Songkran "insanity"

Not everyone is happy with our modern Songkran festival. Today, Bangkok Post columnist Ploenpote Atthakor risks being called a "killjoy" by giving out some harsh criticism of the "insanity" accompanying the holiday period.

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Ordinary travel can be a harrowing experience during Songkran. PATIPAT JANTHONG

Songkran "insanity"

Not everyone is happy with our modern Songkran festival. Today, Bangkok Post columnist Ploenpote Atthakor risks being called a "killjoy" by dishing out some harsh criticism of the "insanity" accompanying the holiday period. She also questions the wisdom of wasting so much water in a time of drought.

Most of her criticism centres on the "disturbing Songkran behaviour and the nuisance involved in travelling during the festival."

Here is what she has to say? Do you have similar feelings?

"I used to travel by train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok during Songkran and witnessed how foreign tourists who boarded the non-airconditioned carriages did not enjoy this festival. At every station, local revellers would throw water into the train, and passengers were left soaking wet from the northern provinces all the way down to Bangkok. Judging from their faces, no one liked this watery treat. Yet those on the platform laughed to themselves at the suffering of others.

Trapped. Ploenpote was caught for an hour in a Songkran parade like this one. "It was hellish," she says. PATIPAT JANTHONG

"Three years ago, I was on the receiving end of inconsiderate revellers. While driving home from lunch, I was trapped in a Songkran parade. My narrow soi in Phasi Charoen district has been a popular water warfare site for many years. Hot weather seemed to give revellers a good excuse to come out and enjoy water fights with strangers. Dozens of trucks carrying revellers simply stopped at whim along the soi, where their passengers would throw water at one another or to fill up large tanks. Needless to say, traffic crawled to a standstill. It took me more than an hour to escape the 1.5km stretch of road. It was hellish, but no police officers turned up to help manage traffic.

"I learned some lessons. Last year I stocked up on food and locked myself in at home, saving myself from insanity. This year, things will be the same: traffic snarls, lousy dancing and deafening music. My soi will be wet and filthy with hardened talcum powder that revellers use to paste each other's face and body. Is this a decent tradition?

A young boy chooses his weapon during what Ploenpote calls the "countdown to insanity". PATIPAT JANTHONG

"Basically, Songkran for me is a time to stay home – a safe place from inconsiderate revellers. The roads are not safe amid the mass exodus from Bangkok, as many motorists are drunk and reckless. Although transport authorities and traffic police have pledged to tighten law enforcement during the festival in a bid to reduce accidents and fatalities, which have remained high for more than a decade, I am not optimistic.

"I don't doubt their good intentions, but I just don't believe in the practicality. Fostering traffic discipline is a long-term job. We cannot expect bad drivers to turn their behaviour around in just one short campaign."

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