A poster for the 2024 Songkran Festival officially announced by Thailand has recently been scolded as a "scam poster".
This oolong is not complicated, and most of it has to do with "word play".
In order to promote Thailand's soft power and attract more foreign tourists to travel to Thailand during the Thai New Year Songkran Festival, the Thai government recently announced that it will hold a 21-day "Maha Songkran World Water Festival 2024" this year, and the time is set for April 1-21, that is, from April 1, the celebration starts from Chiang Mai, and then goes to Chonburi, Samut Prakan and other places.
On April 5, 2024, a number of Thai media such as "Public Opinion" quoted a video of a Chinese guy being deceived on the street by Thailand's "21-day carnival" news of Songkran Festival and reported it.
In the video, because he mistakenly thought that Thailand's Songkran Water Fighting event lasted from April 1 to April 21, at the beginning of April, the Chinese guy took his equipment to the downtown shopping mall in Bangkok to participate in the Songkran Fight, but when he came to the destination, he found that everything was as usual on the street, and there was no atmosphere of water splashing fierce battle, and the Chinese guy was at a loss and was so embarrassed that he snapped his toes on the ground.
Thai netizens have cast sympathetic eyes after seeing this, and as of now, the video has become popular on the Thai network, and has been viewed by more than one million!
On the same day, a Thai big V blogger carried the video and Ait Thai Prime Minister and Finance Minister Saita and the leader of the Pheu Thai Party and vice chairman of the Soft Power Strategy Committee, Bei Dongdan, used the Chinese tourists' move as an excuse to hope that they would give an explanation.
The Thai blogger wrote in the article,
At the same time, many Thai netizens went to leave messages to appease Chinese tourists, saying that they as Thais did not know when this year's Songkran Water Splashing activity started, saying that they could feel the embarrassment of tourists through the screen, and asked him to come again on April 12-16, when the Thai people must accompany him to fight, let him feel everyone's enthusiasm.
Of course, there are also Thai netizens who sarcastically ridicule tourists, saying that they are all workers who are okay on weekdays and who will splash water on the street with you, I don't know whether it is intentional or unintentional, knowing that the splashing event was held during the 5-day holiday around April 13, and deliberately performed on the street in early April purely to attract attention.
In addition, there are also well-meaning tourists in the comment area, saying that the government launched it
From April 1st to 10th, Songkran will be prepared for the event, from April 11th to 16th, the major well-known tourist cities will hold celebrations and water splashing activities, and from April 17th to 21st, the relevant finishing work will be carried out.
It is understood that April 13 this year is the Thai Songkran Festival, April 12-16 is the Thai statutory holiday, when Bangkok Silom Road, Khao San Road will hold a water carnival, interested tourists and friends can go to participate. In addition to Bangkok, water splashing events are held in Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya and other places, and the exact dates vary from place to place, but they will all be held during these times.
As for the propaganda of the "21-day Songkran Festival", most of them come from the "soft power" strategy of Thai Prime Minister Saita.
The Thaksin's emphasis on soft power will indeed make the 2024 Songkran Festival more grand and shocking, but the "21-day Songkran Festival" is actually the same as in 2023 or before.
It's just that the "Songkran Festival celebrated in various parts of Thailand at different time periods and time points" has now become "21 days of Songkran in Thailand".
In essence, Thailand is right, but it is just playing the "title party".
In order to alleviate the pressure on people to travel and stimulate tourism, services and economic development, the government has decided to add a special day off, so together with the previous statutory public holidays, there are a total of five statutory holidays for Songkran this year, namely April 12-16.
Therefore, the correct expression should be - in 2024, Thailand's Songkran Festival will have a 5-day holiday, and at the same time, the number of days celebrated in various places will be 21 days.
Under this correct formulation, rumors such as "Thailand has a 21-day off Songkran" need to stop.
Thailand is originally slow in rhythm, and if there is a long holiday, the production supply chain will be directly broken.
So in essence, Thailand's Songkran Festival is still concentrated on April 11-17, and the Chinese man in the news is afraid that it is really early, but this can't be blamed on others, who made the commercial propaganda of Thailand's "soft power" so misleading.
According to the official announcement of the Thai Tourism Bureau, the current major celebrations of the Songkran Festival in Thailand are as follows:
It is not very relevant to the "continuous carnival from April 1st to 21st" on the official poster of Thailand.
Therefore, Thailand.com once again reminds Chinese tourists to go to Thailand for a carnival according to the following celebration schedule.
April 9-16
Siam Paragon Super Sonic Songkran
Siam Paragon Ultrasonic Water Festival 2024
Location: Siam Paragon Mall, Bangkok
April 10-21
ICONSIAM Songkran
The ICONIC SONGKRAN FESTIVAL 2024
LOCATION: ICONSIAM MALL, BANGKOK
April 11-15
2024 Super Songkran World Songkran Festival
Maha Songkran World Water Festival 2024
地点:曼谷Middle Ratchadamnoen Road & Sanam Luang (大皇宫外皇家田及附近区域)
April 11-13
2024 Songkran Bazaar Music Festival
Songkaran Bazaar Music Festival
地点:曼谷伦披尼公园 Lumpini Park 及拉差达路Ratchadapisek Road
April 12-15
2024 Siam Songkan Music Festival
Shyam Sankaran Music Festival 2024
地点：曼谷RCA Central Park
April 13-15
S2O Songkran Music Festival
S2O Songkran Music Festival
地点：Live Park RAMA 9
April 13-15
Sanyo Songkran Festival
Samyan Water Street
地点:曼谷三洋路Samian Road到 Ban Tad Thong Road
April 1-15
2024 Chiang Mai Songkran Festival
Location: The whole city of Chiang Mai
April 13th
Chiang Mai water fights
地点:清迈中央百货lan Muan Jai, Central Chiang Mai
April 12-14
Patong Beach Songkran Festival
Patong Festival On The Beach
Location: Patong Seaside, Phuket
April 13th
Songkran Festival in Old Street, Phuket
Phuket Heritage Wave 2024 （Songkran in Phuket Old Town）
Location: Phuket Old Street
April 13th
Phuket Splash Hydro Music Carnival
The Ultimate Pool Party in Phuket
Location: Amanda Waterpark, Phuket Andamanda
April 15-16
Traditional Thai Songkran Festival in Phuket
Water Festival 2024
Location: Phuket
April 13th
Phuket alcohol-free Songkran
Songkran No Alcohol 2024
地点：普吉岛Limelight Mall
April 13-14
Nathon Songkran Festival in Koh Samui
Address: Nathon community, Nathon neighborhood, Koh Samui
April 16-20
Chonburi Songkran Festival
Location: Main Beach
April 19th
Pattaya Banlai Festival
Van Lai Pattaya Festival 2024
Location: Pattaya Seaside
April 20th
Songkran Festival in downtown Pattaya
地点:春武里兰坡公园 Lan Pho Park , Chonburi
April 11-13
Songkran Festival in Phang Nga
Address: Phang Nga City
April 13-15
Songkran Festival in Songkran Zhula Lane
Address: Jura Lane, urban area
April 13-14
Surat Thani Songkran
Surat Water Splash Festival 2024
Address: Near Sahathai Mall
April 13-16
Songkran in Chiang Rai
Location: Chiang Rai City District
April 7-13
2024 Lampang Songkran New Year Celebration
Location: Near the Lampang Museum
April 7-20
Sukhothai Songkran
Location: The whole city of Sukhothai
April 8-15
Songkran Festival in Northeast Thailand
地点:孔敬府糯米饭路 Khao New Road
April 12-13
Midnight Songkran Festival in Hat Yai
Murder is Midnight Songkran
地址:Saneha Nusoran Road