Songkran 2023

[Gaybutton]

Bangkok's Songkran rules:
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Bangkok announces guidelines for Songkran Festival 2023

By Pattaya Mail

April 11, 2023

The Songkran Festival, also known as the water festival, is Thailand’s merriest festival. An important traditional practice on this occasion is that young people visit their relatives and elders in their hometown and pour lustral water onto the palms of their elders as a gesture of respect. The water throwing, so often associated with Songkran, is the part that is normally enjoyed by young people the most.

For the safety of Songkran celebrants, as well as to promote the Thai tradition, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) urges the general public in Bangkok to refrain from:

– drink-driving,
– getting wasted and creating a scene in public,
– wearing inappropriate clothing,
– turning up the speakers loud,
– smearing powder on other people,
– using high-pressure water guns.

For residents and tourists, here are some of the key locations to celebrate Songkran in Bangkok:

– International Amazing Splash 2023 from 13 to 15 April 2023 at Chula Soi 5, at Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park, near the National Stadium. The event is aimed at highlighting international cultural events and traditions of splashing that are similar to Songkran;

– SIAM Songkran Music Festival from 12 to 14 and 16 April 2023 at Urban Yard RCA open cafe;

– GCIRCUIT Songkran Festival 2023 from 13 to 16 April 2023 at CentralWorld Shopping Plaza.

https://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnew ... 023-429050

[Jun]

Any videos or pictures like this 2019 example would be most welcome.



Maybe Undaunted might venture out with his video camera to bring a little bit of happiness to the forum?

[Gaybutton]

The following article specifically talks about Bangkok and surrounding areas. It doesn't say whether police elsewhere, such as Pattaya, are going to be doing the same. I, for one, would not want to find out the hard way that they are.

Between now and when Songkran ends at the end of the day on April 19, drink as much as you want, but just don't drive. Either walk or take a taxi. And if you take a taxi, remember to make damned sure the driver is sober.

Just the other day I posted an article about what has been happening to people who were injured and trying to deal with insurance companies. Be careful and enjoy the holiday, but be cautious and take care not to get hurt. The last thing you need is a very expensive hospital bill and the insurance company refusing to cover you.

Also, don't forget that the police are still actively checking foreigners to make sure their visas are valid. I would carry a good photocopy of your main passport page and current visa if I were you - and keep it wrapped up in something to protect it from water damage. I doubt they are going to try to check people during the water splashing, but if you're in a vehicle that gets stopped, you certainly might be checked.
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Daytime boozers beware! RTP on ALL DAY lookout for Songkran DUI offenders in Bangkok

April 11, 2023

Police in the Thai capital Bangkok have changed their approach to catching DUI offenders this Songkran holiday, that begins later this week.

Motorists may also be lucky to get some chicken essence at checkpoints.

Pol Maj-Gen Jirasan Kaewsaeng-ek noted at a ceremony on Monday at the New Southern Bus Station that 12 midnight checkpoints had proved inadequate.

Studies has shown that Thais were getting drunk all day during Songkran.

So for this year the alcohol and drug checkpoints - nearly 100 of them - would be set up from NOON.

A total of 4,000 officers have been mobilized to cover outward bound journeys, 11 big events in the capital and 100 smaller ones and the checkpoints.

Of the 100 checkpoints a few were looking for non-helmet wearing, red light transgressors and people speeding.

But nearly 100 were on the lookout for drunk and drugged up drivers, reported Siam Rath.

First priority for the moblization plans of the RTP, Land Transport Department and related agencies was to look after the travelling public at Mo Chit, Don Muang airport and the southern terminal.

Hundreds have been given tasks at those transport hubs for the outgoing Songkran traffic starting tomorrow and the incoming beginning on Sunday.

Siam Rath's story was accompanied by a picture of police with an unidentified foreigner. This advertised that 100,000 bottles of Brands Chicken Essence would be handed out free at Songkran.

The handing out of the chicken essence at checkpoints became a much commented upon thread on Thaivisa prior to the pandemic.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1291777-dayt ... in-bangkok
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Wow! Did you see that? If you're really lucky you just might get to go home with a container of chicken essence. A dream come true . . .

[Jun]

In addition to lecturing the converted, some good news would also be welcome.

For example photos or videos of any cute, wet and scantily clad boys having a good time. Just in case anyone is venturing out with a camera.

[Gaybutton]

In addition to lecturing the converted, some good news would also be welcome.

The publicity is saying the police are going to be out there in droves doing what they can to prevent deaths and injury due to drunk driving. I'd say that is good news. Do you disagree?

[Jun]

The publicity is saying the police are going to be out there in droves doing what they can to prevent deaths and injury due to drunk driving. I'd say that is good news. Do you disagree?

Oh I agree.

Perhaps a better choice of wording would have been entertaining news.

I'm sure someone could venture out with a waterproof 4K camera, just to give us a taste of the fun. Some people somewhere will enjoy Songkran.
I've tried volunteering Undaunted, but don't mind who captures it.

That might just draw a few punters back here as well.

[Montree]

The calmer side of Songkran as a guy washes his mother’s feet. The guy is actually from Myanmar but he’s currently in Chiang Mai. Not my photo but I’ve kept in touch with him since meeting him in Pattaya just before the pandemic.

My Thai boyfriend hates Songkran and heads out of Bangkok for the duration. He’s staying with his mother in rural Ratchaburi.

[Gaybutton]

Oh well - despite the best efforts of the police:
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27 Deaths on the First Day of Thailand’s Seven Days of Danger Songkran Road Safety Campaign

By Goongnang Suksawat

12 April, 2023

A total of 278 road accidents, with 27 deaths and 287 injuries, was reported by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) on the first day of the Seven Days of Danger road safety campaign during Songkran.

On April 11th, there were 278 accidents with 27 deaths and 287 injuries. Most were caused by excessive speeding (35.25 percent). About 79 percent of the accidents involved motorcycles.

About 48 percent of road accidents occurred on highways. Most accidents occurred between 7:01 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.

The provinces with the highest fatalities were in Pathum Thani, Phetchabun, and Loei with two deaths each. The highest number of injuries and accidents were in Phatthalung with 14 accidents and 18 injuries.

Chonburi, the home of The Pattaya News, has recorded one death.

https://tpnnational.com/2023/04/12/27-d ... -campaign/

[Gaybutton]

I didn't go much of anywhere today - just my local area. Nothing unusual was going on. No water throwing that I saw. Just a routine day with routine traffic levels. In the pre-Covid days, the first day of Songkran in Pattaya almost always saw young children and toddlers with squirt guns that couldn't shoot more than a meter or so, but today nothing I saw.

The news media is reporting 63 road deaths so far, mostly due to speeding motorbikes, and hundreds of accidents. For details, see:
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... -in-2-days
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Unexpected slow start to water pandemonium in Pattaya

By Barry Kenyon

April 13, 2023

After three years of Songkran lockdown, thanks to coronavirus, the first day of the water-chucking festival had few takers. Water pistol and raincoat street sellers sat forlornly outside Pattaya’s beach road police station waiting for business to pick up. “We expected a busy morning on day one (April 13) as Pattaya is very busy. But so far I have sold only one plastic gun and a waterproof hat,” said Nam who has been a saleslady for 30 years.

Pattaya police station’s frontage has traditionally been a center point for Songkran water excess, if only because officers had to grin and bear the drenched uniforms and powder-doused powder. But not this year. The rumor is that senior police have warned that anyone attempting to force motorbike drivers off their machines by hurling buckets of cold water over them will receive a taste of Thai holding-cell hospitality. Meanwhile, high-pressure water guns are not for sale publicly this year.

Other watery locations told a similar story. Notorious spots on Second Road were as dry as dust, whilst the Hanuman statue intersection on Jomtien Two road could only muster two teens with an icy bucket standing in front of a restaurant sign saying, “Water throwers will be punished”. In pre-pandemic Pattaya, there were several unsuccessful attempts by the local authority to restrict the water armies to specific locations, such as a remote section of beach or the hilly park situated next to the tourist police base. But Pattaya city hall has been silent this year, except for traditional greetings and a reminder about booze and traffic accidents.

Of course, it’s early yet as Pattaya takes a full week for the festivities (April 13-19) culminating in the chaotic traffic day when Thais and foreigners fight it out aboard lorries and the backs of pickups. But some say the decline of Pattaya water mayhem is a sign Sin City has changed. “The heyday was 20 years ago when westerners came to Pattaya just to enjoy the festival. But tourism these days is more Asian and Russian orientated and they aren’t interested in rediscovering their lost youth by throwing water,” says tourism guide Porn Seemongkol. “That’s why the water games are now mostly confined to streets with nightclubs catering for westerners, such as Soi Buakhao or Soi Six.”

https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... aya-429124

[gerefan]

Oh well - despite the best efforts of the police:
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27 Deaths on the First Day of Thailand’s Seven Days of Danger Songkran Road Safety Campaign

I say it every holiday so here we go again ….

The annual death rate on Thai roads before Covid was 21000….57 per day.

So this first day of the Holiday they didn’t even get to 50% of the average.

The next day was just over 10% above average.

So for the hysterics please report EVERY single accident…even if you only bruised your big toe.

You know it makes sense.