New year is celebrated in some countries in Asia with a water festival - known as Pi Mai in Laos, Thing yan in Burma and Songkran in Thailand. Video journalist Pros Laput follows VOA Burmese Service reporter Kyaw Kyaw Thein in Chiang Mai, Thailand as he reports and visits exiled friends and family from Burma.

Kyaw Kyaw Thein says celebrating the water festival in Chiang Mai is very much like the celebrations back in Burma. He says he doesn't know when he can go back to his country, so Chiang Mai is where he goes, the closest place he can be to his country.

Upon seeing old friends and colleagues at the festival, Thein says they all hope that one day they can go back to Burma and all join together.