BANGKOK, Thailand – Aekvaranyoo Amrapala, spokesperson for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), said Bangkok’s Songkran celebrations drew almost five million people this year, nearly doubling last year’s attendance as the Thai capital experienced a surge in festival activity across 94 locations.
According to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, a total of 4,958,965 people joined Songkran events between April 10-15, compared with 2,564,663 people during the same period in 2025, representing an increase of 93.4 percent.
The three busiest locations were Siam Square with 1,535,638 visitors, followed by ICONSIAM with 1,471,162 visitors and Silom Road with 652,974 visitors.
Road accident deaths also increased slightly during the six-day period. Officials recorded 18 fatal road accidents, the same number as last year, but the number of deaths rose to 20 from 19 a year earlier. Total injuries from road accidents reached 2,554.
Motorcycles remained the deadliest form of transport, accounting for 17 of the fatalities, or 85 percent of all road deaths. Nine of those killed were not wearing helmets.
The districts with the highest number of road deaths were Thung Khru District with three deaths and Prawet District with two.
Bangkok also saw a sharp rise in waste generated from major Songkran venues. Between April 11-15, total rubbish collected reached 336 tons, up from 250.5 tons during the same period last year.
The areas generating the most waste were Khao San Road with 102.46 tons, Silom Road with 86.17 tons and ICONSIAM with 58.70 tons.
Most of the rubbish was general waste, accounting for 81.52 percent, while food waste made up 14.1 percent and recyclable waste represented 4.38 percent.
Fire incidents also rose sharply. Between April 10-15, Bangkok recorded 145 fire incidents, compared with just 38 during the same period last year.
Grass fires accounted for the majority of incidents, rising to 132 cases from 20 last year. Vehicle fires fell to four cases from eight, while house and building fires dropped slightly to nine cases from 10.
There were three injuries linked to fire incidents this year, down from eight last year, while the number of deaths remained unchanged at one.
Aekvaranyoo said the figures, while not yet covering the full seven-day Songkran danger period ending April 16, showed that far more tourists and residents took part in celebrations this year, with higher numbers also seen in waste, grass fires and traffic deaths.
He added that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration would review this year’s Songkran operations and use the lessons learned to improve safety planning and crowd management for the 2027 festival.
