Thai govt orders tough stance on floating lanterns

[Camelot]

This is not the first time lanterns have been banned, or their use restricted here, and I'm sure it won't be the last.

[realenglish1]

This is a wrong law Just banning the kites will not work Target the manufactures and distributors. Make it a crime to sell them or make them.

And enforce it This will put a halt to their use very fast

[mok199]

WORDS that float into the air `` much the same as those f%?ing stupid lanterns...one can only hope that thais will see the ``common sense``in banning them...and those floating ``pin cushions the call ``GRATONS``that pollute the ocean so bad they wash ashore for weeks,,or the 7 day water wasting festival they call ''songkran''.do thais even know where all the garbage,gratons and or lanterns ends up,after the float or fly away.......no other country on the world would allow this behaviour...

Edited January 26, 2015 by mok199

[mok199]

No fireworks allowed at Loy Kratong. No drinking allowed in the afternoon. No traditional floating lanterns.

Thailand is turning into a nanny state.

Maybe some people need a nanny.

i agree``these thais(children) need a nanny``

[williet98248]

Get rid of the lanterns completely. Limit the rockets to a few hundred feet. Times change. Years a go a few hundred lanterns weren't a big deal and didn't threaten aircraft. Now there are thousands littering the air and landscape. Years a go rockets only went up a few hundred feet but now they threaten aircraft thousands of feet in altitude. I remember several years ago after NYE counting dozens of crashed lanterns in the hills above Kata Noi beach. The authorities have now banned lanterns. Good. These so called traditions have been corrupted to entertain the tourists. The traditional Songkran ceremony of honoring your elders by pouring a bit of water over their hands and blessing them has turned into drunken water fights resulting in injuries and deaths. Some 'tradition'. Now the Phuket authorities have limited Songkran water fights to one or two days and certain areas. Good. These traditions had their place in the 'old' world but but in the modern world.

[FiestyFarang]

I think it's fine as long as it is no where near an airport so if a lantern can fly 10kms in strong wide ban them for 20kms with very serious jail time like mandatory 10 years if someone let's the lantern off within 20kms. I mean a 747 taking off with fuel to Europe would kill 1000's if it crashed around BKK! But in the middle of no where let people have fun.

[connda]

Sounds like a stance to destroy an iconic Thai tradition. Maybe the first baby steps to dismantle the status quo and implement a globalist, nanny-state mentality?

Personally, after nightfall on Loi Kratong and New Years Eve, they should just ground all flights.

Anyway, you can put something the size and weight of a turkey though a modern jet engine. Doubt if a kom fai is going to do much of anything but get shredded and blown out the exhaust.

Edited January 26, 2015 by connda

[connda]

No fireworks allowed at Loy Kratong. No drinking allowed in the afternoon. No traditional floating lanterns.

Thailand is turning into a nanny state.

Bingo!!! And you can tell all the nanny-state supporters on this thread. Seems like the nanny-state generation has arrived. Great for socialist and communist oriented societies. Central planning, political correctness, and repressive governance. I moved once to get away from the stupidity. I could move again, but I doubt that the rural Thais I live with are going to embrace that stupidity before I'm shoved into the village's easy-bake oven and my remains floated down the River Ping. Thank god.

It's time to follow John Galt.

Edited January 26, 2015 by connda

[bongoz]

This was posted by an officer of the department of civil aviation. The lantern was stuck inside the A320 engine. I personally think they should ban the lanterns full stop.

Why doesn't the army just shoot em down....

[cookee68]

Blah Blah Blah Blah, they cant even arrest criminals when they break the law, so I cant see any difference in this, Until a plane comes down it will be Blah Blah Blah Blah.

[TomYumpoochai]

Last lantern i saw released was 16km off the 1089 highway......good luck with tracking down people releasing lanterns!

In fang they have a style ive not seen before....these go up at whatever rate at the time and then release a firework that shoots back to earth, exploding anywhere below where the lantern was at the time of release!

The g/f says theyre let off when someone dies but from the ones ive watched in the last month they look like theyre designed to generate more funerals...

[SEEDGER]

As usual the government over reacts to the problem. I find it hilarious that they complain about find old laterns lying about all over the place when Thailand appears to be one giant garbage dump.

The solution is simple enough redesign the lanterns.

Take away the metal band that hold the "Tyvek" in place. I suggest using a hemp based fiber. Then apply an excellerant to the new fiber frame and include a fuse so as the candle burns down it ignites the fiber and the entire latern catches fire and burns up. Poof problem solved!

As for being sucked into jet intakes i find it hard to believe that the intake fins which are made of Superalloys and spinning at thousands of rpm would choke on a latern. I've seen geese get sucked in and shot out the rear de feathered and cooked in split second and no damage to the intake fins. I think this is designed to scare Thais!

[Longstaff]

Crikey, the fun police are out in force today aren't they!

As a resident of Chiang Mai I've taken part in both the Loy Kratong and New Year celebrations along with tens of thousands of local Thais, visiting Thais and overseas tourists. These events are a huge, enjoyable and massively popular; in addition to being traditional. They are important to Thais and a huge draw-card for visitors.

There is a risk that needs to be managed in terms of aircraft. Last year Thai Airways rescheduled flights to manage this risk over the Loy Kratong period. The same could have happened at New Year; surely a more pragmatic solution? It's not as if these celebrations can't be planned for a year ahead...

As for the litter issue I think this is comparatively minor. The municipalities clear up the kratongs and presumably many of the 'dead' lanterns. Those that make it to the forest and natural places will rot away in no time, and as constructed of natural materials will decompose without impact. Even the thin wire frame for the burner will rust away quickly.

Cost / benefit...? It's a no-brainer; manage the risk, maintain tradition, enjoy these celebrations, and you fun police get some perspective and find something more important to worry about.

[curtklay]

Sounds like a stance to destroy an iconic Thai tradition. Maybe the first baby steps to dismantle the status quo and implement a globalist, nanny-state mentality?

Personally, after nightfall on Loi Kratong and New Years Eve, they should just ground all flights.

Anyway, you can put something the size and weight of a turkey though a modern jet engine. Doubt if a kom fai is going to do much of anything but get shredded and blown out the exhaust.

What a load of crap.

Oh by all means, let's shut down the airlines so a bunch of morons can launch a flaming chunk of gasoline gel into the sky. Makes sense to me. Have you ever seen one of those things land in a tree? Sanuk mak mak.

Williet98248 nailed it on the head in post #35. The old traditions no longer have any resemblance to what they were intended for. Now they're just an excuse to get drunk, and act like idiots. It may be regrettable in some ways, but times have changed, and there's no place for these dangerous "traditions" in the modern world.

And if you happen to be on an airliner when that turkey gets sucked into an engine, please let us know how it turns out.

Edited January 27, 2015 by curtklay

[hawker9000]

Sounds like a stance to destroy an iconic Thai tradition. Maybe the first baby steps to dismantle the status quo and implement a globalist, nanny-state mentality?

Personally, after nightfall on Loi Kratong and New Years Eve, they should just ground all flights.

Anyway, you can put something the size and weight of a turkey though a modern jet engine. Doubt if a kom fai is going to do much of anything but get shredded and blown out the exhaust.

Sorry. BS. This "turkey story" goes 'round periodically. No truth to it. And one of these lanterns most definitely does have the potential to seriously damage a jet engine, let alone a turkey! (Birds, BTW - geese, to be specific - are what brought down Sullenberger's Flight 1549. 'Killed BOTH of his engines. Birds are a documented - in NOTAMs and information supplements - hazard at more than a few airports.)

Ground flights rather than the lanterns?! What a solution.

Edited January 27, 2015 by hawker9000