BANGKOK, 16 October 2014 The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) has declared measures to control floating sky lanterns and rockets, to keep the airspace safe during the Loy Krathong festival.
The Director-General of DCA Somchai Piputwat said that the department has issued the risk prevention measures to protect aircraft and their passengers from the danger of lanterns and rockets launched into the air during the Loy Krathong festival.
The department has been working with related agencies such as the Royal Thai Police, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Education to enforce laws and regulations to control the situation.
Regarding this matter, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has directed all districts in Bangkok to prohibit floating lanterns. Violations will result in 1 month imprisonment or 2,000 baht fine.
From the statistics, there were 616 rockets launched, 62 events with floating lanterns, and 15 events with massive fireworks during the period 1st January – 28th September 2014, which clearly pose a danger to aircraft.
The DCA calls for people who wish to float lanterns or launch rockets to make a report to the department 7 days in advance to let the airport or air traffic control issue a NOTAM warning for pilots to avoid the area, said the DCA Director-General.
The aviation business is expanding continuously. As of now, there have been 681,398 inbound flights with 97 million passengers to 38 airports in Thailand, 26 of which are under the control of the DCA.
