Earlier this week, Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters he had asked the relevant agencies in Kanchanaburi to see if the raft operators were breaking any laws with their ear-splitting cacophonies. He said the government wanted to do things by the book and not just issue an edict barring disco and karaoke craft from the Kwai Noi and the Mae Klong rivers.
He said the government needed to take a softly-softly approach or the owners of the floating entertainment centres might countersue. He asked rhetorically whether the rafts’ speakers could be downsized or not.
The name of the activists group translates to English as Loving Kanchanaburi’s Nature. The group says that a leisurely raft journey on the River Kwai is all part and parcel of a Kanchanaburi sojourn, yet the proliferation of noise-polluting vessels in recent years is spoiling the experience for everybody.
Home to the Bridge over the River Kwai, WWII cemeteries and fantastic landscapes, Kanchanaburi is one of Thailand’s best-loved tourism destinations. 12GO offers you a choice of private transfer or mini-bus for the journey from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi.
Thai PM tells Kanchanaburi disco rafts to turn down the volume
News in Asia
Responding to complaints of noise pollution, the Thai prime-minister has asked Kanchanaburi’s disco raft operators to turn down the volume. The activist group Rak Thammachart Muang Kan had lodged a formal complaint with the prime-minister’s office saying disco and karaoke rafts on the Kwai Noi River were far too loud.