Speaking under condition of anonymity, a senior Thai official later stated: "If we lose our day in court, we'll be forced to retaliate in the way of pirating movies, selling fake designer clothing and accessories, and, oh wait, never mind -- this was off the record, right?"

I am not a fan of Songkran anyway, but at the rate the country is going there will probably be blood and bombs being thrown around instead of water. Singapore might be a safer alternative for a number of reasons.

The strict policing in Singapore will make it a "claytons' Songkran. And it would be 10 times more expensive for the average traveler.

Thailand shouldn't be worried too much. If they have a good product they will come. I don't see the Chinese kicking up a fuse about Thailand having large Chinese New Year festivals .

No u dont. Why?, because the Chinese actually have something to be proud of, and are slowly but surely developing the country forward.

Which is completely in opposition to thailand, who have little identity, other than what Bangkok has driven onto everyone, and an international image that extends barely beyond "hey GI, love u long time".

All very tragic really. What an image.

O.K ! Good to know with all that said, you are still "Thai at Heart".

Laughable what these people come out with sometimes, this coming from the biggest country of copycats in the world!

ASEAN.....feel the love baby.

If I had to make a choice of Songkran in Singapore, or Thailand, I would pick Singapore EVERY time.

Here, it lasts too long, is totally uncontrolled, is full of drunken Thai and farang who think they can do anything they want and get away with it (which they can due to zero law enforcement in this country). I will take Singapore civility anyday.

The illiteracy of high ranked politicians astonishs me: Promoting and distorting is the same?

Dont you love it when ministers open there mouths. Without thinking.

You all realize that this was a brilliant move on behalf of Thaksin, nobody wants to come to Thailand right now and Songkran is a popular holiday time. This was all engineered by Thaksin, he saw an opportunity to 'steal' Songkran and sell it to Singapore, so hes created all of this unrest and chaos in the country so as to make Songkran a more sellable product to SG.

A stroke of brilliance on his part, i am in awe of his incredible mind and business prowess... I am immediately converted to the Red faction now, Sutheps a facist and the protesters are violent grannies with grenades and Sinky Som Tam chemical weapons who want to overthrow the democratically elected, morally pure and just Red Shirt Movement... May Thaksin live long and prosper in this life and the next, I thank you three times.

That was sarcasm and mickey taking, for those who might be too dumb/drunk to figure it out on your own

Take their Valentines Week away.

Before this announcement I didn't know about Songkran in Singapore....might be good.....

About time the US starts getting cash from countries who take our Halloween celebration and distorting the true cultural significance of it.

Lets party!

And then Scotland can sue the US for stealing the name "Halloween" and then various "celtic" countries can sue for actually stealing the festival itself....

He was invented in the UK, but no surprise the Thais love him....

Amazing MrBeanLand, funniest nation to slip on it's own backside to the sounds of bells and whistles.

"However the director of Culture Surveillance Bureau says it is not right for Singapore to distort the tradition and host Songkran as a tourism gimmick, as it is about more than playing with water. The Songkran festival connects society and also involves an important display of appreciation toward elders, Yupa Taweewattana-boworn said."

Have they told TAT this?

Yet another ridiculous minister making ridiculous statements. I really hope they do try to sue, it will teach them a valuable lesson in what reality is.

Once upon a time it may have connected society and involved an important display of appreciation of elders. But now, it's little more than a drunken water fight.

Better be careful because perhaps somewhat more honest types might just contemplate taking court action regarding the Thai presumption that Buddhism was and is of a solely Thai origin.

Oh don't forget Christmas and those ''Jinger Bells too.

I think you'll find Thais are way too clever to get caught like that.

Their version of Buddhism is barely recognisable. They've achieved this by largely doing away with the 5 precepts in favour of hanging around temples giving money to monks. I have lots of fun asking about the eating of meat and killing animals. There are endless excuses for not following that precept. The best told to me by a monk who I'm certain knew he was lying ( another precept) was that you need to kill animals because you have to eat meat and pork. Explains those Jews and Muslims doesn't it.

Christmas as we all know is a religious and retail festival that involves decorations and trees that are taken down before Epiphany (Jan 6th).

Although some seem to give up when Chinese new year arrives we still had 2 Christmas trees up at the beginning of March in one restaurant and they may still be up now.

So you see they change things so much that you can't claim they've copied it.

AEC in action.

Songkran is also celebrated in the US. Oh wait, that's sponsored by Singha so guess the government doesn't want to touch that one.

The strict policing in Singapore will make it a "claytons' Songkran. And it would be 10 times more expensive for the average traveler.

Thailand shouldn't be worried too much. If they have a good product they will come. I don't see the Chinese kicking up a fuse about Thailand having large Chinese New Year festivals .

No u dont. Why?, because the Chinese actually have something to be proud of, and are slowly but surely developing the country forward.

Which is completely in opposition to thailand, who have little identity, other than what Bangkok has driven onto everyone, and an international image that extends barely beyond "hey GI, love u long time".

All very tragic really. What an image.

O.K ! Good to know with all that said, you are still "Thai at Heart".

Well, you see, I get quite envious to see the potential and real progress that other countries make, as opposed to Thailand that thinks it is already top of the pile, and doesn't need to work too stay there. Who the hell is Thailand to dictate to anyone?

The Singapore Songkran I am sure will not turn out to be a total drunken rabble and will be suitable for the children to come and participate in, last year in Bangkok on our Soi it all turned into a big drunken fist fight and we had to head home for our own safety.

The strict policing in Singapore will make it a "claytons' Songkran. And it would be 10 times more expensive for the average traveler.

Thailand shouldn't be worried too much. If they have a good product they will come. I don't see the Chinese kicking up a fuse about Thailand having large Chinese New Year festivals .

No u dont. Why?, because the Chinese actually have something to be proud of, and are slowly but surely developing the country forward.

Which is completely in opposition to thailand, who have little identity, other than what Bangkok has driven onto everyone, and an international image that extends barely beyond "hey GI, love u long time".

All very tragic really. What an image.

O.K ! Good to know with all that said, you are still "Thai at Heart".

Well, you see, I get quite envious to see the potential and real progress that other countries make, as opposed to Thailand that thinks it is already top of the pile, and doesn't need to work too stay there. Who the hell is Thailand to dictate to anyone?

I am with you on that one.

Better be careful because perhaps somewhat more honest types might just contemplate taking court action regarding the Thai presumption that Buddhism was and is of a solely Thai origin.

Oh don't forget Christmas and those ''Jinger Bells too.

I think you'll find Thais are way too clever to get caught like that.

Their version of Buddhism is barely recognisable. They've achieved this by largely doing away with the 5 precepts in favour of hanging around temples giving money to monks. I have lots of fun asking about the eating of meat and killing animals. There are endless excuses for not following that precept. The best told to me by a monk who I'm certain knew he was lying ( another precept) was that you need to kill animals because you have to eat meat and pork. Explains those Jews and Muslims doesn't it.

Christmas as we all know is a religious and retail festival that involves decorations and trees that are taken down before Epiphany (Jan 6th).

Although some seem to give up when Chinese new year arrives we still had 2 Christmas trees up at the beginning of March in one restaurant and they may still be up now.

So you see they change things so much that you can't claim they've copied it.

Re: Buddhism, vegetarianism....... there are different practices concerning the eating of meat; Thailand follows the Theravada view, which does not prohibit the eating of meat except dog, cat, bear, elephant, leopards, human, and a few other vague creatures...oh..slug too (would that include snails?)....... I love Wikipedia lol.... so be careful before lecturing the local monks on how to eat.......

Any news on whether they're gonna have girls dancing topless on trucks in Singapore?

And the end result of all of this will be? = Nothing.

It does feel good to blow hot air sometimes and remind yourself and your fellow citizens that you can still talk tough.

Well at Songkhran we always book into a hotel resort on the beach so we and the kids can be safely away from the lunacy in town. After this though, I think we could head to Singapore next year! Wifey and the kids will be excited!

What about Christmas day, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day and a host of other special holidays that is celebrated in Thailand, that’s ok for us to celebrate but not ok for you to celebrate our holidays. How pathetic can u get?

What about Christmas day, New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day and a host of other special holidays that is celebrated in Thailand, that’s ok for us to celebrate but not ok for you to celebrate our holidays. How pathetic can u get?

That is the default MO of Thais. One way street. It's being put up with since foreigners can still come to Thailand to reap the benefits of cheap labor.

She added TAT is studying methods of registering trademarks for Thai traditions such as Songkran and Loy Krathong to prevent other countries in ASEAN from stealing them.

Evidently she forgot the tradition of stupidity.

Tourism officials are consulting with the government’s copyright office to determine whether to take legal action against the Singaporean organizers of next month’s “Celebrate Songkran” party.

And there was me thinking that April 1st was still 12 days away.

Because Oktoberfest only takes place in Germany.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Better be careful because perhaps somewhat more honest types might just contemplate taking court action regarding the Thai presumption that Buddhism was and is of a solely Thai origin.

Oh don't forget Christmas and those ''Jinger Bells too.

I think you'll find Thais are way too clever to get caught like that.

Their version of Buddhism is barely recognisable. They've achieved this by largely doing away with the 5 precepts in favour of hanging around temples giving money to monks. I have lots of fun asking about the eating of meat and killing animals. There are endless excuses for not following that precept. The best told to me by a monk who I'm certain knew he was lying ( another precept) was that you need to kill animals because you have to eat meat and pork. Explains those Jews and Muslims doesn't it.

Christmas as we all know is a religious and retail festival that involves decorations and trees that are taken down before Epiphany (Jan 6th).

Although some seem to give up when Chinese new year arrives we still had 2 Christmas trees up at the beginning of March in one restaurant and they may still be up now.

So you see they change things so much that you can't claim they've copied it.

Re: Buddhism, vegetarianism....... there are different practices concerning the eating of meat; Thailand follows the Theravada view, which does not prohibit the eating of meat except dog, cat, bear, elephant, leopards, human, and a few other vague creatures...oh..slug too (would that include snails?)....... I love Wikipedia lol.... so be careful before lecturing the local monks on how to eat.......

Well I've read this in 2 books on Theravada Buddhism and spoken to many Thais and your the first person who has contradicted that statement. The monk was grinning when he told me so I'm pretty sure he wasn't giving me the benefit of his knowledge on the subject. So you must know something they don't.

That's not even mentioning the many Thais I know who, if there's alcohol around always without fail get drunk to the point of barely being able to walk and then drive home. And of course getting back to the topic, Thais are renowned for their copyright and intellectual property rights theft.