The whisky has flowed since early morning and teens in water-soaked clothing dance to pulsating music in the streets. A typically reserved woman good-naturedly takes a foreigner by the shirt collar and pours a bottle of water down the back of his neck.
"It's water festival. Best time of year," a man in his early 20s explains in stilted English, jiggling in his hand a plastic bottle of whiskey although it is only midmorning.
Many Buddhists who frown on excessive drinking make a spectacular exception during the four-day water festival known as Thingyan _ a celebration of public disorder that Myanmar's ruling junta has learned it must warily endure.
Myanmar, like its neighbors Thailand and Laos, ushers in the Buddhist New Year with the water fights _ held annually during the hottest month of the year.
Although the holiday, which began Monday, was once celebrated with the gentle sprinkling of scented water, it now see battles with high-powered hoses and revelers dancing en masse to hip-hop music.
Every year, the government warns that misbehavior and immodest dress will not be tolerated, but the warnings are ignored by a repressed, socially conservative people who are determined to let their hair down.
"Rules come out every year, but who cares about rules," said Thin Thiri, a 17-year-old girl who dyed her hair red for the occasion. "Thingyan comes only once a year and we won't let regulations ruin such fun."
Police officers in sodden trousers battle to keep traffic flowing through flooded streets. The military are tolerant but nervous. Soldiers waiting in the backs of parked trucks wear combat helmets and are armed with automatic rifles.
Young children love it and so do the teens and 20-somethings who often use the occasion to dress like rock and roll rebels. It is a marked departure from the regularly conservative dress code of Yangon's streets.
"We let go of the bad things that have happened and look forward to a better year," said a saturated man in his 20s, who gave his name only as Nandar.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing pro-democracy demonstrations and killing as many as 3,000 people. It called elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results when pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party won overwhelmingly. Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years under house arrest.
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*********************Myanmar junta presses military for support*********************
Myanmar's junta deputy leader General Maung Aye has urged military officers to take responsibility for the success of elections planned for next year, a state newspaper said.
In a speech at a graduation ceremony for new officers, the general told recruits that it was their job to ensure the country's transition to a mature democracy, the New Light of Myanmar reported.
"I would say you are responsible for the democratic transition, in cooperation with the people, to ensure the successful completion of 2010 elections," Maung Aye told the gathering in the military town of Bahtoo in Shan State.
"Some countries have faced instability and electoral violence because political parties attacked one another in canvassing for votes... because their democracy had not been mature enough," he was quoted as saying.
The military government has announced the polls next year under its so-called "roadmap to democracy" but critics have denounced the vote as a sham designed to entrench the generals' rule.
The elections are to be held under a new constitution that was approved in May last year, days after Cyclone Nargis devastated southern regions of the country and left 138,000 people dead or missing.
Officials estimate there are at least 500,000 members of the armed forces in this nation of 57.5 million people.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962 and is under tough sanctions by the US and European countries because of its human rights records and continued detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party won a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but the junta did not allow it to take office.
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