12:30pm And Plenty Of Motor Traffic Around Moat

[Ulysses G.]

Things are normal around the moat and no signs of closing. THIS IS THAILAND, so who knows if they will actually stop traffic, or not?

[meadish_sweetball]

Confirmed, I just came back from the moat and the traffic was still rolling as usual. No sign of police or military as yet.

[engineer]

The only people I have seen with guns today here are kids and they are squirting water.

[Ajarn]

At 4 pm, I was able to motor to the moat road, no problem.

Some dreaming cops it seems

[WinnieTheKhwai]

They must have realized it's impossible to pull off. So many people and businesses on the inside of the moat.. And no place for any traffic heading towards the moat to go.. Completely impossible.

Idea for next year: Make Ratchadamnoen Road a Songkran Walking street. That we know is possible, and would provide plenty of opportunity for non-vehicular celebrations. Heck, make it a no alchohol zone as well.

[john b good]

They must have realized it's impossible to pull off. So many people and businesses on the inside of the moat.. And no place for any traffic heading towards the moat to go.. Completely impossible.

Idea for next year: Make Ratchadamnoen Road a Songkran Walking street. That we know is possible, and would provide plenty of opportunity for non-vehicular celebrations. Heck, make it a no alchohol zone as well.

Shyt win, you'd be a real party pooper wouldn't you

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Well, give and take, youknow.. So many people saying Sonkgran is getting out of control, so let them have their little patch of morality without trucks, music, smoking, drinking, spaghetti straps and all those other evil un-Thai things. Then everyone else can properly misbehave everywhere else.. Give & take.

Edited April 13, 2009 by WinnieTheKhwai

[cmdream]

Well, give and take, youknow.. So many people saying Sonkgran is getting out of control, so let them have their little patch of morality without trucks, music, smoking, drinking, spaghetti straps and all those other evil un-Thai things. Then everyone else can properly misbehave everywhere else.. Give & take.

You are right on, it is not out of control. The Thais and visitors have a blast for the festival. It is a joy seeing and hearing the fun they are having. Something like this could never take place in the west. No real public drinking or fighting, just a great time for all. Interesting to note that the Monsoon arrived on time. Happy Thai New Year to all !

[cmdream]

At 4 pm, I was able to motor to the moat road, no problem.

Some dreaming cops it seems

You arrived right on time because there was no traffic from Thae Pae Gate to Shridonchi road ( Katam) between 4 and 6 pm Monday except for traditional Buddha

trucks. Then the rains came. Yes a few motorbikes made it thru and were ripe targets for the moat waters. Like everything else TIT and can be modified to fit the situation.

[Ulysses G.]

So far, the moat roads have only been shut for parades, which they always are. It looks like someone on top decided to leave well enough alone

[IanForbes]

Aw gee, yah mean nobody is shooting each other for real like down in Bangkok? What's the fun in that? Yah gotta have at least a FEW bodies to make the headlines.

I do see there are the usual dumb thugs down in Pattaya ruining it for everyone though.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

You know what, I bet because of the Bangkok troubles and reduced travel over the holidays, the total number of dead for this month will actually be a lot lower than usual.. So the protests may have been good for something.. less people getting killed on the roads.

[tigerbeer]

You know what, I bet because of the Bangkok troubles and reduced travel over the holidays, the total number of dead for this month will actually be a lot lower than usual.. So the protests may have been good for something.. less people getting killed on the roads.

so what you are saying is that those involved in the protests are the drunk kamikaze kind??

[orang37]

You know what, I bet because of the Bangkok troubles and reduced travel over the holidays, the total number of dead for this month will actually be a lot lower than usual.. So the protests may have been good for something.. less people getting killed on the roads.

Esteaming Khun Winnie of Khwai,

I find this a very interesting hypothesis, although the metaphysical issue of the relative virtues of the sacrifice of greater enjoyment of life by more live people ... compared to the (presumably) lesser enjoyment of death by fewer dead people ... is one we probably need to think deeply on while suspended from hooks in our flesh during some ritual that gets us fully out of the illusion we experience of a consistent personal self.

May I equate this hypothesis to :

TotalNumberOfDeadOnTheRoadsForHolidayMonth = AverageNumberOfDeadOnTheRoadsPerHolidayMonth - (TotalNumberNotDrivingBecauseOfCivilDisturbances * AverageHolidayRoadDeathRate)

But confounding factors might require us to introduce more terms in the equation : for example, what if the per cent not driving due to civil disturbances were heavily skewed towards those who were, in the first place, cautious drivers, or relatively sober drivers ? This would mean the AverageHolidayRoadDeathRate term might do a bungee-jump rebound much higher due to the presence of relatively more drunken or un-cautious drivers.

And, could civil disturbances induce more of what is known in America as "road rage" incidents, or is that a very "culture bound" term of no relevance to Asia or Thailand ?

And what of pedestrian behavior in a time of perceived social unrest : could civil mayhem accelerate caution, or lead to more self-endangering behavior ?

I look forward to continuing our research ! In the spirit, as we say in Orang, of "breaking coconuts over each other's heads until both of us are laughing."

~o:37;

Edited April 15, 2009 by orang37

[harrry]

May I equate this hypothesis to :

TotalNumberOfDeadOnTheRoadsForHolidayMonth = AverageNumberOfDeadOnTheRoadsPerHolidayMonth - (TotalNumberNotDrivingBecauseOfCivilDisturbances * AverageHolidayRoadDeathRate)

But confounding factors might require us to introduce more terms in the equation : for example, what if the per cent not driving due to civil disturbances were heavily skewed towards those who were, in the first place, cautious drivers, or relatively sober drivers ? This would mean the AverageHolidayRoadDeathRate term might do a bungee-jump rebound much higher due to the presence of relatively more drunken or un-cautious drivers.

As a large percentage of the Red Shirts seem to be taxi or songtow drivers it seems their removal from the roads will have a signifigent effect in lowereing the road toll.

[realthaideal]

And today ? How is the water throwing scene ? Cars of hooligans with their cans of icewater doing drive-by's still? I skipped yesterday but am up for a final hurrah. UG, what's the latest down there ?

[orang37]

As a large percentage of the Red Shirts seem to be taxi or songtow drivers it seems their removal from the roads will have a signifigent effect in lowereing the road toll.

Khun Harry, Sawasdee Khrup,

Now that is an example of the "common sense" coconut ("ma prao samong chaart" ?) that I would like to have broken over my head frequently !

thanks ! ~o:37;

[Ulysses G.]

And today ? How is the water throwing scene ? Cars of hooligans with their cans of icewater doing drive-by's still? I skipped yesterday but am up for a final hurrah. UG, what's the latest down there ?

Situation normal, but not so many cars and pickups. They stopped them to let the parade go by and it took a while before they started again. This is indeed the last hurrah, so get it out of your system if you need to.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Is it over already...

By the way, I once again noticed how silly it is to read posts like 'I'm going to hole myself up at home with some DVDs and enough food for a week"... When not partying in the streets I found it VERY easy to visit restaurants, markets or do anything else during the day. Didn't get wet unless I wanted to.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

You know what, I bet because of the Bangkok troubles and reduced travel over the holidays, the total number of dead for this month will actually be a lot lower than usual.. So the protests may have been good for something.. less people getting killed on the roads.

so what you are saying is that those involved in the protests are the drunk kamikaze kind??

No, I'm saying that fewer people in the Bangkok region want to travel or celebrate because of the troubles. Fewer people on the road means fewer accidents. But anyway, let's see on Friday what the totals are.

[Ulysses G.]

When not partying in the streets I found it VERY easy to visit restaurants, markets or do anything else during the day. Didn't get wet unless I wanted to.

I live in the middle of it, but had no problem doing whatever I wanted without getting too wet. I did not even touch a squirt gun, but certainly enjoyed watching.

My guess is there was about half the people who were coming 4 or 5 years ago - it did not used to be so easy to stay dry.