People pay respect to the
Buddha before the madness begins.
Staff reporters
The Songkran festivities in Pattaya this year were about as
exuberant as any other year, despite the recent political unrest. It seems
that once again, Pattaya is being left relatively unaffected by the troubles
in the capital.
People
on Beach Road in Pattaya bathe the Buddha statue.
Pattaya wasn’t totally unaffected, though, as hotel occupancy rates were
well below normal for this time of year, down as much as 20% in some places.
Also, with less people in town and tough controls placed on drunken driving,
the accident rate was lower than might have been expected.
Governor Surapon Pongtadsirikun revealed that seven people died on the roads
of Chonburi Province during the seven-day period April 10 to 16, down from
ten last year. However, the number of accidents was up, from 72 last year to
95 this year, with 97 people injured, down from 101 injured last year
The highest number of accidents occurred in Banglamung (36) and Central
Chonburi (32). Motorcycles accounted for 82 percent of the accidents, with
pickup trucks coming in a distant second at 9 percent. The bulk of road
deaths were attributed to motorcyclists not wearing helmets and drunken
driving.
Governor Surapon went on to say that roadblocks were set up to check for
drunk drivers throughout the province. 42,888 vehicles were stopped
resulting in 8,751 arrests for driving while impaired.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, though, as tens of thousands of revelers took
to the streets for the Wan Lai celebrations in Naklua and Pattaya April 18
and 19.
Celebrations at Naklua started at dawn on April 18 in Larn Pho Public Park,
with food being offered to 99 monks and traditional pouring of scented water
on the elders’ hands. The parade began at noon, circling the Naklua area so
people had a chance to pour scented water on Buddha images and sprinkle the
monks with water to mark the beginning of the traditional New Year.
Throughout the day the park and the surrounding streets were filled with
thousands of people. After the formalities were over, people then began to
throw water over each other in the ritual water fights.
April 19 was considered the official Songkran Day for Pattaya. Traffic began
to pile up early in the morning on Sukhumvit Road, as thousands of revelers
made their way into the city. Despite the best efforts of police and
volunteers, the sheer volume of traffic clogged the roads of North, Central
and South Pattaya.
Traditional celebrations in Pattaya began at Wat Chaimongkol with the
pouring water on the Buddha, and the blessing of monks and elderly people,
which was led by Mayor Itthipol Khunplome. This was followed by the parade
of Buddha images from the Wat, up 2nd Road to the Dolphin Roundabout, down
Beach Road and up South Pattaya Road back to Wat Chaimongkol.
Pattaya Beach Road was closed between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. for the people to
enjoy themselves on a traffic-free road, the second year in a row that the
city has done this. One of the main attractions took place on the beach in
front Beach Road Soi 4, where Spy held a wet and wild beach party. Another
took place in front of the Hard Rock Hotel with water and fun similar to
last year.
Police and volunteers were around to ensure maximum security around the
area, while giant water tanks were provided by city hall to keep the water
fun going at full force.
Food vendors all reported good sales, and one business that did really well
was the car wash operators, where vehicles began queuing early in the
morning of April 20, drivers eager to clean the residues of Songkran from
their vehicles.
Monks bless the citizens on
Songkran Day.
Mayor Itthipol gently pours
scented water on the elders.
Mesa Konta (left) of the Dusit
Thani Pattaya executive office wishes hotel general manager Chatchawal
Supachayanont a blissful Thai New Year as she pours scented water over his
hands.
The winning sand castle in the
competition at Saensuk,
created by a team from the Tide Resort.
The winning team from Tide
Resort
in the Saensuk sand castle competition.
Traditional Songkran dance
leads the Buddha image down Beach Road.
Drums and gongs signal the
arrival of monks and the Buddha statue.
This elephant fights back at
Nong Nooch Tropical Garden.
Elephants and riders receive a
soaking at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden.
Wet and wild in front of Hard
Rock again.
With Beach Road closed, Second
Road was at a standstill.
So much for powdered water
being banned from the celebrations.
Just what I need - powder in
my eyes as I try to ride
my motorcycle through this madness without a helmet.
Water flows on April 15, even
before the Pattaya celebration had officially begun.
Already wet to the core, why
not volunteer for the dunk tank?
Pattaya Mail reporter Ariyawat
Nuamsawat (right)
dons a wig to try and disguise himself at the beer tent.
The eyes have it.
Forget about trying to travel
along Sukhumvit.
Backed up for as far as the
eye can see.
A tourist enjoys the Songkran
fun on Pattaya North Road.
(Photo by Tom Brown)
A local firefighter fills some
tanks on Beach Road.
A formidable army is formed on
Beach Road.
City workers happily fill
water tanks along Beach Road in Pattaya.
Beach Road is always packed
with water throwing revelers on Songkran Day.
Traffic was at a standstill on
North Pattaya Road for most of the day.
(Photo by Tom Brown)
Deputy
Governor Pisit Boonchuang addresses the crowd.
Mrs
Bunlam before.
Mrs
Bunlam now, with the village head and Pantip.
The
house before we fixed the roof.
Marloes
poses with a happy customer.