Chiang Mai swings back to life after three-year break from Songkran celebrations
As many as 90,000 travellers are set to visit Chiang Mai this week to join the Songkran festival celebration, with hotel bookings expected to reach 65%, the director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Chiang Mai office, Suladda Sarutilavan, said.
She said that travellers are coming in big numbers to join the Songkran celebrations in the province, from Thursday to Sunday.
Activities include a merit-making ritual, Songkran beauty pageant, and a ceremony to shower water on revered Buddha statues.
Tunnel sprinklers 50 metres long have gained interest amongst tourists, as the weather in Chiang Mai is quite hot, she added.
Provincial authorities recently announced that they would release 1 million cubic metres of water per day from the Mae Ngat Somboon Chon dam to the waterways in the city so as to keep the waterways in the urban areas clean.
They also joined hands with concerned sectors to impose restrictions on the sale of alcohol in order to ensure the security of travellers.
Also, they have collaborated with Chiang Mai University to instal security cameras that could estimate crowded attractions in the province's urban areas to prevent excessive rush.
Chiang Mai Tourism Inspector Pol Lt-Colonel Makara Srisakulphisut said that Chiang Mai is the first province in Thailand to utilise this technology.
Authorities had already installed the cameras at all well-known tourist destinations throughout the city, with emergency services standing by in case of a serious incident, he said.
