Tourists have been caught flouting a ban on water splashing in one of Thailand's most popular holiday spots.
Revellers have been flocking to the country's capital Bangkok over the last week to take in the sights of Songkran, a national holiday celebrating the turn of the Thai new year.
Traditionally tourists and locals indulge in a great water fight, dousing each other with filled buckets and blasting super soakers with abandon.
For a third year in a row authorities have issued an outright ban on such liquid based revelry in a bid to keep Covid infections under control.
Regional officials ordered all businesses in Bangkok's central district to remove all ice buckets and to enforce the no-splashing policy.
A spokesperson for the Phra Nakhon District Office said those breaching the rules would face a 100,000 baht (£2,200) fine.
A two year prison sentence can also be handed down to those caught breaking Covid rules.
Despite the clear guidance and strict punishments, large crowds gathered in Bangkok to celebrate the festival and throw water around, Thai PBS World reported.
Few of them wore face masks as they used water guns to soak each other, the publication claimed.
Because the rules had been breached the director of Phra Nakhon district office ordered all shops and businesses on the central Khaosan Road to close by midnight on Wednesday and all tourists to leave the area.
The festival has come amid a spike in coronavirus infections and deaths in Thailand.
On Thursday 115 people died of Covid-19 in the country - half the peak endured more than a year ago, but part of a clear upwards trend after months of low case and death numbers.
Around 50 million people have had two vaccines in the country, which is the equivalent of 72% of the population.
