No extra holidays for Songkran fest this year
A cabinet meeting on Tuesday approved the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s (CCSA) proposal to retain the number of Songkran holidays at three days – from April 13 to 15 – said government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.
With these three days being combined with the weekend of April 16-17, the Songkran Festival will be a five-day holiday this year.
In the past, the government had sometimes announced additional holidays before or after Songkran to form a longer holiday period in a bid to promote tourism. However, due to the Omicron variant spreading fast this year, the CCSA believed it was best to minimise the number of holidays to prevent a spike in infections from interprovincial travel during the festival, he said.
“During the meeting, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered all relevant agencies to organise Songkran activities only under strict disease control measures to prevent Covid-19 from spreading further,” said Thanakorn.
“The Public Health Ministry also reported that it had drafted additional measures to be implemented during the holidays to ensure people’s safety from the disease.”
In the next CCSA meeting, the Public Health, Tourism & Sports and Culture ministries will discuss the measures to ensure that they can be enforced at Songkran activities nationwide, Thanakorn added.
