This was going around all of the social media feeds yesterday afternoon, Singapore is hosting a Songkran event! And then Thai’s begun shouting about how Singapore is stealing a Thai tradition, well no, its not a Thai tradition, it exists in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, as well as in Sri Lanka and India (off the top of my head).

Now we fully expect the Tourism Authority of Thailand to come out saying that this isn’t a threat…well it is:

• Thailand’s tourism numbers get a boost during the April period and that naturally is positive for airlines, hotels, local businesses etc etc, if this goes away well thats another bump in GDP that disappears.
• Singapore can host incredibly good parties, despite the thinking is that its a neutered country, they have the casino’s, the F1, an organised “safer” country. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Singapore hosting this event with growing popularity every year, hell I wouldn’t be surprised to see Thai people fly to Singapore to celebrate Songkran there!
• The issue here in Thailand is the same as it has always been, zero progress, with a mindset that says “it’s good enough”  when really, it isn’t.

Source: Celebrate Songkran