BANGKOK, Apr 11 (TNA) – Some people would see all-out water battles between complete strangers as one of the best things about the
traditional Thai New Year, but today Interior Minister Pol. Gen. Chidchai Vanasatidya warned against too much revelry, saying that it was important both for
safety and for the maintenance of Thai traditions that Songkran did not turn into a ‘water war’.
Pol. Gen. Chidchai, who has told police officers to
take strict measures to ensure that all water-throwing is ‘appropriate’, said that Songkran festivities were becoming increasingly violent.
“If we play
as if it’s a water war, it’s simply not fun any more. Especially when it comes to high-pressure water pistols. If someone on a motorbike was caught like
this, there could be an accident”, he said, adding that revellers also tended to cause traffic jams.
“If you’re playing with water, do it within the
framework of ‘enough fun is enough’”, he said.
His appeals to respect tradition were joined by the director of the Bureau of National Buddhism, Dr.
Chakratham Thammasak, who noted that the traditional Thai New Year was a period in which young people had to give time to their elders and ask for their
blessings.
(TNA)--E006
Travel Centre
