Criticism lights up over Amazing Thailand Marathon fireworks ‘late in the night’

[webfact]

Criticism lights up over Amazing Thailand Marathon fireworks ‘late in the night’

By The Nation

 

 

Residents criticised the Amazing Thailand Marathon 2020 event – which started off at Rajamangala National Stadium and Wat Ratchanadda on Sunday (February 2) – for the “inappropriateness of lighting fireworks late at night when most people were sleeping and also the pollution” caused by the display. 

 

Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said the marathon was held for the second consecutive year, which aimed to make Thailand the venue as the seventh prominent marathon stadium in the world. Therefore, the event needed to attract foreign tourists, he added. 

 

According to statistics, participants of the event numbered 28,000, with 20 per cent being foreign tourists. 

 

 

Amid criticism over the fireworks at 3am, Phiphat said he bore “sole responsibility for carelessness”, adding that lighting the fireworks was a mistake. He used the opportunity to apologise to students in Hua Mak area after he learned that there was an exam, while the event led to traffic jams until 7.30am. 

 

Phiphat promised that next year the event would carefully take into consideration the impact on people in the area.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30381496

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-02-03

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[nikmar]

Who the hell thought fireworks at 3 am would be a good idea??

[thequietman]

16 minutes ago, nikmar said:

Who the hell thought fireworks at 3 am would be a good idea??

Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn

[dutchinlondon]

18 minutes ago, nikmar said:

Who the hell thought fireworks at 3 am would be a good idea??

That's the time the Karaoke close, Perfect closure of a good night out ????

[tifino]

25 minutes ago, nikmar said:

Who the hell thought fireworks at 3 am would be a good idea??

some bright spark 

 

 

probably thought too the darkness would hide the smoke? 

[realfunster]

I have seen a fair bit of grumbling on the internet about this one.

Aside from the noise & general disruption, it appears they left the route in quite a state afterwards with tables, chairs, tents & rubbish left in situ for a long while.

 

Should have been cancelled due to the terrible AQI anyway.

You can add addressing the air quality issue to the list of things to improve "to make Thailand the venue as the seventh prominent marathon stadium in the world ."

[sweatalot]

what about criticism over parties with mega soundboxes and not only late at night. May be until 10 would be acceptable and first and foremost don't allow those mega soundboxes anymore. Everywhere in the country including countryside. We had walls shaking.

Edited February 3, 2020 by sweatalot

[Beggar]

56 minutes ago, nikmar said:

Who the hell thought fireworks at 3 am would be a good idea??

This seems to be the mentality here. The same with bar and other noise. They don't care about others. 

[CNXexpat]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

participants of the event numbered 28,000

I guess they are running without mask and think running in these air is healthy and they are doing something good for their body. 

[DrTuner]

What? Creating a racket in the middle of the night pretty standard in Thailand. Constant noise pollution.

[trainman34014]

1 hour ago, nikmar said:

Who the hell thought fireworks at 3 am would be a good idea??

'Thought' is something for intelligent people; unlikely to be found in Thai Corridors of Power !

 

[billd766]

This is a once a year day.

[BobbyL]

This pretty much sums up Thailand. Nobody it seems, literally NOBODY, thought to perhaps question the idea of setting fireworks off at 3am! 

[30la]

16 hours ago, webfact said:

Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said the marathon was held for the second consecutive year, which aimed to make Thailand the venue as the seventh prominent marathon stadium in the world. Therefore, the event needed to attract foreign tourists, he added. 

Again Minister Pipat, if you are not in the daily news you are not happy, are you?
The deafening noises at all hours, will make you lose even more tourists, the noises caused by the temples, by the Thai themselves and by you who think the fireworks are still a sign of celebration, without seeing that the situation of the air requires a little common sense.

[klauskunkel]

Phiphat, Phiphat, you sure fit right in...

[Benmart]

Primitive thinking by selfish and ignorant people often results in noisy spectacles that achieve little in the way of social advancement for those in need.

[justin case]

hey there is a disease that people get get from being too close...

 

thailand:  let's organize a marathon, full of sweaty people breathing heavily + dangerous PM2.5 

[Bundooman]

15 hours ago, billd766 said:

This is a once a year day.

So it's OK then?

Wow!

[IAMHERE]

17 hours ago, nikmar said:

Who the hell thought fireworks at 3 am would be a good idea??

First to my mind is the Fireworks Salesman (woman).

[hotchilli]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

Phiphat promised that next year the event would carefully take into consideration the impact on people in the area.

Hindsight is a great tool for the "learning curve" maybe it's available on an App for Thailand as none seems to have been genetically bred!

[mickey rat]

17 hours ago, nikmar said:

Who the hell thought fireworks at 3 am would be a good idea??

Who the hell thought setting up a marathon in Bangkok when air quality is at its all time worst and who would be stupid enough to participate? ????

[SunsetT]

In Nakhon Phanom the half marathon started at 5am accompanied by fireworks! This is what I wrote on a NKP website:

 

"Thank you very much Nakhon Phanom Tessaban for waking everyone up at 4.30am today and for the headaches from presenters shouting for 4 hours at completely unnecessary 300% amplified volume to the people near to them, and also thank you very much for the fireworks at 5am!!! Thank you for waking up at 4.30am all the Nakhon Phanom people who work so hard for 6 days a week and Sunday morning is their only day to sleep late!!! Also thank you from all the tourists staying in the many hotels around the Tessaban area for waking them up at 4.30am and for a 4 hour headache! They especially enjoyed the 5am fireworks. And finally a special thank you for your thoughtful care and consideration from all the sick people you woke up in Nakhon Phanom hospital not far away. Thank you so so much Nakhon Phanom Tessaban! You are so thoughtful and kind!"

 

As with the failure to pull over for ambulances, I think this really highlights the complete absence of the concept of care and consideration for others in Thai culture and consequently the Thai psyche. I find this fascinating because I think that it also demonstrates that these thoughts/feelings are not actually innate to humans but need to be instilled/inculcated by culture. I think we need to learn this lesson in the increasingly atheistic West, as, in dismissing religions for their irrational superstitious mumbo-jumbo, paedophilia, sexual abuse, and serious abuse of power, we are in danger of throwing the baby out with the bath water, i.e., the good values that religions teach people to live by day to day. And if those values that a culture wishes to maintain are not somehow taught and reinforced as in religious festivals and rituals, then, as I believe is happening in the west, those values become more and more diluted with each generation.

Edited February 4, 2020 by SunsetT

[Foghorn]

2 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

First to my mind is the Fireworks Salesman (woman).

What about the government person getting theirs cut

[billd766]

3 hours ago, Bundooman said:

So it's OK then?

Wow!

Why not?

 

Out in rural Thailand when people are cremated they are usually sent on their way with 3, 6 or 9 very loud firecrackers. On Chinese New Year Chinese people let off strings of fire crackers at all hours of the day and night. On the change from 31 December to 1st of January fireworks go off for quite a while.

 

Just live with it.

 

The fact that the idiot who organised these particular fireworks has, I believe, already apologised and admitted it was his mistake.

[DrTuner]

2 hours ago, SunsetT said:

And if those values that a culture wishes to maintain are not somehow taught and reinforced as in religious festivals and rituals, then, as I believe is happening in the west, those values become more and more diluted with each generation.

Nice sales pitch. Ain't buying. The west is holding and improving their values just fine without any force fed religions. It's the fanatics that are digging up their values from the dark ages.

[SunsetT]

16 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Nice sales pitch. Ain't buying. The west is holding and improving their values just fine without any force fed religions. It's the fanatics that are digging up their values from the dark ages.

Sales pitch for what? Im not advocating any religion. Im just telling it as I see it.

[overherebc]

On 2/3/2020 at 5:02 PM, CNXexpat said:

I guess they are running without mask and think running in these air is healthy and they are doing something good for their body. 

You can't see pollution at night  ------'''

[metisdead]

Some troll posts have been removed.