Pattaya Police taking safety precautions for Loy Krathong festival

Pattaya Police are taking safety precautions for the Loy Krathong festivals coming up tonight. Police held a meeting yesterday about safety measures.

The safety measures include: banning all sky lanterns, fireworks, alcohol, and smoking (including cannabis), and ensuring nightlife and entertainment venues close at their legal times between midnight and 2am depending on what zone the venue falls into.

Checkpoints on Beach Road will search for illegal drugs or weapons, as well as drunk driving. There are no major road closures, but heavy traffic is still expected during the festival.

The most popular spots in Pattaya for Loy Krathong will be Pattaya and Jomtien beaches, Wat Suttawas, and Mapprachan Lake, The Pattaya News reported. Most activities will start at around 5pm.

Pattaya is not the only hotspot in Thailand on alert for safety during Loy Krathong. Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt urged people to avoid putting money in banana trunks, or Kratong in Thai, because it encourages coin collectors, especially children, to try and retrieve the money every year on Loy Kratong Day which inevitably leads to a drowning tragedy.

Chadchart made it known to the public that he did not want people to put money into their Kratong this year, or any year.

The Ministry of Public Health revealed some damning drowning statistics during the Loy Kratong Festival from 2017 to 2021. Over those five years, 60 people drowned on Loy Kratong Day, an average of 12 people per year. It was also revealed that death by drowning is high the day after Loy Kratong Day.

The Ministry of Public Health said most of the deaths were among people aged 45 to 59 years old while 30% of the deaths were children aged under 15 years old. There were more male deaths than females. The reasons for drowning involved alcohol, coin picking, and falling off the riverside banks.