Songkran: People Not Allowed To Splash Water Down From Pickup Trucks

[robblok]

Songkran is the biggest holiday in Thailand and i do believe most Thais are celebrating it.

Each year i see countless people having a lot of fun,why try and take that away from them.

I see rows of pick-ups both carrying water and people and having an all out water fight,it is a lot of fun!!!!

Sure there are accidents and mishaps but in general it is not that bad.

Just check out all of the smiles on people faces,especially kids.

In Europe it is still cold and most people have spend most of the last six months indoors,if you don't like this water fest just stay home for a few days.After dark it is mostly quiet every where.

If i have to go into town i will slow down and let the children soak me,have some consideration and some fun!!

The problem is more that some people don't think.. 2 cars driving past slowly and having a fight.. fun.. fast driving hitting a motorcycle with water... dangerous.

Problem is those that do stupid things make it hard for everyone.

[Songhua]

Easily enforceable ..... with 200,000 extra police.

[prakhonchai nick]

Water throwing is banned in tourist locations in neighbouring Cambodia. It is enforced and works. So there is hope for Thailand.

Not just throwing water from pick-uo trucks should be banned, but throwing water (in any form) at all traffic should also be banned.

[theoldgit]

Has anyone here ever seen or heard of a motorbike having an accident while getting water dumped on them from a pickup? All the ones i know of were drunks on bikes running off the road at night...

No, but a saw a young couple holding a baby on a bike lose control and fall off last year when some numpty thought it would be great fun to empty a bucket of water over them.

And don't even think about saying the couple shouldn't have had the nerve to ride their bike on a public road, there was a "water zone" a couple of hundred metres away.

[brianb1944]

I think the throwing of water at motor bikes on high speed roads should be banned in all of Thailand.

As for throwing it from the back of pick ups what is the point if riding back there just allows you to be a victim to streets lined with people throwing buckets of water at you such as we get here in Chiang Mai.

Good luck with trying to ban any excesses to do with the multi billion $$ tourist cash cow that Songkran has become.

[brianb1944]

Easily enforceable ..... with 200,000 extra police.

previously compensated for not accepting tea money.

[charmonman]

Has anyone here ever seen or heard of a motorbike having an accident while getting water dumped on them from a pickup? All the ones i know of were drunks on bikes running off the road at night...

I can certainly imagine it happening because I have myself been very close to crashing my motorbike during Songkhran while being hit with water and I was NOT drunk. I always managed to keep control but it was a very close call on at least a couple of occasions. This was when I was a very agile young man in my twenties, with very quick reflexes.

Just because you have no first hand experience of it doesn't justify dismissing the concern. It can be vary dangerous indeed.

[oops]

Yeah sure. And in Germany, drinking of beer will be banned.

WOW ! funny that you should say that because I they banned drinking beer here during songkran and they banned

throwing water from the trucks.....yep ! you guessed it, Thailand has asked Germany for billions of gallons of beer so we can

throw that from the backs of our trucks with non drinking drivers and participants. Therefor there is a ban and drinking in Germany until Song Kran is over

Who'd of guessed it? .

Edited March 29, 2013 by oops

[tfc]

Has anyone here ever seen or heard of a motorbike having an accident while getting water dumped on them from a pickup? All the ones i know of were drunks on bikes running off the road at night...

I have heard of serious accidents on motor bikes at high speeds on highways by people throwing buckets of cold water at them.

Hitting a motor bike at high speed with a bucket of water on a highway. Give that man a teddy bear, bloody good shot. In Chiangmai the bikes are crawling along at walking pace through the traffic, it is even hard to walk at a decent pace through the gridlock.

very nice for CM but most of us do not live there

Don't worry I've seen accidents in CM too.

Superhighway + motorbike + bucket of water in the face from guys on back of truck = woman flying off the bike onto road.

Who would have thought that could be dangerous...

[charmonman]

Lets just ban Songkran full stop.

Or, revert to the original Songkran concept of reverentially trickling water on people, and not throwing buckets of heart stopping iced water over people who are just trying to go about their business.

Yes, I remember when Songkran was just a bit of fun, a few small water pistols, small pails of room temperature water, everybody had fun and it wasn't dangerous or disrespectful.

Now, it's like frigging all out war or something. Just one more example of how Thailand has changed for the worse over the years.

[DavoTheGun]

Most of the problems are caused by Farang not Thai, the Farang go totally overboard with the water pipes etc, in Pattaya at least it has been my experience!

[prakhonchai nick]

Most of the problems are caused by Farang not Thai, the Farang go totally overboard with the water pipes etc, in Pattaya at least it has been my experience!

Of course it is farang in Pattaya. They are in the majority.

But elsewhere in the towns and villages it is almost 100% Thais and they are just as stupid.

Let them play with those that want to play -away from roads.. Otherwise impose very harsh penalties. = Word will quickly spread of huge fines, and everyone will obey!

[chooka]

Lets just ban Songkran full stop.

And let's ban Christmas because I personally don't like it. The Road deaths rise over this period and domestic violence also.

[spectre324]

"adjust their methods to best fit their localities"

I see this as more detrimental and ineffective, especially here in Issan.

and how pray tell are the authorities going to enforce this? IN YOUR DREAMS!

[Ohio]

I'll believe it when I see it

[mok199]

how the #$%^ will that help....those are the ''drive by'',shooters...they rnt the problem is the idiots who target the scooter drivers,and they always aim for the face....

[tingtongfarang]

Best idea would be to take songkran away away from the roads all together, I once got hit by water and ice from a pedestrian bridge.

[IMA_FARANG]

Farangs who throw water from Vehicles or especially SRAY water from vehucles that use prssurised pumps to spray that water should have their visas revoked and be forced to return to their homeland.

In other words, deported from Thailand.

Some years ago Greek television was showing excepts from a video taken in Pattaya during Songkhran.

It showed a truckloads of a mix of Thais and at least two Farangs spraying water on pedestrians walkung on the street.

One was a couple aged in their 60's or 70;s.

One of that couple, a woman, was knocked off her feet by a high pressure blast of water from a hose.

Every time she tried to stand up, they knocked her down again. She rolled around the street, while the farangs (they were drinking) howled with laughter looking at her knickers.

She was a Greek grandmother who was later found to be 67 years old.

The Farangs were Germans it turned out.

That;s the reality of "water fun in Pattaya" during Songkran these days.

Deport them and blacklist them.

[lavender19]

Has any one heard any more on the area's where they are "supposed" to be banning alcohol ????

Not just the vague Bangkon ,Phuket and Pattaya statement that is

Edited March 29, 2013 by lavender19

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Has anyone here ever seen or heard of a motorbike having an accident while getting water dumped on them from a pickup? All the ones i know of were drunks on bikes running off the road at night...

I too dunno about the splashing of water from pickup trucks onto motorcyclists as a cause of accidents.

But one clear cause that they seem to be doing nothing about is streetside people throwing buckets of water at passing motorcyclist driving down the road.

Stupid fools.

[belg]

lets enforce this : anyone killed during songkran will be a mandatory organ donor ... what about that ?

lot's of people are waiting for organs and the oh so buddist people are too selfish to offer their dead bodies to save other, because they euh.. need it in the afterlife or something ?

[drdoom6996]

Good luck with that one.

[zyphodb]

What a joke... there is zero chance that anyone (certainly in Issen anyway) is gonna take a blind bit of notice of this & a equally small chance of the bib attempting to enforce it...

[dighambara]

Another genuinely great idea that would certainly reduce the road toll, especially more minor injuries caused by bikes sliding off the wet slippery roads. They get very wet, especially during the dry season with the build-up of sludge on the roads. Water play should b restricted to walking-only areas or private residences. The problem will be giving it over to provincial govenors - will they have the will to enforce it? It will certainly stop some of the horrendous traffic congestion in many of the towns here. Took me over an hour to travel a few hundred meters through a water celebration once...let's see how this pans out.

Hilarious suggestion...LOL Destroy a Thai tradition...

An hour to walk a few hundred meters - certainly no one drives during Songkran. I stay dry during Songkran by just holding up my hand - palm forward in the ancient symbol of 'peace', yet I walk thru crowds every day.

Of course the foreigners don't understand and will occasionally try to splash those who wish to stay dry...

[Kerryd]

Has anyone here ever seen or heard of a motorbike having an accident while getting water dumped on them from a pickup? All the ones i know of were drunks on bikes running off the road at night...

I almost made a crash when some idiot threw a bucket off water on me while passing. Granted that was not from a pickup. I seen people crash on bikes after water fun and they were not drunk.

Same here. Almost crashed a couple times on the big bike. Even with goggles and a helmet on, a bucket of ice water to the face while you're riding is still quite a shock.

Saw 2 girls on a scooter wipe out after getting nailed in the face with a bucket of water while they were riding along a street (wasn't from a truck though and granted, that was about 4 years ago now).

The Thais I know that go out in trucks usually have small bowls, not buckets, and various water guns. Never see any of them trying to knock motorcyclists off the road by hammering them with buckets of icy cold water (but then again, most of the Thais I know ride bikes so they actually have a lick of common sense).

Oddly enough (or not) the worst incidents I've seen all involve foreigners. Where the F* these morons get the impression that shooting water cannons into the faces of people riding scooters/motorcycles is part of the "fun" I have no idea. And almost every incident of people getting a face-full of something not entirely consisting of water usually seems to involve a foreigner as well.

I watch the locals in my neighbourhood. They'll stand in front of a motorcycle/scooter and pour (not throw or blast) water onto the heads of the driver/passengers (not into their faces), dab some powder on and away they go. The people on the scooters know it's going to happen and lift their cell-phones out of the way and take their "blessings" with a smile and then carry on. I often go out and arm all the neighbourhood kids with an assortment of water guns, and my generosity also seems to make me the favoured target of said same kids (hmmmm - I should really think about that a little harder this year). But, even the wee ones seem to know better than to try and shoot people in the face, especially when on a scooter/bike.

If they really want to cut down on traffic accidents during Songkran, then they have to do the same thing as many western countries do.

Have police checkpoints up all over the frikken place, and breathalyser everyone driving anything. Anyone caught driving while impaired - vehicle gets impounded/driver fined/jailed.

These are the (minimum) sentences for impaired driving in Canada:

For a first offence A fine of at least $600 A prohibition from driving for at least one year and up to three years.

For a second offence At least 14 days in prison A prohibition from driving for at least two years and up to five years.

For subsequent offences At least 90 days in prison A prohibition from driving for at least three years and up to a lifetime ban

Those sentences are just for getting caught, not if you happen to get into an accident and injure/kill someone.

There are still people getting caught driving while impaired, but nowhere near as many, or as often as there used to be. Part of that is because the laws (and sentences) actually get enforced and the police actually do their jobs.

So, TL'DR - T.I.T. and nothing will change any time soon. Som Nom Na.

Edited March 29, 2013 by Kerryd

[LotusBoy]

No body is going to stop them, seriously, how many police officers do you see during this period.

Just like 'Taxi's are not supposed to refuse you'.

Just like 'YOU are supposed to wear a helmet whilst driving a motorbike'.

Just like' DO NOT drink and drive.'

The list goes on and on and on......

[fareastguy]

Has anyone here ever seen or heard of a motorbike having an accident while getting water dumped on them from a pickup? All the ones i know of were drunks on bikes running off the road at night...

I have heard of serious accidents on motor bikes at high speeds on highways by people throwing buckets of cold water at them.

I've heard stories of pigs flying.. but I've never seen one yet !!

[PhilipCook]

start with banning people riding in the pickup truck bed unless it has installed seats and a roof year round, then next year ban splashing water from moving vehicles of any sort. human cargo in pickup truck beds is a hazard magnified by the songkhran drink driving splashing blasting season.

[MikeOboe57]

Another genuinely great idea that would certainly reduce the road toll, especially more minor injuries caused by bikes sliding off the wet slippery roads. They get very wet, especially during the dry season with the build-up of sludge on the roads. Water play should b restricted to walking-only areas or private residences. The problem will be giving it over to provincial govenors - will they have the will to enforce it? It will certainly stop some of the horrendous traffic congestion in many of the towns here. Took me over an hour to travel a few hundred meters through a water celebration once...let's see how this pans out.

Hilarious suggestion...LOL Destroy a Thai tradition...

An hour to walk a few hundred meters - certainly no one drives during Songkran. I stay dry during Songkran by just holding up my hand - palm forward in the ancient symbol of 'peace', yet I walk thru crowds every day.

Of course the foreigners don't understand and will occasionally try to splash those who wish to stay dry...

If you bother to check what Songkran is really about you will realize that this "Thai tradition" is already destroyed.

[prakhonchai nick]

lets enforce this : anyone killed during songkran will be a mandatory organ donor ... what about that ?

lot's of people are waiting for organs and the oh so buddist people are too selfish to offer their dead bodies to save other, because they euh.. need it in the afterlife or something ?

And those responsible for the killing too!