In solidarity with farmers, a dry Songkran

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 06, 2016
In solidarity with farmers, a dry Songkran

Instead of mindlessly wasting water, New Year revellers should be mindful of the crushing drought

The Songkran holiday, usually a time of merriment, arrives next week fraught with trouble, with northern Thailand in the grip of the worst drought in memory, adding to the spectre of increased fatalities on the roads as New Year celebrants succumb to carelessness.
To date no amount of effort by the authorities has managed to reduce the death toll on our highways, and there is scant room for optimism that motorists – and especially motorcyclists – will heed this year’s calls for extra caution. Meanwhile the reservoirs at the dams upcountry hold far less water than in previous years, a bitterly ironic predicament for a country that traditionally greets the New Year with a water festival, when water use is typically three times the norm, mainly due to the joyous splashing that takes place.
Once the revellers are finished dousing one another with pump guns and buckets refilled from roadside and truck-borne tanks, the street-cleaning crews have to use even more water to scour the pavements of the clotted residue of talcum powder also flung about with glee.
Under the circumstances, to help conserve water, the celebratory splashing has to be severely curbed – and the use of talcum banned outright. The proposed plan is to reduce the number of hours and days when water fights can take place. No such festivities will be allowed on Friday, April 15, and the fun is to end at 9pm on the Wednesday and Thursday. Municipal chiefs have been ordered to abstain from giving revellers unlimited refills of water, thus denying the “Songkran warriors” their ready supply of ammunition.
Anyone who feels cheated at this curtailment of their annual pleasure should remember that Songkran was originally observed by the gentle sprinkling of water over the hands or foreheads of respected elders and other loved ones. Traditionalists have long held that the tumultuous tossing about of water to
 soak passers-by is inappropriate to our cultural heritage. At the very least it is particularly inappropriate this spring, when farmers are in such desperate straits for lack of water.
Chatchai Promlert, as director general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, is an understandably worried man. He believes this is the moment we should return to the old ways. Another concerned citizen, a senior official at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, has suggested that revellers at least use spray bottles in their street parties so that less water is wasted.
As for the tourists arriving in the thousands specifically to take part in “the world’s largest water fight”, Thailand should say it is sorry, but the situation is different this year. The situation is in fact desperate. Foreign visitors should be asked to explore the deeper meaning of Songkran and be invited to sample the classic ritual of water poured over hands. City and provincial authorities are making just such arrangements.
Trying to end the carnage on the roads during Songkran is of course a far more serious task, and more daunting. This year the authorities have vowed to punish speeders and drunk drivers by impounding their vehicles and confiscating their driving licences. We can only hope that fewer motorists are willing to run that risk.
With the predicament doubled in intensity this New Year, efforts to counter the problems must be doubled in turn. In our determination to meet the challenge and see more citizens get through this difficult time safe and sound, we must recognise the opportunity being presented. This New Year more than others offers a chance to adopt new ways and, in the case of Songkran celebrations, revive the good practices of the past, which comprise such an elegant solution to the current situation.
Let’s not waste water, and let’s be more careful on the roads.
 

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