Bangkok moves to make Songkran a world-class festival draw
Bangkok plans to elevate Songkran into a world-class festival with better infrastructure, tighter safety, greener waste management and stronger economic impact.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt has unveiled an ambitious vision to transform the city’s Songkran festival into a world-class event, with a strong focus on upgrading infrastructure, improving public space management and strengthening environmental measures.
Thai Songkran already attracts huge numbers of visitors. On Silom Road alone, more than 700,000 people joined the festivities, with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) able to manage the area safely and in an orderly manner.
This success highlighted Bangkok’s readiness to host major international-scale events.
To accommodate an even bigger festival in future, the BMA is preparing to improve pavements and pedestrian routes to ensure smoother, more seamless connectivity. One major proposal under study is the construction of a skywalk linking Silom Road with Lumphini Park to improve convenience and safety for festivalgoers.
Beyond transport access, the city also plans to regulate vendors, upgrade drainage systems, improve waste collection efficiency and install more CCTV cameras at key locations to ensure the festival meets the highest standards and gives visitors greater peace of mind.
On the environmental front, the BMA has partnered with the private sector on an initiative to recycle plastic water guns, which are difficult to break down. The plastic waste will be converted into naphtha oil and then used to produce food-grade packaging, creating added value while reducing waste in a more sustainable way.
Chadchart stressed that the festival’s success was not driven by the public sector alone, but by the combined efforts of residents, businesses and entrepreneurs, who together help create the joy, fun and welcoming atmosphere that defines Bangkok’s Songkran celebrations.
He said the city would use this momentum to develop a long-term roadmap for the festival.
“Bangkok’s Songkran is more than just a festival. It is a People Festival, in which everyone helps drive the economy from the grassroots level, whether they are small vendors, hired transport operators or hotels,” the governor said.
