BANGKOK, 29 March 2013 The Ministry of Interior aims to ban the practice of carrying water containers on pickup trucks and splashing water down from the trucks, for the upcoming Songkran water festival.
An Interior Ministry meeting to discuss reducing road accidents and casualties during Songkran holiday has set April 11-17 as days when tight control on the road will be implemented. Aiming to increase road safety during the period of water play, the meeting agreed to switch from the previous model of using a central command center that issued guidelines to provincial officials to a model that allows provincial administrators to adjust their methods to best fit their localities.
Under the new model, provincial governors must lay down measures and guidelines for districts, municipalities and other local administrative bodies to follow and implement. Every province must establish zoning for Songkran water play. People on pickup trucks will be banned from splashing water on public roads, in order to reduce the risk of accident occurring.
