The government said on Sunday that 35 foreign embassies in Thailand have joined forces with the country to promote this year's Songkran Thai New Year celebrations to the world, following Unesco's listing of the festival as an intangible cultural heritage item in December.
To mark the occasion, the 35 embassies have produced a series of short videos wishing Thais a happy traditional New Year, said Culture Minister Sermsak Pongpanich.
"These clips have been being posted on the Ministry of Culture's social media platforms and aim to tell the rest of the world all about Songkran and the soft power it affords the country," he said.
The clips were the result of a collaboration between the embassies of Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Laos, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Russia, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, the United Arab Emirates, the US and the European Union, said the minister.
This year's Songkran festival has seen a dramatic rise in number of tourists coming from around the world and joining its celebrations in Thailand, in Bangkok in particular, said Somboon Homnan, chief of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's (BMA) operation centre set up oversee celebrations in the city.
Learning from some hiccups observed on Saturday, the BMA on Sunday added more police and municipal officials to Silom and Khao San roads, the city's two most popular water festival celebration sites, he said.
On Silom Road, all lanes, except for one lane designated as an emergency lane, are closed to traffic from midday until 8pm, he said.
Eleven pickpocket cases were reported at this festive celebration site on Saturday, he said, adding that those who are going out to have fun splashing water should remain cautious.
At the Khao San Road site alone, more than 3,000 police and other security officers were stationed there on Sunday.
Vendors were on Sunday also told to get off the pavement and stay in each alley at both Silom and Khao San, after many of them were seen occupying too much space on the pavement on Saturday, said Mr Somboon.