Away f
rom t
he t
ouri
st areas,
t
here seems t
o be a di
f
f
erent
at
t
i
t
ude t
owards Songkran.
I
nst
ead of t
ryi
ng t
o knock peopl
e
of
f bi
kes, t
he at
mosphere i
s much
more rel
axed and f
ri
endl
y. A
gent
l
e dousi
ng, a smeari
ng of
powder and away you go.
However
, as wi
t
h t
ouri
st areas,
dri
nk f
l
ows uncont
rol
l
abl
y, and
wi
t
h t
hat comes t
he danger of
ri
di
ng a bi
ke or dri
vi
ng a car
when i
nt
oxi
cat
ed. Many of t
he
deat
hs, part
i
cul
arl
y i
n rural
areas, come f
rom peopl
e f
al
l
i
ng
of
f bi
kes or crashi
ng vehi
cl
es
when t
hey are drunk. Thi
s i
s a
much bi
gger probl
em i
n rural
part
s of Thai
l
and, as pol
i
ci
ng i
s
concent
rat
ed on busi
er areas, so
t
he t
empt
at
i
on t
o ri
de home af
t
er
a ski
n f
ul
l
, i
s f
ar great
er t
han t
o
do so i
n a busy ci
t
y.