"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
Thank Buddha that the Thais have returned to their senses. Let them reflect on the real tradition by sprinkling drops of water on the hair and opened palms.
Do away with the drunken festivities. Get rid of those plastic water guns and stay healthy.
We´ll have to wait and see what practical effect such a measure from some kind of ´rattabaan´ will have. I suspect just the same as with no parking, flashing red lights, respecting zebra, vendors on the footpath and on & on. Perhaps if they started banning the sale of those waterguns as being dangerous plastics. Oh, dear dina: the sale of alco thus seems not to have been banned so there is now even more reason for drunken revelry to forget these nasty things.
As an aside: it seems also the City of KhonKhaen-thats faraway in that Isanyland appears to have taken same measure.
Also that G-circuit, so beloved by Singy gym-bunnies, appears to have been cancelled. With people complaining they had booked airtix from even Brasil to visit it.
sorry but did you actually read either of these linked articles?Originally Posted by dinagam
the "official" activities on April 19 have been cancelled, but "while it is impossible to enforce an outright ban, both tourists and locals are urged not to throw water" and "The Mayor urges residents and tourists not to throw water, which could help spread the virus, but noted that a closet ban would be unenforceable and there is no way to ban playing with water if people choose to at their own risk."
am I missing something obvious here? why do you think the "drunken festivities" with water guns are not going to start, as in previous years probably on Apr 11, and continue to April 19, in Jomtien Complex and outside the various bars and massage places in Jomtien, over the hill in to Pattaya and on Beach Rd, Second Rd, etc
I mean, the local authorities have been unable to control the taxi and Baht bus mafia, prostitution, pirate dvds, and illegal property developments but they are somehow now going to control water splashing in Pattaya?
sorry but my glass must have a serious leak because I have a serious problem maintaining even a glass half empty level!
BenCH (March 8th, 2020)
The production and sales of alcohol in Thailand are in the hands of billionaire oligarchs and they alone determine the direction of the industry. This is very much evident in the communist Laos and Vietnam, where they are cheaply available for the masses. At the end of the day the hoi polloi will have their fill of cheap alcohol and the resultant good feeling whilst the oligarchs and the ruling class count their profits and blessing, and acknowledge the gratitude of the people for the perpetuation of drunken festivities, even though the death statistics attributed to alcohol abuse keep on rising through the years.
And now there is the Covid19 apparition in the horizon.
Thais cancel songkran. Good for them.
I desperately hope Boris Johnson cancels Christmas.
Here in Bangkok the bars have heard nothing from the authorities yet (why would they? Alcohol bans are usually only announced the night before!).
Hopefully Silom Soi 4 will be dry (of water) again. Last year the soi was kept completely dry by police provided security at the start of the soi. The soi was rammed from 17:00 till closing every day.
New of Pattaya Songkran cancellation: March 9th https://youtu.be/WpfRTGXkNAg
"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
Here in Bangkok the problem has usually been Silom is a designated "water play" area and while Soi 4 may be dry getting there dry in the evening was not easy
even ignoring that, all the "locals" would decide to do their water splashing at different times on different days in the side sois and areas around that. Back in the day when the only reason for me to go to Patpong to was to visit the Foodland Supermarket it was likely to be a wet journey any time after 10:00AM for 5 or 6 days and a dry walk along parts of Surawong or down Soi Tarntawan/Soi 6, or even Soi Pipat and Convent was unlikely at any time any day!
even if the BMA cancels their "official Songkran "war zone" in SIlom they will have the same problem as in Pattaya - the water splashing may be significantly reduced but will still be a problem for those that want to stay dry
after 25 years in Thailand I am disappointed having watched Songkran evolve from the desk staff at my apartment wai-ing and sprinkling lustral water on my palm to people in the street smiling and smearing some talc on my face to enjoying Silom turning into a giant wet t-shirt competition during the day but if you weren't dressed to play people smiled and let you pass to it suddenly being acceptable to throw dirty iced water into a crowded bus or tuk tuk or onto people dressed to go to work or to meet friends for lunch or dinner or even worse throw water into the face of a guy on a motorcycle delivering pizza and watch him loose control, to now this is Thailand and we are drunk falung or we are locals and we can do what we like regardless of what the authorities say and if you don't like it then f*ck off
I'm not stupid, I don't like it so, I will f*ck for a few days but forgive me if I don't understand why the TAT and the BMA and everyone else are so happy to see this important Thai cultural holiday be corrupted to promote tourism and unacceptable public behavior
...
sorry - I started that last sentence with "I'm not stupid" and having re-read the sentence I realise I am
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