Khao San Songkran Festival Goes Ahead as Planned

BANGKOK: -- The organiser of the Songkran Festival on Khao San Road has confirmed the three-day festival will be held as planned, while the Tourism and Sports Ministry plans to allow private insurers to bid for the right to provide insurance for tourists.

Khao San Road Business Operators Association Chairman, Surat Wongchansil, revealed the association will hold the 30th Songkran festival on Khao San Road for three days, from April 12th to 15th, with a budget of three million baht.

Surat expects the festival to attract up to 400,000 Thais and foreigners and generate up to 500 million baht, provided the red-shirt rally ceases before the festival.

He said the occupancy rate for accommodation on Khao San Road now stands at 80 per cent, and he expects the rooms will be fully booked soon.

Permanent Secretary to the Tourism and Sports Ministry, Attachai Burakamkowit, revealed following a meeting with the Office of Insurance Commission or OIC, that they agreed to extend the period of tourist insurance to April 5th, after it expired at the end of March, until the revision of the insurance scheme is complete.

As a part of revision, the Tourism and Sports Ministry will compile a terms of reference to allow private insurers to bid for the insurance scheme. Most of the details of the insurance scheme will be the same as proposed by the OIC, but with better coverage.

This prompts the idea of price bidding in order to find an insurance company that can provide the best deal for tourists.

Meanwhile, Apichart Sangka-aree, a board member at the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations, said no one can say for certain whether the price bidding idea for the tourist insurance scheme is proposed with a vested interest in mind.

He commented that changing the insurance from being the responsibility of OIC and the General Insurance Association and using price bidding instead, may cause a pause gap in the normal function of this scheme.

-- Tan Network 2010-04-02

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I'm confused, what does insurance have to do with the party on Khao San? Are they talking about general insurance for any participants during the festival, (if so, I never knew that existed before), or is this some front for some agency to sell vacation insurance on Khao San during the festival?

I know that in the west a festival organizer must have general insurance to get clearance to hold a festival, but I never expected it would be the same here.

Now if those 400.000 people make a little visit over to the Pan Fa bridge we have a problem solved.

Now, now, we can't have that, foreigners have been banned from attending the rallies. Also, don't doubt that the "Red Militia" (Khattiya's thugs) have weapons that they won't mind using on some rowdy foreigners. All we are regulated to here is complaining on web boards.

That being said, I know that there are many foreigners who get drunk in Khao San, and go looking for a fight, if you see some, you might as well steer them towards Ratchadamnoen! Let them rub testosterone with their counterparts one street over.

Just keep it out of Khao San, Songkran is one of the few times that Khao San is actually amusing!

I see chaos in the making.

for three days, from April 12th to 15th

12,13,14,15 - Someone can't count.....

I will be in Khao San on the 17th/18th and am wondering whether I should expect to get wet?

Apparently the 19th when I head back is the peak day of water throwing in Pattaya - does it go on so long in Bangkok?

I think its about time to buy a new dry bag anyway....