THAILAND - Traditional New Year Celebrations

[gazlannathai]

27 road deaths on first day of holiday period

BANGKOK: -- The government cried an early victory in the war against road deaths during the traditional New Year vacation yesterday with the publication of figures indicating that ‘only’ 27 people had been killed on the nation’s roads on 8 April, lower than the 31 recorded deaths last year.

The ten days over the traditional Songkran New Year celebrations are known as being the most lethal period on Thailand’s roads, with often drunken New Year revellers contributing to hundreds of fatalities.

Yesterday Deputy Interior Minister Somchai Sunthornvut announced figures showing that 8 April had seen 27 road accident fatalities and 754 injuries, with motorcycles accounting for 75 percent of all fatal accidents.

Although the government has launched prominent campaigns against drink driving, this accounted for only 6.67 percent of injuries, compared to 28.13 percent caused by failure to wear crash helmets.

In the light of the figures, Mr. Somchai called on local officials to set up 24-hour checkpoints to help reduce the accident rate.

“On the first day, everyone was cooperating, and we still had 27 fatalities”, he said, while noting that the figures were better than the statistics for 8 April last year, when 31 people died and a staggering 2,730 were injured.

This year police are manning 3,806 checkpoints up and down the country, helped by local administrative and public health officials.

According to Pol. Lt. Gen. Thawatchai Julasukhon, assistant national police commissioner, officers on Friday stopped over 1.5 million vehicles for offences ranging from speeding to drink driving and failure to wear crash helmets or safety belts.

Of the motorists stopped, 24,667 will now have legal action taken against them. Pol. Lt. Gen. Thawatchai noted that the fact that 78.11 percent of the offenders were male indicated that men were not sufficiently cautious in their driving habits.

--TNA 2005-04-10


The traditional festival is for New Year's Eve on 13th April & New Year's Day on 14th April.
Note how the "celebrations" and "holiday" starts on 8th April and is billed as 10 days - no wonder the GDP per capita is so low in Thailand.
Also note the rather blase way in which they report the fatalities - as if it is nothing to be concerned about.

Naruthai is staying home for the next week or so, during daylight hours, due to the water warfare that goes on here - makes riding way too dangerous even for a careful and defensive driver like me. Expect despatch delays if you buy anything in the next week. Post Offices are closed 13th - 15th anyway for official national holiday.

[gazlannathai]

Petrol stations open round-the-clock over Songkran festival

BANGKOK: -- The government will allowed petrol stations throughout the country to operate round-the-clock during next week’s Songkran festival, Thailand's traditional New Year.

Energy Minister Viset Choopiban signed the order on Friday, which will permit petrol stations and oil trading shops to open 24 hours between 12-18 April.

They will, however, have to return to early closing from 19 April, in line with the government’s fuel conservation campaign, as world oil prices continue to rise and the government-sponsored Oil Fund has had to subsidise both gasoline and diesel, the energy minister said.

The government has subsidised both fuels since January 2004.

It has cost the government more than 80 billion baht in that time, most of it on diesel.

Petrol stations, excluding the sales of LPG and NGV, have had to close their businesses between midnight and 5.00 a.m. daily since last September, to help conserve energy.

Petrol outlets urged not to sell liquor during Songkran festival

BANGKOK, Apr 9 (TNA) - Convenient stores at petrol stations across the country have been urged not to sell liquor during the forthcoming Songkran festival.

This is for the sake of motorists and travellers' safety, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya.

"Although there'll be no compulsion, I'd like to ask outlets at petrol stations across the country to suspend their liqour sale during the Songkran festival next week for the sake of the Sonkran's revellers themselves", he told journalists here today.
(Last year it was banned by government order - Gaz)

This year the government plans to reduce road accidents during the nationwide Songkran celebrations by 15 percent.

Pol. Gen. Chidchai inspected traffic conditions via a helicopter this morning, as Thais began to leave the capital for their hometowns for the annual family re-union and traditional Thai New Year celebration period.

The deputy premier and interior minister said that over 2.500 metropolitan police officers had been deployed at key points to facilitate the flow of vehicles to the provincial areas.

--TNA 2005-04-09

[gazlannathai]

Male gropers top list of women's worries


Early dousing
Armed with water guns, foreign tourists attack their targets on Khao San road yesterday, the eve of Songkran. — APICHART JINAKUL



For many women, terrorists pose less of a fright than opportunistic males who grope and grab in the guise of celebrating Songkran festival, according to a public opinion poll.

A recent Assumption University poll showed 42.8% of respondents were most worried about physical sexual harassment during Songkran festivities.

Aother 34.6% cited possible terrorist attacks as their main concern and the remaining 22.6% said they had no worries at all.

The survey was conducted among more than 2,800 women aged 15-24 in 23 provinces between March 15 and April 11.

Of the respondents, 11.53% had suffered physical sexual harassment during previous Songkran fun fests.

However, 82.6% of them said they did not complain to the police.

Of the 17.4% who filed complaints, only 8.9% said police could arrest their assailants.

Almost 30% said police rejected their complaints, claiming such harassment was ``normal'' during Songkran.

Fourteen percent of the women surveyed said police not only rejected their complaints but added to the hurt by passing sarcastic comments.

Asked if they were confident of getting police assistance in case of sexual harassment during Songkran this year, 55.9% said no, 33.7% said yes and 10.4% had no comment.

Based on survey results, poll researchers estimated that more than 560,000 women nationwide were sexually harassed during the Songkran holiday last year.

Deputy Interior Minister Sermsak Pongpanit, meanwhile, warned women to dress properly when going out.

(Bangkok Post 13/4/2005)

Other sites favoured over South

An enterprising tuk-tuk driver advertises his convertible vehicle for rent in Chiang Mai for 300 baht per hour over the Songkran festival. The Thai New Year attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year to the northern capital to participate in water festivities around the city. — JETJARAS NA RANONG

SUJINTANA HEMTASILPA

As well-heeled Thais pour out of the country for their long Songkran holidays, inbound foreign and Thai travellers are frantically booking accommodations, chiefly in the resort towns and islands along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, and in Chiang Mai province in the North.

A travel agent handling inbound tours said her agency found resort towns within a few hours' drive from Bangkok are the most popular right now for both Thai and international tourists during Songkran.

The northern provinces are very popular among European tourists, especially the French, though other destinations closer to the capital have gained significant popularity this year. They include Hua Hin, Cha-am, Pattaya and Koh Chang.

Hotel reservations have risen in Hua Hin, said the agent, who asked that she not be identified. She said accommodation bookings through her own agency for Hua Hin rose by 30% over last year.

Premium resorts and hotels on Koh Chang, off the coast of Trat province, are reportedly fully booked.

At the same time, the popularity of tourist destinations in the South has dropped dramatically because of the Dec 26 tsunami, the aftershocks and the recent violence.

Phuket, on the Andaman coast, and Koh Samui, in the Gulf of Thailand, are not as popular this season as they were during Songkran 2004.

Hat Yai, considered a shopping destination for Asian tourists, reported no new bookings during the past week, while cancellation calls continue to flow in after the April 3 bombing at the airport and hypermarket, said the travel agent.

A staff-member of an internet reservations website said bookings have doubled for accommodations in Chiang Mai compared with last year.

Most tourists reserving rooms in Chiang Mai were European, he said.

As in the past, European tourists have typically arrived in Thailand prior to Songkran, and headed to beach islands such as Koh Samui and Koh Chang. After some days on the beach, they have migrated to the North to celebrate Songkran in Chiang Mai. Those with less time headed directly to Chiang Mai for a short holiday, he said.

Last year, Phuket was the most popular destination during the Songkran period for tourists from Singapore and Hong Kong. This year, the Asian visitors have switched to Bangkok, Pattaya and Koh Chang, the internet travel agent said.

Outbound travel has surged during Songkran week. Last year, 120,000 people headed out of Thailand for the holiday. The Kasikorn Research Center is predicting that number will rise by 25% this week, to 150,000. The centre estimated outbound travellers will spend 6.8 billion baht on their Songkran holidays abroad this year, a 30% rise over last year.

[gazlannathai]

The true traditional Songkran

Children pour scented water from silver bowls over the image of Buddha at their local temple.


Youngers pour scented water over the hands of elders to show respect for them


Two "naughty" students are chosen to receive all the water and talc throwing abuse from their teachers as a lesson in "what you do is what you get" at their school.


Songkran is traditionally about showing respect for those who are older and more learned.

[gazlannathai]

What it has become

Students mob a favoured teacher drenching him with water pistols and small basins of water ..... this is still the polite version of what happens on the streets

Things start to get out of control


For 10 days you get covered in talc and drenched every few minutes - from dawn to dusk

(Any wonder Gaz prefers to stay home throughout it all?)

[gazlannathai]

Anarchy rules




Nothing is safe - note the girl is trying to eat an ice cream that will get covered in water from dirty canals and drainage ditches

[gazlannathai]

From Chiangmai CityLife magazine this month ....


John Shaw MBE former British Consul to Chiangmai (wearing glasses) receives a traditional hand wash from a member of CityLife staff.

The drink driving season is upon us. Each year in recognition of shared ancestry and as a demonstration of cross-cultural unity, millions of people across Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Burma devotedly down absurd amounts of booze, hurl barrel-loads of filthy ditch water at each other and get sunstroke before wrapping their motorbike round a convenient lamppost. Yes, for an official period of three days, this part of the world goes completely mental. The official excuse for the madness is, of course, welcoming in the new solar year: an event celebrated concurrently in countries which share a history of Theravada Buddhism.
Now, there may be many of you dreading another songkran in Chiang Mai, being set upon by packs of rabid children firing water pistols and hurling clouds of prickly heat powder. But before deciding to get the hell out of Dodge, be warned: there are nutters everywhere! Although there is a raft of similarities in the celebrations which officially fall between the 13th and 16th of April, there are also several distinct differences.

Burma
Known as Thingyan, the water festival in Burma is arguably the maddest of the lot. Never mind pump-action water rifles and scoop buckets, these guys know that the only way to satisfactorily soak your target is through using high-pressure hosepipes. Roadside pavilions are even constructed in town centres so revellers can be assured of an effective platform from which to attack. The one time of the year when people can let loose and go wild, the Burmese make sure they do just that.

The padauk flower (pterocarpus macrocarpus), which appears at this time of year after rain bursts, is closely associated with Thingyan. Golden in colour and with a sweet fragrance, the flowers and leaves of the paduak are used to decorate streets and houses and are often worn in the hair.

Last year, officials in western Burma's Arakan state ordered a second Thingyan festival in mid May, after a local astrologer warned them of an imminent plague. The local authorities even stumped up for the construction of relatively lavish festival centres around the State in a bid to encourage citizens to join in and ward off the evil spirits. No plagues were reported: mission accomplished.

Arakan is also the stage for a peculiar battle of the sexes. Men and women line up to face each other behind boats filled with water and the women proceed to scoop and hurl water at the blokes. If the men manage to catch any of the water in their small cups, they can then throw it back. And just to reinforce these grossly unfair rules, if the men duck out of the way or even wipe their face, they get disqualified.

Laos
More restrained than its Thai and Burmese counterpart (largely due to the killjoy government's attitude) the Boun Pee Mai festival is less about water fuelled warfare and more about families making temple tours to bathe Buddha images. People do come out onto the streets to throw water at passers by, but the mayhem in Luang Prabang and Vientianne is generally kept to a suitably communist minimum.

One of the most distinctive features of Boun Pee Mai is the building of sand stupas. Along the banks of rivers and in temple grounds, people spend much of the day building sand stupas which are then decorated with flags and flowers and doused in perfume water. Upon completion, the stupas are then offered to monks in order to make merit.

The Laos year actually begins in December, though the festival to mark it has been moved to mid April, when days are long enough to accommodate partying and temperatures high enough to render buckets of iced water down your back more bearable.
Cambodia
As with other countries, the Khmer new year - Chaul Chnam Thmey - is characterised by a complete cleaning of the home, the flinging of water at passersby (except in downtown Phnom Penh and Siem Reap where the practice has been ostensibly banned) and, as in Laos, the building of sand stupas within temple grounds. The stupas are decorated a little differently however, with one flag paced on top of the mound, and four around its base.

One of the more distinctive aspects of Chaul Chnam Thmey is the game playing. Over the course of the festival, open spaces become playgrounds, with people getting stuck in to rounds of tug-of-war, angkunh and bob choong. While tug-of-war is pretty much the same as is played anywhere, the others are quite bizarre. Angkhun is a team game of marksmanship, where large stone-like seeds are thrown at targets down a track. The team who hits all the targets first, then gets to whack the other guys across the knees with a length of bamboo. Bob choong is only marginally less violent, and could be seen as a Khmer version of dodgeball. Boys line up against girls and cloth sacks are thrown at each other. If you catch the sack, it is your job to chase the thrower and hurl it back at them. Similar to a game played by the Hmong of Laos, this is allegedly a courting ritual.
by Mike Atkins

[gazlannathai]

Here's a link to a great page in English by a Thai student

(well worth reading)


http://www.thaiworldview.com/feast/songkan3.htm