Songkran holidays to be postponed in attempt to 'limit public movement'

[ParkerN]

Well, perhaps cancellation would have been better, but for some reason this illegitimate government feels a need to be loved by the Thai people, and their estimation of the Thai people is that they are irretrievably wedded to their 'traditional' culture, despite the fact that in this instance, what is now celebrated as Songkran is lees of a cultural festival and more to do with inviting unwashed foreigners into Thai cities so they can behave badly. in a way which is unlikely to be acceptable in their home countries.

 

Takes all sorts I suppose, but it seems to me that the priority should be the health of the Thai people and not an antiquated ritual invocation to the water spirits that has long since stopped serving any useful purpose.

 

So for now, at least, the soldiers/government will pretend that it's only a postponement and not the cancellation that it actually may well be, in the hope that (according to their grand plan), the Thai people are too stupid and possessed of a short enough span of attention that by the time they wake up, the time will already have passed.

[superal]

13 hours ago, Fred white said:

The pm did address the nation I wish they would have had it translated into English like they did his Friday night talks before the so-called election 

Totally agree with the translation text on screen and I made a similar post recently .   So I reckon the powers that be are not concerned with the falangs here . What is the point of not informing non Thai language speakers ? Thais and its aliens are in this c19 war together .    Or maybe not ? 

[Rimmer]

An off topic post removed. Please DO NOT try to hijack topics with your off topic videos, this is trolling and will get you a suspension.

[ozz1]

If the all the bars are going to close in tourist  areas all the staff will probably go back home to where they come from a lot go home for songkran and have probably got holidays anyway and where I live in issaan they are still selling there inflatable pool like it's all going ahead but this is Thailand

[johnarth]

19 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

147, +33

wonder if anus thinks this is something to do with washing bums in toilet

[cyril sneer]

So now businesses will have to be open as usual on those days instead of closed?

[Isaanbiker]

What utter <deleted>! How can they stop the masses from going home over Songkran?

 

   Perhaps a great idea not to use too much water this year as many areas have a drought problem.

 

   The Thai practise to show elders respect by putting some water over their hands will not be scratched.

 

If they invent a few new holidays, why not? Gotta love their decisions.

 

[clarky cat]

8 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

How will the daily wage workers survive without  their daily wages?

People will not accept starvation and mass eviction when they cannot pay rent.

 

My partner works in customer service during the daytime and has now been told she must work the 3 days she thought she had off

 

Have had to cancel the trip we had planned now and she’ll have a better chance of catching it 

[holy cow cm]

I'm still going to take the family on a domestic trip down to the islands. 

[eeworldwide]

23 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

And I've yet to see/hear any news from the Dept of Disease Control yet on today's latest tally of new CV cases... after the 32 case increase from Sunday... Usually, they've updated by this time of the day.

 

 

Been another 33 today.

[billd766]

21 hours ago, wasabi said:

What was once an honorable religious ceremony has devolved into mayhem and death. In many ways Thailand has moved into the modern world but Song Kran is a disgusting, uncivilized blemish on that progress. Should be canceled permanently but I have no illusions that'll happen since it rakes in the Baht.

I disagree with you. The Songkran festival when celebrated in the old way IS a good thing. It brings families together for at least one time in the year before they all leave the family home again to restart work.

 

The water fights however are not anything to do with the Traditional Songkran festival but it is what a lot of tourists believe it to be. Many Thais accept that and make money from it. Good for them, but the waste of water, especially this year is bad for the country.

 

OTOH it seems as though many tourists, if they should turn up, may have to go into self isolation for 14 days and if that becomes a fact then tourism will take another serious hit along with all the businesses relying on tourism.

[HaleySabai]

On 3/16/2020 at 4:23 PM, ThailandGuy said:

Finally a good idea !  Since the virus is more in the BKK area it is better to drop the Songkran festivities at all. Noblody should travel from the BKK area to the country sides. They could not have made a better decision !

But if so many business sectors are closed down it will only leave people one choice...go home and that means back to the village.

[gk10002000]

On 3/16/2020 at 4:40 AM, webfact said:

increasing social distance

Those are challenging words to a culture that is internally sociable.  So many Thais, not unlike some other cultures love to eat and chat several times a day.  It's just the way of life.  Now add in living in fairly small plots of land, small apartments/houses and any sort of distance is a hard sell

[brokenbone]

18 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

Those are challenging words to a culture that is internally sociable.  So many Thais, not unlike some other cultures love to eat and chat several times a day. 

yeah, here too, i blend right in, except for the chatting part