Songkran to last for one month ....

[Stillearly]

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2696776

 

sounds like fun ... 🔫💦

[galenkia]

Always avoided Songkran, not for me.

Remeber a mate was sitting in a open bar eating and someone threw a bucket of water at him, and another mate was working as a teacher and was on his way to work and someone threw a bucket of water at him while on his motorcycle.

f**k Songkran.

[Stillearly]

I like it for a couple of days .... I have been here for about six of them ...I have also ended up in hospital twice because of it .... three stitches in my eyebrow when I slipped on a wet tile and banged my head  ...and a twisted knee on a drain cover on Soi 8 ( took me an hour to get back to my hotel ... ) and was on crutches for the last two days of my trip .... I was sober on both occasions.. 

but hoping it's not going to happen , a month would be mental ..

[Freee!!]

The last time I was in Thailand with Songkran was in 2001. By that time it had stopped being fun and gotten too bad.

[Phantom51red]

Hope I'm at work,had some good laughs in pattaya in the past,2 or 3 days is enough,easy enough to avoid the main crazy tourist places and go somewhere that holds a more traditional songkran.

[Glasseye]

[Derek Dangleberries]

So, going by existing logic, does that mean that Thailand will have one month of Songkran festivities and the Mayor of Pattaya will extend it one more month ...????

[Derek Dangleberries]

I've just read the article ... So she is the NSPSC President ..

The National Society for the Prevention of Songkran Cruelty ...????

[Zeb]

Probably a silly question, but here it is -

With all the Thai Public Holidays who pays ?

ie Do Thai workers get paid for the holidays ? or do they just work as usual in order to pay the rent, food etc etc?

Is there a wide variation - some get paid ...others not ??

I'm sure there is no magic pudding.....

[Horizondave]

2 hours ago, galenkia said:

Always avoided Songkran, not for me.

Remeber a mate was sitting in a open bar eating and someone threw a bucket of water at him, and another mate was working as a teacher and was on his way to work and someone threw a bucket of water at him while on his motorcycle.

f**k Songkran.

Totally agree. Back in the late 80s/90s it was OK but it started to get crazy in the 2000s.

I remember once going to a hospital appointment at Pattaya International at 0830am and on turning into the road for the hospital some idiot launched a bucket of water all over me. I was not happy as this was not on the official Songkran day.

It was also an unwritten rule that once the sun goes down the throwing of water stops; try telling that to the pissed up shirt-less Brits throwing water over everybody walking down Soi Diana at 8pm. 

No wonder I always left the country during the Pattaya week of craziness.

If you want to immerse yourself in then good and I have done that but when you live there, there are things you need to do and when idiots believe you can be a target at any place and any time of day it gets just annoying.

[Stillearly]

40 minutes ago, Horizondave said:

Totally agree. Back in the late 80s/90s it was OK but it started to get crazy in the 2000s.

I remember once going to a hospital appointment at Pattaya International at 0830am and on turning into the road for the hospital some idiot launched a bucket of water all over me. I was not happy as this was not on the official Songkran day.

It was also an unwritten rule that once the sun goes down the throwing of water stops; try telling that to the pissed up shirt-less Brits throwing water over everybody walking down Soi Diana at 8pm. 

No wonder I always left the country during the Pattaya week of craziness.

If you want to immerse yourself in then good and I have done that but when you live there, there are things you need to do and when idiots believe you can be a target at any place and any time of day it gets just annoying.

My first was 95 and it was all day / night back then as well .. 

 

my biggest mistake, before internet... was landing on the 19th April , taxi to Patts took 2 hours , then another three to get to my hotel on second road ... then I was soaked as I got out of the taxi  🤷‍♂️

[Painter]

There is no coincidence that my departure date is end march early April....

[Nightcrawler]

By the numbers of people (both tourists and expats) I have heard talk of Songkran, I wonder whether an elongated period could actually be counter productive and put many off who have experienced it. 

I am presuming that TAT have immigration figures for Songkran in its present form, but are assuming that a month of it will encourage 4 times the amount of tourists?

More road deaths and accidents for sure  That go up every year during the week long celebrations for a start.  Then there is the excessive amount of water wastage. Plus of course, the boredom, even by the Thais of 4 weeks of chucking water about. 

When I first read the topic, I thought it was a joke 😃 but apparently not. 

I'm also not sure whether bars themselves make any more money during the Songkran week in Pattaya? More time spent on water fights than drinking. 

If I wanted to get wet every day, I would book a diving trip😉

Like most here, I always avoid the April Songkran period  

 

 

[Derek Dangleberries]

43 minutes ago, Stillearly said:

My first was 95 and it was all day / night back then as well .. 

 

my biggest mistake, before internet... was landing on the 19th April , taxi to Patts took 2 hours , then another three to get to my hotel on second road ... then I was soaked as I got out of the taxi  🤷‍♂️

Brilliant pics mate TFP !!!

[ChiFlyer]

7 hours ago, Stillearly said:

I like it for a couple of days .... I have been here for about six of them ...I have also ended up in hospital twice because of it .... three stitches in my eyebrow when I slipped on a wet tile and banged my head  ...and a twisted knee on a drain cover on Soi 8 ( took me an hour to get back to my hotel ... ) and was on crutches for the last two days of my trip .... I was sober on both occasions.. 

but hoping it's not going to happen , a month would be mental ..

Some like Songkran and some don't. Put me in the don't column. A whole month? If this comes to pass, since I live in Thailand, I am going to lay in plenty of provisions and barricade the doors.

[Jobe]

Oh god no. First time I thought it was okay now I don’t appreciate riding my motorcycle down the road only to get water complete with ice thrown at me. It hurts and it’s damn dangerous.

[coxyhog]

My one & only Songkran in Pattaya was 92 & it was absolutely crazy & I've avoided it like the plague ever since.

I was in Korat for 91 and the difference was vast,but have been in Korat recently & Korat town was full of pickups showering everyone.

Korat is OK for me as I just stay at our house during the day then go to a bar in the evening.

[roomark]

Patts is already f***d up crazy with it.

Phuket is only really one full day and it's  done, much better.

Been upcountry too done it at Buriram football stadium that was OK, also been in the village which was only really half a day I got out of that (kind of) by offering to drive the truck (only slow around the villages) 🤣

Edited December 2, 2023 by roomark

[ChiFlyer]

34 minutes ago, coxyhog said:

My one & only Songkran in Pattaya was 92 & it was absolutely crazy & I've avoided it like the plague ever since.

I was in Korat for 91 and the difference was vast,but have been in Korat recently & Korat town was full of pickups showering everyone.

Korat is OK for me as I just stay at our house during the day then go to a bar in the evening.

When I was an occasional visitor to Thailand, I avoided Songkran like the plague. My ex-pat friends had nothing good to say about it.

Since I have lived here in Thailand for most of the last 7 years, Songkran has become unavoidable (well maybe not). The first year (2017 ?) it was ok, but just not my cup of tea and I was in Jomtien not Central Pats.

The next year the then GF and I went to Samui after the first few days. The celebration in Samui was much shorter and much more reserved as well. We have also gone up North to the rural Khon Kean area just to get out of Dodge. The celebrations up that way were no where as ridiculous as in Pattaya. Actually, I think that when it comes to Songkran, Pattaya is the worst place to be. From what I hear Bangkok ranks a close second. 

The few years that we have remained in Pattaya we stayed at home most of the time for two weeks. Gets old.

[Butch]

I bloody hope they extend it from the start date and not bring it forward, as I'm scheduled to fly home a couple of days before it starts.

Otherwise it'll be just a matter of staying in my hotel and supping beer by the poolside, then venturing out in the evening as long as everything has calmed down.

 

[Bazle]

20 minutes ago, Butch said:

I bloody hope they extend it from the start date and not bring it forward, as I'm scheduled to fly home a couple of days before it starts.

Otherwise it'll be just a matter of staying in my hotel and supping beer by the poolside, then venturing out in the evening as long as everything has calmed down.

Ditto me 😥

[Bazle]

25 minutes ago, Butch said:

I bloody hope they extend it from the start date and not bring it forward, as I'm scheduled to fly home a couple of days before it starts.

I think you mean end date, not start date. 

[Yessongs]

Yeah one month is way too long I think.....hard to believe that people will be out there every day for a month. Don't people work and have careers? Oh that's right.......

Have to say out here in the "burbs" in Bangkok, never see anyone at all really. Downtown though....I went in 2016, 2017 with a buddy from the gym. There is some nice "scenery" to look at though. 

[Glasseye]

On 12/2/2023 at 11:40 PM, ChiFlyer said:

When I was an occasional visitor to Thailand, I avoided Songkran like the plague. My ex-pat friends had nothing good to say about it.

Since I have lived here in Thailand for most of the last 7 years, Songkran has become unavoidable (well maybe not). The first year (2017 ?) it was ok, but just not my cup of tea and I was in Jomtien not Central Pats.

The next year the then GF and I went to Samui after the first few days. The celebration in Samui was much shorter and much more reserved as well. We have also gone up North to the rural Khon Kean area just to get out of Dodge. The celebrations up that way were no where as ridiculous as in Pattaya. Actually, I think that when it comes to Songkran, Pattaya is the worst place to be. From what I hear Bangkok ranks a close second. 

The few years that we have remained in Pattaya we stayed at home most of the time for two weeks. Gets old.

 

Been coming here since '99. Living here full time the past two years.

 

Never once have I been touched by a drop of Songkran water. Although last year one of my Grab drivers car got hit by a balloon while I was a passenger. Just after that incident he almost hit a drunk lady who was fcuked up beyond belief.

I have been making a habit of avoiding those kinds of events for as long as I can remember. Holidays and large events....  90% of the time I know where I will be.... on my couch.

--------------------------------------

They are coming out with all of these "ideas" recently in effort to boost the tourism revenues. I can't blame them for trying, but at the end of the day they won't amount to jack.

The big elephant in the room is the 46% flight cancellations from the folks up north. That is really going to put a big dent in things. They say the cancellations are for the "upcoming months". But, it will most likely never return to the numbers pre covid. This is a classic example of long term social change affects that monumental events (like the Great Depression, WWII, Covid) have. 

[forcebwithu]

No surprise they're backtracking on the idea of a month long Songkran.

Govt rejigs plans for Songkran

The National Soft Power Development Committee has clarified its idea of staging the Songkran festival for the whole month of April, saying the water-splashing festivities will still be held on April 13-15 as per tradition, while other cultural events will be organised nationwide during the entire month.

The move follows heavy criticism that the idea is impractical and a month-long water splashing event would be a huge waste of water and increase road accidents.
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