March 28, 20233 yr From Coconuts Bangkok Dear Songkran revelers, if you like to drink and/or show your body off, there will be no place for you at city-sanctioned events this year, according to City Hall. Bangkok Gov. Chadchart Sittipunt said yesterday that people (read: women) won’t be allowed to wear revealing clothes during the upcoming festivities which fall April 13-15. Among other rules are no booze sales, no use of high-pressure water guns, and no smearing of powders on faces or other body parts. Every Songkran in recent years has been accompanied by a drumbeat of browbeating and fretting over its tendency to turn lewd and drunk as people let loose and shed essential clothing along with their inhibitions. Few things wind up the City Fathers like unabashed women in control of their bodies. Despite repeated threats that the wet days of Songkran will be dry of alcohol, that has only been the case at official city events. Although Chadchart was vague, it’s highly unlikely a general booze ban will be declared anywhere in Bangkok during Songkran. The city will organize events April 12 through April 14 in the old quarter’s Lan Khon Muang square, located between City Hall and the Giant Swing. Officials also promised to release a map showing designated areas in Bangkok’s 50 districts where water fights are allowed, almost as if anyone will heed it. The online map will rate different areas by the intensity of water splashing and overall wetness. This year’s Songkran festivities will mark the first free of any COVID-19 restrictions in four years.
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