National—
On February 5th, 2024, Mr. Chai Watcharong, the Thai Government spokesman, publicly revealed an announcement made by the Thai Ministry of Culture on the World Songkran Festival in 76 provinces across Thailand starting from April 1st to the 21st of 2024.
The Thai Ministry of Culture announced that this year they will be holding the Songkran Festival starting from April 1st to the 21st of 2024, to present Thai traditions to the world stage. The campaign aimed to publicize the value and importance of Thai traditions in local communities, said the Thai Government spokesman.
The Thai Government spokesman added that the World Songkran Festival would embrace incoming foreign tourists in the next two months and also preserve Thai national inheritance and identity as a soft power supporting tourism.
Recently, the Songkran Festival was recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage, the Thai government further aimed to preserve its valuable cultural heritage and gain its further recognition globally, stated the Thai Government spokesman.
The Thai Government spokesman asserted that the campaign would potentially stimulate the economy and generate income for Thai locals.
TPN media notes that the Thai government had previously proposed a month long festival, including the polarizing and somewhat infamous water fights, but public feedback adjusted that idea as we reported here.
The actual public holiday dates and official days will still be the 13th to the 15th, notes TPN, and the extended days are seen as promoting and recognising the traditions of the festival and not three weeks of water fights.
Some areas, like Pattaya on April 19th, will still have their traditional dates and main Songkran day on different dates than the national holiday, primarily to drive domestic tourism.
This article originally appeared on our sister website The Pattaya News.
