Alcohol, powder-free Songkran festivity on Bangkok's Khao San Road

BANGKOK, Apirl 7 (TNA) - This year's Songkran festivity on the famous Khao San road here will be, again, free of powder and alcoholic beverages and some 300 officers will be deployed to guarantee public safety. Piyabutr Jiwaramonaikul, president of an association of operators on Khao San road, told a press conference on Songkran celebrations on Khao San road on Friday that the Songkran festivity on Khao San Road will start on April 12, when Her Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali will inaugurate the festival at 6pm, and that water splashing will then begin on April 13 at 11am, after an alms-giving ceremony to Buddhist monks and a Buddha image bathing in the early morning. Like previous years, traditional and beautiful water-splashing activities are promoted this year with a ban on powder and pressurized water guns. There will also be music concerts and an exhibition on the development of Khao San road over the past four decades. Foreign women are invited to wear traditional Thai dresses and join a Miss Songkran beauty contest for the first time. The Songkran celebrations on Khao San road will continue until 10pm on April 15. About 300 police officers will, however, be deployed on Khao San road during the Songkran Festival to search visitors for weapons and prohibited materials, to prevent molestation and to ensure public safety. Meanwhile, Bangkok Bank, Thailand's largest commercial banks, reported that it has reserved about 40 billion baht in cash for its 7,700 ATMs nationwide to serve its clients from April 13-16; while Kasikornbank (KBank) said that it has prepared some 29 billion baht in cash for the same purpose during the same period, 8 billion baht for its branches nationwide and the other 21 billion baht for its 7,400 ATMs on services across the country. (TNA)