China News Agency, Bangkok, April 13 (Reporter Wang Guoan) Thailand celebrates the Thai New Year Songgan Festival (Water Songkran) on the 13th. Different from previous years, this year's Songgan Festival was affected by the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, and there were no splashes and joyous scenes all over the country.
The reporter drove through the streets of Bangkok on the 13th. I saw that there were few pedestrians on the empty streets, and the large Bangkok city seemed deserted. At Mo Chit Bus Station and Hua Lamphong Railway Station in Bangkok, the waiting room and ticket office are almost empty. The crowds in previous years are no longer crowded. Long Song and Khao San Road are also quiet and unusual during the Songgan Festival in the past years.
In order to prevent and control the epidemic, the Thai government postponed the Songgan Festival holiday this year, and prohibited the holding of various forms of water-splashing activities, the prohibition of returning to the village during this period, and the prohibition of collective activities in villages and so on. Thai Prime Minister Pak Yu also gave a televised speech before the festival, urging the public not to drip water to the elders, not to participate in gathering activities, or to enter or exit risky places.
In addition, Bangkok and other places have also issued "prohibition orders", temporarily prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages, in order to reduce the chances of socializing and gathering.
Basong, from Phayao Province in the north, said that his company worked as usual during the festival, and his family hoped that he would follow the government ’s request not to return home for the festival, so he spent the festival in Bangkok. He expressed the hope that the epidemic situation would pass as soon as possible and then celebrate it again.
According to a latest poll released by the Royal University of Kawabatagi, Thailand, 84.5% of the respondents indicated that they would not return to Songgan Festival this year, while 78% of the respondents wished that the country hoped that the country would overcome the epidemic as soon as possible.
On the same day, Thailand added 28 new confirmed cases of pneumonia, which is the sixth consecutive decline in the number of confirmed cases in the country since the 8th. So far, Thailand has accumulatively diagnosed 2579 cases, of which 1288 were cured and 40 died. A spokesman for Thailand ’s New Coronary Pneumonia Outbreak Response Management Center said that despite the current improvement in the national epidemic situation, it is still necessary to adhere to strict prevention and control measures, and we must not relax our vigilance. (Finish)