Bangkok to cut back on Songkran celebrations in order to save water

[kingalfred]

So will they have the overhead water pipes in silom/saladaeng as last year pumping out and wasting 100,000s of litres from 9am to 9pm. Madness!!

Edited March 10, 2016 by kingalfred

[thesetat2013]

Wait a minute. Didn't Kobbledcorn say the other day that Songkran festivities would NOT be cut back? Right hand not talking to left hand?

Anyway, hasn't Bangkok been 3 days for a long time now? It is places like Pattaya where the drunken splashfest goes on for over a week, will THAT be cut back to 3 days also? And what about making sure the SAME 3 days are 'celebrated' nation wide?

Do you actually mean ALL of Thailand working together to make it happen at the same time? What were you thinking, or drinking?

[happynthailand]

Damn,a pink flying pig just landed in my front yard

that's the second one this week,something is in the wind

[ozyjon]

Jeez, were these officials born stupid, or did they major in it at school?

Priceless, all said, go home now.

[Lingba]

for years in Phuket it only goes 2 days..in any case..being that we have this water shortage..Just make it a one full day celebration and be done with it...I mean how many days do you need for this?..especially with a shortage now

[springheeled jack]

cutting back on the supply of water for songkran by Bangkok will make a difference there but what about pattaya will there be any changes? I don't think so too much money involved .

[BlindMagician]

Proposition parametric impact analysis?

Volume water saved per day of songkran cut back, assuming cut back effective for key named locations and not activity spillage to other locations.

Compare to volume of water saved per other measures that could be taken, such as limit water supply to all houses, ban of X Y z, etc.

Analysis, analysis. Or knee jerk knee jerk, guess guess, surface surface.

Key point made? :-)

[RtotheC]

I'm glad they got water to waste . needs more action than this, 3 days of drinking & playing like babies is ridiculous . Why it not be a bit more cultural & elegant I do not know ...

You sound like so much fun. FYI I don't think many people move to Thailand to be cultural and elegant, it's more about the sanook, relaxed, and fun lifestyle.

[gandalf12]

I'm glad they got water to waste . needs more action than this, 3 days of drinking & playing like babies is ridiculous . Why it not be a bit more cultural & elegant I do not know ...

Could be a lot better organised. It is after the traditional New Year for Thailand

[FredNL]

Bangkok is almost empty during Songkran. Are more people returning to their provinces? That's the only way to save water in Bangkok.

Water shortage and Thai.... You can't stop children playing with water, they really don't care about any water shortage.

[reggaebkk]

Growing a brain are we? Wow, I'm so impressed.

[55Jay]

I'm glad they got water to waste . needs more action than this, 3 days of drinking & playing like babies is ridiculous . Why it not be a bit more cultural & elegant I do not know ...

You sound like so much fun. FYI I don't think many people move to Thailand to be cultural and elegant, it's more about the sanook, relaxed, and fun lifestyle.

It's when the sanook gets lost in the haze of alcohol and idiots, who get out of hand dousing people with buckets of water and powder in an overly-aggressive way. In particular, those who aren't in "play mode", just trying to get to the Tesco and back, or to work, confronted by a gang of drunk retards standing in the road trying to force them to stop. Too many try to run the gauntlet at speed on motorbikes, ducking their heads, reflexively shutting their eyes, damn near crashing their motorbikes. It's farkin' stupid.

If it was just one day of celebration, ok, everybody knows, deal with it, have fun....but 3 to 4 days? That s**t gets old real fast. We go around our village one time, give as good as we get with those who are CLEARLY in play mode, then I don't leave the house again until it's over.

[TKDfella]

BKK??? What about the rest of the country? What are they going to do about the long lines of 'pickups' that travel from one region to another filling their barrels at town lakes and anywhere else they can. Yes I know, I'm a spoilsport, Khon Thee Mot Sanuk.

[bkkgooner]

I'm glad they got water to waste . needs more action than this, 3 days of drinking & playing like babies is ridiculous . Why it not be a bit more cultural & elegant I do not know ...

It's called having a party grandad

[WhizBang]

for years in Phuket it only goes 2 days..in any case..being that we have this water shortage..Just make it a one full day celebration and be done with it...I mean how many days do you need for this?..especially with a shortage now

... even without a shortage, one day is more than sufficient.

[wileycoyote]

What dates for Songkran Pattaya 13-15th April ?

[themerg]

First, this is a Buddhist celebration, this is a Buddhist country, 96%.

The people in charge should shut their mouths and let the water and the tourism money flow full force.

Buddha LOVES Thailand.

Buddha will not let Thailand be hurt.

Edited March 10, 2016 by themerg

[Mot Dang]

And how the hell are they going to achieve this ? What actions are they going to put in place to prevent the populace from wasting water ? Shut down/restrict water supply, only one bucket per person, ban water guns, arrest those with more than one bucket ?

Oh wait a minute, the Governor will say to populace, "please be responsible". Rubbish, there will be no change, as much water will be used as last year, and the year before that. There is very little civil conscience, as we know. It's called Thainess.

I for one will go up to the village and stay there. At least the old fashioned Songkran festival is celebrated up there. Small buckets of dam water (which the idiots tire from carrying about), and no damn water guns. I'll celebrate it my own way, a couple of chickens on the BBQ (Gai Yang), and a few bottles of San Mig Light.

I've had my fill of Songkran festivals.

[SOTIRIOS]

...okay......

[tuanku]

Can someone enlighten me.

Maybe it is just me but 1 official says songkran will not be cut back, then another says songkran will be cut back to save water.

As far as i am aware songkran has been 3 days for years. So if that is the case what on earth is the deputy governor talking about.

Left hand right hand situation, in the end they all spout sh..e.

The loaf does one thing, and the north and south says another, the left hand thinks it's time for a Jimmy Riddle, and right hand thinks it's on for a Jodrell Bank.

It is as dysfunctional as it always has been, all that has changed is that now the daft and barmy are in charge of the bangers and mash.

It will rain on 13 May 2016. Otherwise there will be a crackdown,,,,,

lovely job..........most English speaking countrymen will not crack this, let alone the "daft and barmy"

[Kabula]

Better to make it one day and rules who to soak and have age limits and supervision on children who blast people in the eyes. I hate all of it and every year stay in my home to avoid the nonsense. To waste the most precious resource that sustains life in my opinion should be criminal!

[swerver]

Save Water ??? What about saving lives , the road carnage doubles at that time of year ......

What about going back to what it was when I first came to Thailand many moons ago.

ONE (1) day celebration when the young people came around with a small silver bowl with water in it which they sprinkled on the outstretched hands of the older people while wishing them good luck in the New Year. What about it?????

That is still how it is where I live on the golf course with the staff coming by whishing Happy New Year to the residents.

Nothing of this imbecile drowning of people by throwing buckets of water and/or turning the water hose on to them as it has turned into as it is now.

LOL in LOS

[willyumiii]

They have made their official statement.

Their job is done.

And a good job it was.

Now, everyone go back to what you were going to do anyway.

[Thunderbirds20]

Never mind Bangkok!!! What about Pattaya where idiots run rampant for 10 days! How about cutting the insanity back to 3 days in Pattaya too!!... and get the Police out on the streets to keep things from escalating out of hand, ..water cannons that can knock a person off a motorbike,Dousing people in songtaos, throwing water with ice cubes or whole garbage cans full on one person.

The fun has escalated out of control and is now downright DANGEROUS!

[Wilsonandson]

What dates for Songkran Pattaya 13-15th April ?

Yep Wednesday to Friday, so if your working in Thailand you'll have to go to work on Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th April. If your retired you have to only stay indoors for 3 days. Stock that kitchen. Edited March 10, 2016 by Wilsonandson

[kingstonkid]

Agreed one day for the whole country to celebrate and go nuts is enough. This 3+ days and 7+ days in Pattaya is an overdose.

I think the problem is not the Thai people in as much it is the tourists that come for the songkran festival on their holidays. Cutting it back to one day might hurt the tourism.

[bbbbooboo]

"Carefully planned" and "Thailand"...An oxymoron in the making.

[metisdead]

Posts containing overly derogatory generalizations toward Thais have been removed as well as the replies.

[NongKhaiKid]

At 0530 this morning I returned home from a morning walk at our beautiful local park and there was the municipal water truck out watering the plants etc on the central reservation of the dual carriageway. The water will actually sink into the ground in the cool of the morning as opposed to the high temp later in the day BUT how can householders be expected to make efforts to conserve when this sort of thing is still going on ?

Central govt can make all the pleas, threats etc as they want but they probably don't want to know that no one will pay a blind bit of attention but as another poster put it they've spoken and that's that, job done.

[Kwasaki]

I'm surprised that there has been so many replies to a Thai custom. What does it have to do with you whining farang lot who are all guests here? Do you honestly think that Thais care about what you are saying in here?

Well l guess this is what these forums are for so a load of kill joy's and Thai bashers can post, sad really don't know why they are here.

I'll be looking forward to the holidays, the kids will start throwing buckets of water on the 8th April.