Thai parents risk jail if children misbehave...

[rickfarang]

Hmmmmm....if children are poorly disciplined, the solution is to send thier parents to jail?

 

 

Thai parents risk jail if children misbehave during Songkran festival

 

BANGKOK: -- Thai parents risk being jailed or fined if they allow their children to misbehave during next week's traditional new year as police crackdown on bad behaviour and sexual harassment at the festivities, officials said on Tuesday.

 

Throwing water and talcum powder in the streets is a major part of celebrations for the Songkran festival, but authorities are taking action against people who use filthy canal water or molest female bystanders.

"Parents can get three months in jail or a 30,000 baht (US$770) fine if they allow their children to play Songkran with dirty water or use talcum powder as an excuse for sexual violation," police said in a statement.

In previous years, women have complained that during the riotous festival young men have used the traditional practice of smearing talcum powder as an excuse to molest them.

 

Police are now trying to ensure better behaviour during the festival by enforcing new legislation which makes parents legally responsible for their childrens' bad behaviour.

 

They said checkpoints would also be set up to check for drunk drivers and petrol stations on busy roads leading out of the capital would be asked not to sell alcohol.

 

"Police will also strictly ban the throwing of water at motorists which might cause an accident," the statement said.

 

More than 500 people died and more than 37,000 were injured during last year's six-day celebration, many in alcohol-fuelled traffic accidents.

Security is also being stepped up in Bangkok ahead of Songkran as concerns grow that militants in the Muslim south who have waged three months of violence there could mount a major terrorist attack in the capital.

 

Tourist districts, embassies, hotels, bridges and popular gathering spots will be under tight guard, including Khao San Road which teems with foreign backpackers, and the Patpong red-light district.

-- AFP 2004-04-06