First day Songkran body count and Tourism Authority of Thailand Khon Kaen Fail

The Seven Dangerous Days of Songkran began yesterday and we have our first body count of the holiday. I personally don’t believe it, but all I can do is report what the English speaking newspapers report. And, the Tourism Authority of Thailand Khon Kaen has once again proved they are hopeless

Songkran elephants Tourism Authority of Thailand

Songkran elephants Tourism Authority of Thailand

It was reported that there were 29 road deaths on the first day of Songkran.  This number is way too low.  I am not trying to be morbid, but 29 is fewer than on a regular day in Thailand.

The number of injured is right up there at 400, but I still don’t believe that only 29 died on the roads yesterday.  Maybe some early under-reporting is going on to make the numbers look good this year.

And, to change the subject a little, the Tourism Authority of Thailand Khon Kaen continues to be totally worthless with letting anyone know what is going on during Songkran in Khon Kaen BEFORE it happens.

All they do is post photos of events after they occur without telling anyone beforehand that there was an event that one could attend.

This event was actually fairly important as it involved the Governor of Khon Kaen Province.

But, I guess that the Tourism Authority of Thailand Khon Kaen didn’t want any of us Farangs around so they didn’t send out a calendar event or post any info prior on Facebook.

The opening parade is tomorrow and I have found out from the Tourism Authority of Thailand Khon Kaen that it starts at 1000 – but they only told me that the starting point is Bueng Kaen Nakhon – which does me no good since the lake is 4 kilometers around.  Me and my buddy Tom at Isaan-Live have asked for a map and the route but we get totally ignored by the Tourism Authority of Thailand Khon Kaen.

Just more proof that the Tourism Authority of Thailand doesn’t know how to market to foreigners or expats, or that they just don’t want us anywhere near.  The Tourism Authority of Thailand focuses only on the local Thai market and the major tourist areas.

So, thanks once again to the Tourism Authority of Thailand Khon Kaen for being 100% absolutely worthless.

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Edit: Of course, two minutes after I posted this, the Tourism Authority of Thailand posted the route for Songkran Festival Parade on Facebook.  So, they are not 100% worthless, but close.

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