If you were planning to head to Bangkok between April 11 and 14, 2019, to engage in what has become the world’s largest water fight, it may pay to think again.
According to The Bangkok Post “Business operators on Khaosan Road have decided to cancel activities for Songkran this year to allow authorities to prepare the area for the coronation of His Majesty the King.”
The Post reports that both Khaosan and Silom Roads will be open to Songkran revelers, but that there will be no entertainment planned, and high-pressure water guns and the consumption of alcohol will be banned at the venues.
You can accuse me of being an old fuddy-duddy, but I’m not convinced this is a bad thing.
Firstly, the origins of Songkran have been somewhat forgotten in these giant water fights. What was once an opportunity for some rather gentle merit-making and paying reverence to ancestors, has just become a free-for-all water fight. You’re going to see any traditional Songkran activities surrounded by tourists in Khaosan or Silom.
Secondly, I can’t quite reconcile the waste involved – plastic waste in the form of all the water pistols (bought for, and thrown away after, the event), freebie plastic pouches to keep possessions dry, and all that wasted water. In the last few years the celebration occurred while the country was enduring its worst drought for decades.
Then there’s the health issue. Do you know where the water’s come from? Did you swallow any? Do you have insurance?
And there’s the fact that some revelers take the opportunity to harass women. “Just over half of the women and young girls surveyed complained they had been sexually harrassed during past Thai New Year water festivals, it was revealed at the launch of a “Happy Songkran” safety campaign,” reported The Bangkok Post in 2016, based on a poll of 1,793 people.
And finally, the Songkran holiday is usually associated with an awful number of road fatalities (worse than normal, in any case). In the seven days of Songkran in 2018, 418 people died, and a shocking 3,897 were injured on the roads, according to The Nation.
I understand that a water fight can be fun. And it is quite nice to see kids involved. But for my money, Bangkok’s a much better place every other week of the year.
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