The Cabinet approved a budget of about Bt104 million from the Central Fund today, to promote the ”Maha Songkran World Water Festival” in Bangkok and across the country in April.
Hosted by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the festive activities will be held from April 11 through 15 on Sanam Luang and Ratchadamnoen Road in Bangkok and in 16 other provinces to showcase Thailand’s “soft power” in food, sports, tourism, music, books, movies, games, arts, design and fashion.
Deputy government spokesperson Kaenaka Oonchit said today that the festival is expected to attract over 200,000 tourists to Thailand, generating about 3.1 billion baht in revenue and pushing Thailand onto a list of countries with the best festivals.
On December 6 last year, UNESCO announced the inclusion of Songkran in Thailand in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Source: Thai PBS World