Kanchanaburi's floating discos annoy PM

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said he will order officials to find legal ways to clamp down on discotheque-raft operators, who bombard the Kwai Yai and Kwai Noi rivers with noise and garbage.

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Plan to quiet Kanchanaburi floating discos rocks raft operators

Patsara Jikkham
Piyarach Choncharoen

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is not happy with Kanchanaburi’s noisy floating discos and his grumbling is making waves among the province’s river barge operators.

Gen Prayut said he will order officials to find legal ways to clamp down on discotheque-raft operators, who bombard the Kwai Yai and Kwai Noi rivers with noise and garbage.

Plans to "put them in order" – the term used by the prime minister – will include a request to turn down the rock-and-roll and checks to ensure they aren't violating existing laws, he added.

Attempts to silence the disco barges in Kanchanaburi's Muang district, where the Kwai Yai and Kwai Noi rivers merge, have been floated for years, but the riverine party hasn't missed a beat, with some of the towed rafts still hitting a bum note with shoreline residents.

Floating discotheques have been a fixture on the Kwai Noi river in Kanchanaburi for many years. This photo was taken in 2008. PIYARACH CHONGCHAROEN

The province has issued regulations that include a ban on disco rafts in some areas, a prohibition against loud music after midnight, and a noise limit of 91 decibels.

Rafts on the Kwai Yai and Kwai Noi rivers are popular among tourists visiting the province. Muang district alone boasts 450 rafts, 200 of them rock and dance party spots, while the remainder are floating hotels, according to the Rafting Operators Association of Kanchanaburi.

There are about 15 more floating restaurants in the district, it added.

Association chairwoman Anjaree Krachangchay defended raft operators, saying most have complied with provincial orders with only four ignoring the regulations.

The operators claim their clients requested loud music after midnight because they had started their party cruise late, she said, adding all violators have been warned to strictly follow the rules.

Self-regulation has been underway among members of the association to solve the problems, as they make their living on the rafts and no one wants to damage the industry they have worked to build, she added.

This story on our main Bangkok Post website is generating many supportive comments of plans to quiet the rafts – and other noisy spots in the country: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/768056/plan-to-quiet-kanchanaburi-floating-discos-rocks-raft-operators

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