News Forum - Fun drought: Songkran water festivities scaled back, says tourism minister

[Thaiger]

Despite earlier announcements, the traditional water-splashing activities during the Songkran festival in Thailand will not run throughout the entire month-long celebration, according to Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol, the Tourism and Sports Minister. The minister clarified that although the festival activities were scheduled from April 1 and set to end by the month’s close, water-splashing was not part … …

The story Fun drought: Songkran water festivities scaled back, says tourism minister as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Ramanathan.P]

Another flip flop......Welcome to Thailand....The Land of Thousand Possibilities....

[MrStretch]

The government looks so disorganized and amateurish in this situation.

This is just another example of them not understanding what "soft power" is and attempting to capitalize on something they just don't comprehend.

I'm sure there won't be any lack of water activities in the south.  We're not suffering from a drought.

[Ramanathan.P]

  On 4/9/2024 at 10:08 AM, MrStretch said:

I'm sure there won't be any lack of water activities in the south.  We're not suffering from a drought.

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Some activities can be expected in Songklah...however in Hat Yai, I am not sure about the intensity. It might not be as grand as Pattya or Phuket mainly because of religious reasons. 

[MrStretch]

Religious reasons?  Where do you think Hat Yai is and the population make up of our city and the province of Songkhla are?

This ain't Yala, dude.

[Marc26]

  On 4/9/2024 at 11:06 AM, MrStretch said:

Religious reasons?  Where do you think Hat Yai is and the population make up of our city and the province of Songkhla are?

This ain't Yala, dude.

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I would have assumed they are mostly Muslim as well

Or a decent amount of the population 

I assumed anywhere Krabi and South has a large population of Muslims, just by my experience in places like Ao Nang and Koh Lanta

[Ramanathan.P]

  On 4/9/2024 at 11:06 AM, MrStretch said:

This ain't Yala, dude.

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Hello friend...appreciate if you could go for a bike ride all over southern Thailand. Upto Nakhon Si Thammarat it is mostly muslim majority. That inclueds Krabi & Trang also. if you go further South Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat the number increases. 

[MrStretch]

  On 4/9/2024 at 2:23 PM, Ramanathan.P said:

Hello friend...appreciate if you could go for a bike ride all over southern Thailand. Upto Nakhon Si Thammarat it is mostly muslim majority. That inclueds Krabi & Trang also. if you go further South Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat the number increases. 

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"I would assume..." was the first mistake.  You assume wrong.  Very wrong.  Your perceptions are skewed so entirely wrong.

"Nakhon Si Thammarat people Most (sic) believe in Buddhism , approximately 92.08%, followed by Islam, approximately 7.03%, Christianity , approximately 0.89%" - Wikipedia

And while the 'troubled' provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat have Muslim populations from 82%-88%, in Songhkla province "Buddhists make up two-thirds to three-fourths of the population, most of whom are of native Thai or Thai Chinese descent. One-fourth to one-third of the population are Muslim, most of them belong to a Thai-speaking Muslim group, called Sam-Sam ( 'mixed' )" - Wikipedia

You have just proven the old adage about the word assume.

[Marc26]

  On 4/10/2024 at 12:10 AM, MrStretch said:

"I would assume..." was the first mistake.  You assume wrong.  Very wrong.  Your perceptions are skewed so entirely wrong.

"Nakhon Si Thammarat people Most (sic) believe in Buddhism , approximately 92.08%, followed by Islam, approximately 7.03%, Christianity , approximately 0.89%" - Wikipedia

And while the 'troubled' provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat have Muslim populations from 82%-88%, in Songhkla province "Buddhists make up two-thirds to three-fourths of the population, most of whom are of native Thai or Thai Chinese descent. One-fourth to one-third of the population are Muslim, most of them belong to a Thai-speaking Muslim group, called Sam-Sam ( 'mixed' )" - Wikipedia

You have just proven the old adage about the word assume.

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Hand up

I assumed as well because Thailand does get decidely more Muslim from Krabi down 

And even that area of Malaysia that is near Hat Yai has a lot of Muslims, no?

Is Hat Yai sort of an outlier?

I was reading a lot of the population are Malay-Chinese descent?

[MrStretch]

  On 4/10/2024 at 2:59 AM, Marc26 said:

Hand up

I assumed as well because Thailand does get decidely more Muslim from Krabi down 

And even that area of Malaysia that is near Hat Yai has a lot of Muslims, no?

Is Hat Yai sort of an outlier?

I was reading a lot of the population are Malay-Chinese descent?

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I wouldn't say Hat Yai is an outlier.  I think it's more that when you see Muslims, they are normally congregated into communities or specific locations in the city (and the province, as well).  And they stand out. For instance if  you only drove down a few streets in the city, you would see a larger number of women wearing hijabs and more restaurants that are halal, but they are small parts of the city, at large.

And yes, the country grows "more Muslim" as you head further south, but outside of the three mentioned provinces above, they are still the minority.  Even in Krabi the Buddhist population is around 65% but when I travel to Koh Lanta, as our friend mentioned, you see entire communities on Koh Lanta Noi that are only Muslim.  It's not reflective of the entire province, as a whole.

[Marc26]

  On 4/10/2024 at 3:31 AM, MrStretch said:

I wouldn't say Hat Yai is an outlier.  I think it's more that when you see Muslims, they are normally congregated into communities or specific locations in the city (and the province, as well).  And they stand out. For instance if  you only drove down a few streets in the city, you would see a larger number of women wearing hijabs and more restaurants that are halal, but they are small parts of the city, at large.

And yes, the country grows "more Muslim" as you head further south, but outside of the three mentioned provinces above, they are still the minority.  Even in Krabi the Buddhist population is around 65% but when I travel to Koh Lanta, as our friend mentioned, you see entire communities on Koh Lanta Noi that are only Muslim.  It's not reflective of the entire province, as a whole.

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I also think, and I could be wrong again, that Muslims make up a huge % of food vendors 

They definitely do in Ao Nang, even in Kamala in Phuket

So they stand out on the street so much more 

[Highlandman]

  On 4/10/2024 at 12:10 AM, MrStretch said:

"I would assume..." was the first mistake.  You assume wrong.  Very wrong.  Your perceptions are skewed so entirely wrong.

"Nakhon Si Thammarat people Most (sic) believe in Buddhism , approximately 92.08%, followed by Islam, approximately 7.03%, Christianity , approximately 0.89%" - Wikipedia

And while the 'troubled' provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat have Muslim populations from 82%-88%, in Songhkla province "Buddhists make up two-thirds to three-fourths of the population, most of whom are of native Thai or Thai Chinese descent. One-fourth to one-third of the population are Muslim, most of them belong to a Thai-speaking Muslim group, called Sam-Sam ( 'mixed' )" - Wikipedia

You have just proven the old adage about the word assume.

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Thailand becomes more Muslim more quickly along the west coast, which is why anywhere south of Ranong airport is majority Muslim in rural areas, except in Phuket, but that's mainly due to the large migrant population from other parts of the country and Myanmar, which works there. Drive along the road between Phuket and Ranong and see for yourself. Along the highway in southern Ranong you'll count something like 11 mosques but only 2 Buddhist temples.

On the east coast, you won't find substantial Muslim populations until you reach Hat Yai, where I understand around 40% of the population is Muslim. Eastern districts of Songkhla are majority Muslim as are Southern border districts along the Malaysian frontier. Anything south, west and east of Songkhla province is majority Muslim too. 

[Highlandman]

  On 4/10/2024 at 2:59 AM, Marc26 said:

Hand up

I assumed as well because Thailand does get decidely more Muslim from Krabi down 

And even that area of Malaysia that is near Hat Yai has a lot of Muslims, no?

Is Hat Yai sort of an outlier?

I was reading a lot of the population are Malay-Chinese descent?

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From Ranong southbound, but it varies depending on the province. My experience shows that rural southern Ranong and rural Phang-nga are majority Muslim, despite being quite far north, but strangely, further south in Krabi, it's more Buddhist. 

Ranong province is split between Buddhists north of Muang District where you'll hardly see any Muslims, mixed in Muang District but still overwhelmingly Buddhist, but south of Ranong airport there are around a dozen mosques just along the highway towards Phang-nga alone but only like 2 Buddhist Wats, which indicates a majority Muslim population residing in those areas.

I read somewhere Hat Yai is 40% Muslim, so not quite a majority but substantial minority. Across the border in Malaysia, go to Penang and its a majority non-Muslim city/island (most residents are ethnic Chinese and Tamil Indian), but Alor Setar to the north, which is only 48km south of the Thai border is majority Muslim as are Langkawi, Kuala Kedah and Kuala Perlis, both right next to the Thai border opposite Satun, which itself is 2/3 Muslim. 

[Highlandman]

  On 4/10/2024 at 5:43 AM, Marc26 said:

I also think, and I could be wrong again, that Muslims make up a huge % of food vendors 

They definitely do in Ao Nang, even in Kamala in Phuket

So they stand out on the street so much more 

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Phuket is around 20% Muslim. Substantial, though relatively low for southern Thailand.

[Highlandman]

  On 4/9/2024 at 2:23 PM, Ramanathan.P said:

Hello friend...appreciate if you could go for a bike ride all over southern Thailand. Upto Nakhon Si Thammarat it is mostly muslim majority. That inclueds Krabi & Trang also. if you go further South Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat the number increases. 

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Southern Ranong, Phang-nga and Satun are majority Muslim, at least in rural areas (Phang-nga and Satun are majority Muslim overall). Krabi has substantial Muslim communities but is still majority Buddhist. Trang is more Muslim than Krabi, but still around 50-50. The east coast is overwhelmingly Buddhist north of Hat Yai. Yes, there are occasional mosques all the way up to Bang Saphan in Prachuab Khiri Khan, but only here and there once you're north of around Thung Song. 

[Marc26]

  On 4/11/2024 at 2:19 AM, Highlandman said:

Phuket is around 20% Muslim. Substantial, though relatively low for southern Thailand.

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But probably 80% Muslim in Kamala, where we stay

Ao Nang feels decidely Muslim as well, I spend a bit of time there as well

Koh Lanta was very Muslim, but I only visited once