Pattaya Permanent Secretary
Wuttipol Charoenphol discusses the upcoming Songkran festival at City Hall.
Pratchaya Kerdthong
Pattaya officials will try to bring some sense of order to the
water-throwing free-for-all that engulfs Beach Road on Pattaya’s official
Songkran day.
Known as the “wan lai” festival, the April 19 finale of Pattaya’s week of
Songkran mayhem has for years on end simply been a mass of humanity flinging
water of varying degrees of cleanliness, powder and other sundry at each
other. This year, the city and Tourism Authority of Thailand plan to put up
19 stages and booths between the Dusit Thani Hotel and Pattaya Tourist
Information Center on North Road in hopes of making it look more civilized.
Pattaya Permanent Secretary Wuttipol Charoenphol and TAT Pattaya Director
Niti Kongkrut unveiled their plan March 15 at a meeting with event sponsors
and city bureaucrats. Wuttipol claimed the event will not only boost
tourism, but promote Thai cultural traditions.
Among the sponsors organizing booths will be Bunrod Trading Co., Thai Asia
Pacific, Siam Winery Trading Plus Co. Chonburi Southern Club and more. Each
stage will offer entertainment, awards, games and product sales. The
Chonburi Southern Club’s venue at Soi 13/1 will feature musical performances
from Thai pop acts Palmmy, T-Bone and Buddha Best.
Most people, however, will be on Beach Road for the water fights, not the
tunes. Acknowledging such, the city’s Prevention and Disaster Relief and
Education Department will be on hand with fire engines to dispense the wet
stuff and offer free water buckets.
