Pattaya residents got a jump on Songkran spiritual offerings, hoping to avoid crowds expected at temples April 13-15.
While official Songkran festivals and religious services have been canceled, alcohol banned and the legal holidays rescinded, some Pattaya locals are going to commemorate Songkran anyway. No matter what the government says, the lunar calendar still says it’s the Thai New Year.
That’s not to say people aren’t paying heed to the government’s social-distancing directives to avoid spreading the coronavirus. Those at Nongprue Temple April 11 said they came early because they expect crowds to fill temples during the three-day new year despite implorations for people not to gather in groups.
They also said they felt making merit early – mostly by making food offerings to deities and their ancestors – was better than not making merit at all.
Making merit for the new year, some worshippers said, is a tradition that goes back millennium and can’t be stopped by a virus or a government directive.
