Songkran Festival the International Water Wars that takes place in the summer of Thailand is a long-awaited celebration for both Thai citizens and tourists who come to join in the game of splash. Normally, for a few years now playing Songkran on trucks have been illegal due to the dangerous risks but it is one of the most popular water wars methods as citizens have a lot of fun splashing water onto each other while standing in the truck.
Truck water wars are normally held on a road in each province, where the people would gather with their trucks and water buckets. They would then splash water on each other while the trucks intersect each other. Songkran powder which is a white powder mixed with water is a part of the tradition where men and women would paste the mixed powder onto each other’s faces.
Although the police have stated that citizens can use trucks for Songkran, it has to be safe and not too risky for accidents to happen. For example, there should be a limit to how many persons can stand behind the truck, the number of children on each truck, the speed limit appropriate, and more.
This year, the Royal Thai Police joined in a conference-deciding the rules that will be enforced this Songkran and different methods to protect citizens from harm. Bangkok this year the police are planning to increase the safety in popular Songkran locations such as Silom road, RCA, Asiatique the Riverfront, Khaosan road, and more by setting up safety checkpoints. For other provinces, more police will be called to popular Songkran locations in Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, and Hat Yai.
The police consider dangerous areas to be where there were a lot of car accidents last year. Songkran has always had a high number of accidents during the 7 days of holidays which will be from 11 to 17 of this month.
Pressure water guns remain illegal as they are dangerous and can cause serious harm. Ice is also prohibited where in the past there have been ice throwing which can injure citizens and also cars. No guns are allowed to shoot up into the sky for celebration this year and teenagers are asked to dress appropriately for the occasion, mainly not to be too revealing.
