CityNews – While Chiang Mai’s reputation as one of the hottest (and wettest) places for Songkran was left unscathed, local Thai tourists appeared to be forgoing the city celebrations this year according to the Chiang Mai Tourism Business Association.
Speaking with Thai PBS, Pornchai Jirawatsatien, chairman of the Chiang Mai Tourist Business Association, said that the number of Thai tourists in Chiang Mai for Songkran was lower than expected.
Although he provided no statistics, Pornchai suggested the decrease in local tourists was mainly due to an increase in the number of alternative Songkran events being held across other parts of the country.
However, the number of European and Chinese tourists was up 10% from the predicted figure of 100,000.
According to Chanchai Kilapaeng of the Chiang Mai Provincial Land Transport Office, more buses to Bangkok were added to support an increase of passengers but due to people using their personal vehicles more this year, and an due to an increased availability of low cost air travel, the number of tourists traveling by bus actually decreased.
During this year’s Songkran the average number of bus passengers was around 10,000 people per day, compared to previous years usually hitting 20,000 passengers per day.