Thailand’s Songkran festival saw strong tourist turnout and spending across the country, with the government expecting to exceed last year’s revenue.
In Bangkok and central areas, more than 558,000 visitors were recorded at six venues as of April 12, with Siam Square’s Songkran event drawing the largest crowd of about 183,500 people, government spokesperson Lalida Persvivatana said in a statement on Wednesday. More than 90 events were organised in the capital alone.
The government expects Songkran, the Thai new year holiday famous for public water fights, to generate about 30.4 billion baht (US$950 million) in tourism revenue, up 6% from last year, the tourism authority of Thailand said on Tuesday.
For the April 11 to 15 festival period, the tourism agency expects 500,000 international visitors, up 4% from a year ago, and would generate around 8.1 billion baht in revenue. Thai nationals are expected to have booked 5.96 million trips during the multi-day celebration, up 7% and contributing about 22.3 billion baht, it said.
The southern province of Phuket is expecting about 149,690 visitors and 4.08 billion baht in revenue, according to Lalida. Eastern provinces like Chonburi and Pattaya extended celebrations through so-called “Wan Lai” events and will likely extend the momentum into late April, while northern provinces led by Chiang Mai also saw strong participation in traditional “Pi Mai Muang” festivities, she said.