Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
City Hall has decided to limit water-splashing activities during the Songkran festival in Bangkok to reduce water consumption in the face of severe drought.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about the campaign.
Water throwing will be limited to three days, April 12-14, and all water throwing activities in the city's 50 districts must stop at 9 pm, deputy Bangkok governor Amorn Kitchawengkul said on March 14.
The Songkran holiday this year is spread over five days, April 13-17, with April 16 and 17 falling on the weekend.
BATTLE GROUNDS
The decision was made at a joint meeting between the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the Tourism and Sports Ministry, the Tourist Police Division and the private sector.
Throwing water is the highlight of the festival and many popular Songkran celebration areas, including Silom and Khao San Road, become battle grounds for water fights and celebrations which usually end late at night.
Amorn said the business sector understands the situation and has agreed to cooperate to help save water. Water consumption during the festival increases three-fold on typical demand.
TOURIST FUN
Business operators on Silom Road and at CentralWorld shopping mall, popular venues for celebrations, have also agreed not to provide water to Songkran revellers, he said.
At Khao San Road, the Phra Nakhon district office will launch a campaign to make sure foreign tourists understand the country's need to scale back on the use of water and to urge restraint. The festival draws many foreigners to the country.
Exercises
Match each of the following words used in the story with the correct definitions from the choices that follow.
| …… 1. reveller | a. to work together with somebody else in order to achieve something |
| …… 2. cooperate | b. to start an activity, especially an organised one |
| …… 3. demand | c. the desire or need of customers for goods or services which they want to buy or use |
| …… 4. launch | d. a person who is having fun in a noisy way, usually with a group of other people |
Vocabulary
- consumption (n): the amount of energy, food or materials used
restraint (n): the act of controlling or limiting something because it is necessary or sensible to do so
