Booze-Free 'Safety Areas' Set For Songkran

[ianh68]

My safety zone will be in an airplane lifting off just as silly week begins.

Tell me where! I'll join you!

[ianh68]

Songkran.....half the people love it and half the people dislike it.

It seems to be a great reason to let loose and get drunk and sloppy and silly for 3 to 4 to 5 days.

I like watching it but I seriously avoid getting wet....maybe this year I will...on second thought ...I think not.

If I was a drinker..... I would probably get involved...but seeing how I am not a drinker .....I think I will just be a bystander...again ...and glad to see it pass by with a return to sanity and normality.

I hope less people get hurt or die this year on the roads than last year.

I sometimes envision myself being able to be perched above the roads and highways watching the drunken calamities occuring , minute by minute, on all the highways and roadways as alcohol induced "Songkran Fever" takes hold of the nation.

After someones death during Songkran I imagine many of the Thais saying: "Well at least he died while he was drunk during Songkran...he died happy " as a means of trying to accept the death of a loved one or person they knew.

But that does not account for all the carnage that occures because some peple go overboard with the alcohol and riun it for others.

Meantime...it is fun to watch and as long as people drink sensibly and people are kept in control by thier sensibilities and the authorities ..to a degree...then Songkran is all around good fun for everyone.

Cheers and enjoy the season.

There's a business opportunity here. Songkran viewing from the dry safety of hot air balloon flights or variations on the same.

[happyrobert]

Booze free areas? Great. I love free booze!

Will these booze free areas also be on Koh Chang? You know, the national park where it is already illegal all the time? Hmmm, so that would be a booze free zone in a booze free area.

Last week, as entertainment, we sat and watched a police roadblock on Koh Chang outside of White Sand Beach. The cops stopped everyone without a helmet, of course, but we also saw a bunch of guys with helmets riding rented scooters who were not stopped. What's my point you ask? Well, the guys with helmets were driving the bikes one-handed.....they had big bottles of beer in their left hands.

Booze free zones my gluteus maximus.

[drdoom6996]

I am a Sonkran Grinch, or so I have been told on another forum. I have a chest freezer for food just for this time of year. I will not leave my house once this starts as it will last for a week here in Pattaya. It is really too bad that this holiday has turned into a mess. I was in Pattaya in 1985 and it was a cultural experience. Now it's just wet and stupid.

Good luck with the no drinking areas. lol

[drdoom6996]

There must be a goverment department of usless statistic's which is next door to the ministry of silly walks....

Which is next door to TAT which is behind the crack down office.

and across the road from the office of HUBS

Which is next door to the sign up for 3G and 4G for your phone.

[drdoom6996]

This always amazes me that certain people on this forum hate this festival, hate getting wet, hate the whole thing but still go into town. The ones that jump on a plane should just keep going.

I have to agree they know perfectly well that if they venture into certain areas that they WILL get wet. Makes me think <deleted> why can't these people just think logically and realize the best way to avoid thai culture, festivals and from getting wet is to stay clear. There are plenty of other things to do and places to go in Thailand where you wont get wet. Some grumpy old men will complain if they have nothing to complain about. Personally I love the festival and don't mind getting wet on a 35g day with high humidity. I don't mind all the wet "T" Shirts on the girls either.

My grumpy old 16 year old daughter went to Roiet with her nanny so they could avoid the "city" experience. Our nanny says that the falangs messed it up. I have been here since 1987 and I have to agree with her. This is not Thai culture as it is played out today. I have a life and it is at home, sober and dry while the mess is happening.

[Reallush]

On which planet does Mr Kantiya live? I would like to read the transcripts of these interviews. A drunk policeman asking a drunk driver where he bought his liquor? The police only arrest drivers after they have caused an accident.

I agree, instead of "interviewing" the drunk, why not LOCK him up! or is that against police policy?

its not against police policy, but its kinda hypocrit to arrest a drunk driver when you're drunk yourself isn't it ^^

[Oberkommando]

That must be Thai math. It is similar to the claim of the police, that in 2010 there were about 11.000 people killed on the road, and no source given. The last official statistic I have seen was from 2005 and it stated 18.000 deaths and an estimated number of unreported cases of about 2000.

Today with more cars and motorcycles on the road, with no extended road safety education, nor any law enforcement on the roads of Thailand, how come that the roadtoll decreased by about 50%. Must be another example of Thai math, or a massive increase of nonreported cases.

The figures only include those dead at the scene of an accident. If someone dies later or on the way to hospital they are not included in those statistics.

I agree, instead of "interviewing" the drunk, why not LOCK him up! or is that against police policy?

The jails would be overflowing with tens of thousands of offenders. Millions of Thais drive drunk on a weekly basis, and that is no exaggeration, even more during celebrations.

The only way to reduce the death toll from alcohol related road accidents is to make it socially unacceptable to drink and drive with harsh punishments for the offenders, as has been done in the UK and Australia. Thailand has no chance of following suit simply because of the mai bpen rai culture of denial and irresponsibility.

[Oberkommando]

Most bargirls are well pissed off when I bring up the fact that most Thai cultural mainstays including their script,dance etc. are inherited from Indian culture with a sprinkling of Chinese

Thai culture is more closely linked to Khmer which is in turn influenced heavily from Indian culture. Thai language is very similar to Khmer which was originally descended from Sanskrit. Hearing it spoken, reciting the numbers for example, the similarities are obvious (although Khmer isn't tonal). As is Thai dance, theatre, comedy and even Thai boxing which is Khmer in origin.

Careful though, as many people; Thais and Westerners alike, will deny any influence from Khmer due to a lack of understanding of regional history and a bias against anything Cambodian.

[Payboy]

Booze-Free 'Safety Areas' Set For Songkran

Excellent idea - free booze in a safe environment.

[techboy]

Wonder where the 1948 deaths/year during Songkran came from? Staggering number, as the road accident deaths are never reported as even near this figure.

Not sure how you would calculate that young people drank 1.8 times heavier than at other times. Is that bottles of booze, beer, or weight of same?

Not to sound prosaic but "So what's your point?"

[Haydn]

Last year the British Hooligans were urinating in the water bins before filling their large high powered illegal pump gins and holding a competition with a neighboring bar in Second Road Pattaya to see how many people they could knock of motorbikes -- this was not on an official Song Kran day --- Made me very ashamed of being of being British and when I spoke to one I was told to F O-- This year I have a tiny camera and I am going to film them and send prints to the department of Works and Pensions as many have admitted to me on other occasions that they are on the dole

[sausageandmash]

Youre quite right, you can smoke weed instead.

No drinking? Mai sanook na ka!

I think you can enjoy yourself without alcohol.

[softgeorge]

Youre quite right, you can smoke weed instead.

No drinking? Mai sanook na ka!

I think you can enjoy yourself without alcohol.

Yes but if I have a couple of quite beers I am not going to end up in the Bangkok Hilton for 20 yrs.

[lensta]

Soak-Kran is the worst time to be in LOS.

I guess you will be leaving as well? I could probably get a package deal for all the bloggers that think this is a bad thing to happen to fly to no where land to be with the no where man. I know I can't stand for people being happy even if it is with the help of drinks and drugs. It is so distasteful to see others enjoying themselves. especially at my aggravated expense. You all should get a life and start enjoying the few things that still make the MAJORITY smile

Why don't you try getting hit in the face with a bucket of water with ice in it while

riding a motorbike, see if that makes you smile or perhaps if someone close

to you gets killed by one of the thousands of drunk and unlicensed drivers on the

road over songkran, maybe that will make you smile. I doubt that anyone minds

people having fun, however when it endangers innocent people , it is no longer

innocent fun.

Bla bla bla bla bla It's called that is life my friend and i have had ice water with ice cubes thrown at me and my wife and I go to at least 2 funerals a month from all sorts of causes including car accidents, I will keep on smiling because i never want to wind being bitter and always focused on the negative part of life like you. I suppose that on the night of Dec. 31 you don't drink or make merry because of the countless drunk drivers that drive on that night and the next day endangering people you don't even know. Maybe you will find some peace in the next life

well I hope you still have a smile on your face when you end up a Songkran statistic

[george]

UPDATE:

Police ban pickups carrying Songkran revelers and water tanks from Khao San, Silom, Chokchai 4, Aksa roads on April 13-15 to prevent accidents during festival /MCOT

[lensta]

Soak-Kran is the worst time to be in LOS.

I guess you will be leaving as well? I could probably get a package deal for all the bloggers that think this is a bad thing to happen to fly to no where land to be with the no where man. I know I can't stand for people being happy even if it is with the help of drinks and drugs. It is so distasteful to see others enjoying themselves. especially at my aggravated expense. You all should get a life and start enjoying the few things that still make the MAJORITY smile

Why don't you try getting hit in the face with a bucket of water with ice in it while

riding a motorbike, see if that makes you smile or perhaps if someone close

to you gets killed by one of the thousands of drunk and unlicensed drivers on the

road over songkran, maybe that will make you smile. I doubt that anyone minds

people having fun, however when it endangers innocent people , it is no longer

innocent fun.

Why don't you stage a protest on the steps of parliament with the rest of the minority farangs calling for a ban on thai culture because you don't like it and speak for all thais, tourists and expats. Muslims have successfully done this in places like Australia and had xmas and easter pagents banned in schools because they don't like christian festivals. Maybe if this festival offends and incites such anger in you then you should not come to Thailand. Problem solved for you and you will not be offended by thais and thier festivals and thais and others in the country will not have to listen to the whinning of grumpy nasty old men. Win Win for all in Thailand.

Firstly I am not protesting anything, I don't like songkran so I am leaving for the week, no big deal, it doesn't incite anger in me and I have been living here for over six years. I would be surprised if you or anyone else like everything about Thailand. Reading your reply, you seem to have a real problem with muslims and what has happened in your home country (Australia) I left Australia 13 years ago and have never been back so I couldn't give a rats ars-e about what happens there. I would be interested to know how leaving Thailand during the songkran week makes me a grumpy nasty old man. I think that you may have suffered some serious brain damage during the last songkran and you cannot be held responsible for the stuff that you write, either that or go have another beer and start getting warmed up for songkran.

[rubl]

Most of my wife's family is living here in the Dusit area in Bangkok. If I tell them about 'booze-free' zones they'll probably throw water at me and apologize by offering a beer

I may go to Soi Cowboy Wednesday afternoon to experience the yearly 'wet T-shirt' festival in the right environment

[Alboy666]

This always amazes me that certain people on this forum hate this festival, hate getting wet, hate the whole thing but still go into town. The ones that jump on a plane should just keep going.

Search of pussy makes them brave

[rotary]

Yea I have to agree. And I thought only western countries like the USA had silly stats like this! ha ha

There must be a goverment department of usless statistic's which is next door to the ministry of silly walks....

[Kilgore Trout]

Soak-Kran is the worst time to be in LOS.

I guess you will be leaving as well? I could probably get a package deal for all the bloggers that think this is a bad thing to happen to fly to no where land to be with the no where man. I know I can't stand for people being happy even if it is with the help of drinks and drugs. It is so distasteful to see others enjoying themselves. especially at my aggravated expense. You all should get a life and start enjoying the few things that still make the MAJORITY smile

Why don't you try getting hit in the face with a bucket of water with ice in it while

riding a motorbike, see if that makes you smile or perhaps if someone close

to you gets killed by one of the thousands of drunk and unlicensed drivers on the

road over songkran, maybe that will make you smile. I doubt that anyone minds

people having fun, however when it endangers innocent people , it is no longer

innocent fun.

Why don't you stage a protest on the steps of parliament with the rest of the minority farangs calling for a ban on thai culture because you don't like it and speak for all thais, tourists and expats. Muslims have successfully done this in places like Australia and had xmas and easter pagents banned in schools because they don't like christian festivals. Maybe if this festival offends and incites such anger in you then you should not come to Thailand. Problem solved for you and you will not be offended by thais and thier festivals and thais and others in the country will not have to listen to the whinning of grumpy nasty old men. Win Win for all in Thailand.

I don't think that's what he's on about, acting foolishly is not part of Thai culture and you just sound like an idiot trying to make the link....

Most Thais know what goes on and prepare as do most savvy expats....

After 11 or 12 Songkrans it gets pretty dull and ridiculous, especially when you have seen (close up) dead bodies on the road with heads split open; I saw one guy who crashed with a bottle of whisky in his pocket and died....etc. etc..

So, have fun and don't be stupid and don't let other peoples' stupidity affect you

[pauljones]

I leave for Canada every year at this time.

[softgeorge]

This always amazes me that certain people on this forum hate this festival, hate getting wet, hate the whole thing but still go into town. The ones that jump on a plane should just keep going.

Search of pussy makes them brave

And all those wet "T" Shirts on the beautiful young ladies is worth getting a little wet for.

[OzMick]

How does a photograph give positive proof that a person is intoxicated? Some volunteer policeman (have you ever met one of these morons?) takes a photo of somebody dripping wet and having a great time, posts it on arsebook, and suddenly the world knows that you are a drunken anti-social menace - and if that isn't the basis for a law suit , what is?

[OzMick]

Booze free areas? Great. I love free booze!

Will these booze free areas also be on Koh Chang? You know, the national park where it is already illegal all the time? Hmmm, so that would be a booze free zone in a booze free area.

Last week, as entertainment, we sat and watched a police roadblock on Koh Chang outside of White Sand Beach. The cops stopped everyone without a helmet, of course, but we also saw a bunch of guys with helmets riding rented scooters who were not stopped. What's my point you ask? Well, the guys with helmets were driving the bikes one-handed.....they had big bottles of beer in their left hands.

Booze free zones my gluteus maximus.

It is an unfortunate fact that due to the low intelligence/education law of the BIB that they can only concentrate on the "law of the day", it would cause too much mental stress to enforce more than one law on any given day. My best example was an early morning when I was phoned to tell me that thai lads were siphoning petrol from my bikes outside our shop. As I left home I was lucky(????) to come across2 BIB on a bike outside my home - who told me to report the crime in progress 200m away to a police station 20km away. They couldn't help because they were "patrolling", which apparently means riding a motorcycle and ignoring crime. Possibly they may have been interested before midnight .

I might add that photos of the offenders, their bike and its rego plate were not sufficient to stir any official interest. I suppose if you are poor enough to steal fuel, obviously you don't have enough money to pay bribes, or repair the bikes that you damaged.

[lee68]

best idea mate,i left a week ago

My safety zone will be in an airplane lifting off just as silly week begins.

[lee68]

I used to love songkran when i lived in phuket,it was only 3 days,but now i live in chiang mai,2 weeks of people throwing water at me every time i step out the house or car is to much.thats why i leave and go the uk for a month.

This always amazes me that certain people on this forum hate this festival, hate getting wet, hate the whole thing but still go into town. The ones that jump on a plane should just keep going.

[rubl]

Just had a heavy downpour for 1 - 1-1/2 hour here in Bangkok, still raining a bit actually. Makes you wonder what the forecast for next week will be. dam_n rain can really spoil the water-throwing fun

Edited April 9, 2011 by rubl

[diehard60]

No drinking? Mai sanook na ka!

Oh! The only time you can have fun is when you are drunk? Go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[diehard60]

<br>There must be a goverment department of usless statistic's which is next door to the ministry of silly walks....<img src="http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/whistling.gif" class="bbc_emoticon" alt=""><br>

<br><br>Actually there a department for statistics, my friend is a statistician for the government. As for being usless... I doubt it.<br>

Oh! It must be you he is talking about. 5555555555555555555555