Festive Songkran ends successfully

The foamy splash in front of CentralWorld on April 15.

The Songkran festival was wrapped up yesterday in a big success.

A large number of revellers, local and foreign, were seen at major celebration destinations across the country. In Bangkok, Silom Road, Siam Square and Ratchaprasong Intersection were packed with revellers.

According to the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce, Thais were expected to spend Bt114 billion during the annual festival this year, a 10.42 per cent increase from last year. The amount is the highest in nine years.

Thanawat Phonvichai, director of the university's Center for Economic and Business Forecasting (CEBF) which conducted the spending survey, said that 48.6 per cent of the respondents said this year's festival would be as fun and lively as ever and 66.5 per cent said they would return to their hometowns and travel. Most of them or 81 per cent were planning to have a trip within the country while 19 per cent would travel abroad, with most of their destinations located within Asia with Hong Kong, China, Japan and South Korea being the most popular destinations.

Popular local destinations included Chon Buri, Prachuab Khiri Khan and Ayutthaya, thanks to their proximity to Bangkok. A large number of tourists were also witnessed in major provinces like Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen which anticipated spending of over Bt1 billion and Bt600 million, respectively.

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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/04/16/festive-songkran-ends-successfully/