In the city of Chonburi on Bang Saen Beach, Songkran celebrations have come to an end and rubbish piled up around the roads, prompting the local municipality to launch a "big cleanup" this week.
While most provinces celebrate Songkran from April 13 to 15 every year, some provinces in eastern Thailand celebrate the festival for longer. In Chonburi, for example, "Wan Lai" or "the day that flows" was celebrated on Sunday and Monday at Bang Saen Beach in Muang District. Activities included reciting a prayer before the Buddha, building sand mounds, and traditional games.
As tourists flocked to the beach for the two days, locals woke up on Tuesday to streets filled with rubbish. Saen Suk Municipality on Tuesday posted images of piles of rubbish left on Liab Hat Bang Saen Road on its Facebook page asking, "We're happy to welcome everyone, but who's going to clean up the trash when you leave?"
In its announcement, the municipality announced that the city will carry out a major cleanup this week to clear all roads in the Saen Suk area and invited local residents to join in. The report indicates that so far Burapha University students, local merchants and municipality officials have already joined in the cleanup.
“We urge sellers to clean up the area where they set up their kiosks,” the message says. "If everyone cleans up after themselves, our Bang Saen beach will quickly return to its beautiful state."
