New Year holidays from Dec 31-Jan 3
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It is now official: the New Year holidays will run from December 31 to January 3.
“It’s a Cabinet resolution,” Government Spokeswoman Thitima Chaisang announced yesterday.
An informed source said Cabinet secretary general Ampon Kitti-ampon asked during yesterday’s Cabinet meeting whether Tuesday, January 3, was also a holiday.
“Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra then suggested the New Year holidays should run until January 3 because many government officials have to clean up their flooded homes,” the source said.
With the country having faced its worst floods in decades, millions of people have been affected and many have found their homes submerged under filthy water for weeks, if not months.
After emerging from the Cabinet meeting, Thitima disclosed that Yingluck asked her ministers to use products from the One Tambon One Product (Otop) scheme as New Year gifts.
Many participants in the Otop scheme, which was launched by the government, have been suffering from the adverse impact of the flood.
Thitima also announced that Yingluck planned to hold her first mobile Cabinet meeting in Chiang Mai on January 16. “After that, it will take place once a month,” she added.
Meanwhile, the cool weather has attracted a large number of tourists to Chiang Mai.
During the long weekend from December 10-12, more than 10,000 people visited Doi Inthanon National Park each day.
“Accommodation at the park and nearby areas were all booked up,” park assistant chief Jiradej Boonmak said.
