Today is the 4th day of Songkran, and in most places, the last water mayhem day. The government is a little concerned about the raucous behavior making the news.
DESPITE authorities taking tougher action against law-breaking motorists and the Army’s seizure of drunk drivers’ vehicles, the road toll remains higher compared to Songkran last year. Three days into the so-called “seven dangerous days” saw 181 deaths and 1,777 injuries in 1,661 road accidents nationwide - marking an across-the-board increase from 121 deaths and 1,281 injuries in 1,215 accidents over the same period last year.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Death-toll-hits-181-on-third-of-seven-dangerous-da-30283980.html
What I find most interesting from the above article is this:
Drunk driving and speeding were still main factors linked to 40 and 33 per cent of accidents respectively, while most crashes involved two-wheelers (83 per cent) followed by pick-up trucks (7 per cent). On the same day, officials at 2,129 checkpoints arrested 111,629 motorists - most of whom (32,278) were caught for not wearing a helmet, while 30,625 were unable to produce driving licences.
Almost 1/3 of the motorists stopped did not have a driver's license. I would guess the figure is closer to 50% outside of major metropolitan areas. After all, it costs money to get a license and money is in short supply to lo-so Thais.
A week does not go by without a request to Thavorn to borrow money, from friends and family (extended).We manage to control the requests as I only give Thavorn money as needed. She never wants for anything but she seldom has more than $3,000 Bhat in her purse. She simply tells the borrow that she does not have the spare cash and does not have to lie. We are both happy with that solution. We do lend to those that pay back promptly and are in need. We are the bah-humbug lenders :-)
I read an interesting article today about the spread of Tuk Tuks in Thailand. Apparently this unregulated vehicle is propagating at an alarming rate. No self respecting Thai or lifer in Thailand would be caught dead in a Tuk Tuk. Tourists, apparently love being trucked around in noisy, polluting, open air vehicles which have a tendency to tip over and cost 3 times what an air conditioned, regulated taxi would cost. I would guess we have the Lonely Planet Guide to thank for that. It is amazing the number of tourists, especially back packers I see with that guide in hand. Definitely not my guide to Thailand and usually way out of date.
Apparently some of the Thai ladies are getting carried away and baring their breasts in Thailand during Songkran and the government in quite concerned. I can guarantee you this behavior is alcohol induced as very few Thai girls would ever think of appearing public bra-less never mind topless. It does, however seem to add to the carnival atmosphere :-)
http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2016/04/07/prayuth-vows-prosecute-topless-dancers-over-songkran
SongKran is really a good time of year to experience Thailand. Just give yourself another week to recover.
TTYL
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