as in the temples with scented water. The family is dressed in traditional Thai costume and wearing leis of jasmine flower buds. The water is scented with the petals of this flower.
There was a table at the entrance of our building with a small Buddha and some fragrant water. But when we ventured out into the streets we found the modern Chiang Mai Songkran of tossing water on passers by.
In addition to the cleansing of the Buddha images a traditional Songkran involves the sprinkling of water by younger people on the older people as a tribute of respect and for blessings. This is much different from the water tossing we see on the streets and is a genuinely sincere event whereby scented water is poured over the shoulder and gently down the back of the person. While pouring the water in this manner, people utter good wishes and words of blessing for the New Year. The water symbolizes cleansing, refreshment of the spirit and all good things associated with life.
She wasn't going to just douse me and ruin the camera. She gently emptied the bucket down my back.
J had already gotten wet. But when it's 100° Fahrenheit (over 37°C) wearing wet clothes feels great.
This man had a plastic case to carry his phone in. So did a lot of other folks it turned out.
Chiff.com adds more information:Songkran (สงกรานต์) is the traditional Thai New Year Festival which starts on April 13 every year.The word Songkran comes from the Pali language of the Therevada Buddhist scriptures (Sankhara) and the Sanskrit word (Sankranti) for movement or change.
In ancient times, it was celebrated as a moveable feast, and set to occur as the sun moved into the Aries portion of the zodiac. In modern times the date has been fixed as April 13.
Although the Thai people officially changed the New Year to January 1 in 1940 to coincide with the Western business world, the traditional Songkran Festival is still celebrated as a national holiday.
The festival lasts for 4 days. Maha Songkran Day
is the first day of the celebrations which marks the end of the old year. April 14, Wan Nao is the day between the ending of the old year and the beginning of the new year when foods are prepared for the temples. The third day of Songkran, April 15, is Wan Thaloeng Sok - the day on which the New Year begins and on the last day, Wan Parg-bpee, the ancestors and elders are honored.
This lady will still be at it when we come back home a couple of hours later. 
Even this little guy had a bucket.
There's a lot going on in this picture if you click it to enlarge it.
The shirts totally wet and the pants you can see.
There she is again, still going strong. 
Even these young monks had giant squirt guns.
We slipped into Wat Suandok on the way home.
And walking past the monk housing, we learned that the older monks have power water weapons too.
