After 3 dry years, Pattaya formally will get soaked for Songkran in 2023.
Deputy City Supervisor Siwat Boonkerd chaired a Feb. 26 conference at town hall to reveal that “wan lai”, the water-throwing free-for-all that caps Songkran in Pattaya, will return this year after a three-year pandemic hiatus.
Regardless of the reality that the Covid-19 break out was all however over in Thailand last spring, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul canceled all Songkran events across the country on March 29 in 2015, declaring water would spread out Covid-19, in spite of no proof to support it.
He ended up being incorrect, obviously. The pandemic abated rapidly after.
This year, absolutely nothing will stop the water chaos, with main Pattaya “wan lai” occasions will be hung on April 18 in Naklua and April 19 in Pattaya and Jomtien Beach.
In addition to water weapons and pails of ice water, there will be cultural occasions such as bathing and scattering water on Buddha images and offering alms to monks, along with a parade of flower-adorned trucks and musical efficiencies.
The conference covered preparing for all the normal issues, from roadway closures to security to emergency treatment.
Authorities yielded that Songkran water wars in Pattaya aren’t just hung on “wan lai”, however the water tossing mania starts 10 days previously. This year, nevertheless, there will be a lot of travelers, a few of whom will be believed of bringing Covid-19 from their virus-ravaged homelands to Pattaya.
Oddly, there is no caution from the health ministry this year about water spreading out the illness.
