Chiang Mai will prohibit the sale and consumption of alcohol, as well as smoking, in many public areas, including those around the city’s moat, during the extended Songkran festival next month.
The restrictions would be in place from April 1-21, said Nirat Phongsitthithawon, the provincial governor and chairman of a city committee on alcoholic beverage and tobacco product control.
They include bans on the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, along with smoking cigarettes and vaping, at government and state enterprise offices, schools, temples and any other places under the supervision of a government agency or state enterprise. It would also extend to public parks and roads alongside the moat.
The controls will also be enforced on certain roads, including Rat Chiang Saen, Manee Nopparat, Bunrueang Rit, Chang Lor, Arak, Chaiyapoom, Kotchasarn, Sri Poom and Mun Mueang Road.
Selling and drinking alcohol will also be prohibited inside vehicles, on footpaths, on roadsides and outside shopping centres.
Venues with special permits will be exempted from the ban from 11am to 2pm and from 5pm to midnight.
Chiang Mai is scheduled to stage a 13-day Songkran festival from April 4 to 16 to celebrate the holiday’s new status after Unesco designated it an intangible cultural heritage item.
The official Songkran public holiday lasts from April 13-17 but the “World Songkran Festival” will be staged in many areas across Thailand from April 1-21 to boost tourism.
Officials announced earlier that rules would be strictly enforced to make water-splashing venues nationwide completely free of alcohol during the Songkran festival.