Stories tagged with holidays
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Bangkok’s Songkran clean-up
As the Thai New Year is celebrated at various points around the country on varying days this week, the celebratory spirit of Thailand is in full swing. With Bangkok’s designated days of revel over, now comes the clean-up, which is no small task after the capital city party has ended and the revelers all gone to rest up and recharge after the debauch.
Roads in central Bangkok will get a special scouring from today, as popular areas of the city like Khao San Road, Rambuttri Road, Kraisri Road , Silom Road and the Banglamphu area in general will have extra staff to clear the trash and remnants of white powder left behind. Authorities’ urging to cut the white powder out of the party did not go heeded and a big effort will be required to get rid of the remnants.
[The Silom Road cleanup](http://www.nationmultimedia.com_ will involve 20 trucks armed with high pressure water hoses to clean up the powder, that in the Bangkok area, is traditionally more popular than shooting water.
Posted by: DaveB on 17 Apr 2008, 18:50 -
Government declares August 20th a public holiday
Sunday, August 19th is an important day for the citizens of Thailand. It’s the day Thais will cast their ballots to vote on the new draft of the country’s constitution. The Monday has been declared a public holiday to encourage people who may be working outside their hometown to return and cast their vote.
Due to the short notice of the announcement, banks will remain open, but all private and public organizations will be closed. The decision was made after a proposition by the Election Commission, who believe the decision will result in a higher voter turnout.
It was discussed with the Thai Bankers Association that they would also close on the 20th, but they decided that there wasn’t sufficient time to prepare for a bank holiday.
So what does this mean for visitors that find themselves in Thailand on this day? The good news is that unlike other public holidays, the sale of alcohol will still be allowed. Business catering to tourists will have the choice to remain open or not, so its unlikely to find yourself in a situation where absolutely everything is closed in major tourist centres.
Posted by: DaveB on 09 Aug 2007, 16:38