In the first part of this series of three about the Songkran Festival, reference was made to how this was celebrated in Meung Nan. Here the great river which feeds the Sirikit Dam in Uttaradit passes through the most north-easterly provincial capital in Thailand.
This tradition barely continues, but no longer can revelers wade across the river in the manner of old as shown in the photo in part I.
The photos below,taken from a bridge beside the Nan Hospital just upstream from the city show why:
1. View upstream with a massive embankment built by dredging the river, narrowing the flow and preventing age old flooding of land behind.
2. Bank erosion downstream from the bridge with concrete fill added to try to arrest the problem.
3. A temporary site for Songkran activities.
4. Sign on the bridge explaining the works to attempt to rectify the problem, but as can be seen demolishing the embankment and restoring the original profile of the river is not underway.
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