Must Read More police deployed for Songkran

[webfact]

More police deployed for Songkran

By Pratch Rujivanarom 
The Nation

 

 

Nearly 4 million people expected to travel around country during festival; people urged to celebrate with caution
 

NEARLY 4 million people are expected to travel within Thailand during the Songkran holidays between today and Sunday, prompting authorities to step up measures for public safety.

 

 

Police promised to make this year’s Songkran Festival safer for all revellers by deploying more personnel.

 

Authorities and experts, however, said it was everyone’s responsibility to ensure safety, especially from crime and accidents during the busy travel period and at celebrations.

 

 

Tourist Police deputy commander Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpal said about 3 million domestic tourists and 930,000 tourists from abroad were expected to travel within the country during the three days of Songkran. The number of travellers was a big increase over the previous years, he said.

 

 

In order to provide safety to all tourists visiting Thailand during Songkran, Surachet said 5,000 tourist police officers and volunteers would be deployed to assist tourists.

 

“Tourism is a major source of revenue for the country and the Songkran Festival is a peak period for tourism. People from around the world come to Thailand to travel and celebrate the festival, while many Thais also use the long weekends to travel within the country and return home as well,” he said.

 

“So, we have to take care all of the tourists and travellers and make sure that their journey will be pleasant.”

 

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports said that within the relatively short period from April 1 to 17 last year, Thailand welcomed more than 1.53 million international tourists, while 1.25 million Thais also travelled within the country during that period. The seven-day period from April 11-17, 2017 generated up to Bt45.4 billion in revenue for the country.

 

 

However, Surachet said that the people could not rely solely on police officers to provide safety and they must take personal precautions to ensure they don’t land themselves in dangerous situations.

 

“I would like to caution all people not to enjoy Songkran by putting their safety at risk by getting too drunk or travelling to dangerous places alone. This kind of risky behaviour has already caused many people to become victims of crimes such as physical attacks or robbery,” he said.

 

Another threat to public safety has been the high number of road accidents. Along with the New Year celebrations, accidents during Songkran have led to a huge number of fatalities every year. 

 

Last year’s statistics showed there were 3,690 road accidents during the seven monitoring days of Songkran, which killed 390 persons and injured 3,808 persons.

 

 

Follow basic rules

 

The director of the Academic Centre for Road Safety, Thanapong Jinvong, said that in order to avoid road accidents during this dangerous period, people who drive and travel by car should strictly comply with traffic rules by driving within speed limits.

 

They must not drink before driving and must make sure that they get enough rest before sitting behind the wheel to make sure that they do not fall asleep while driving. He said ignoring these basic rules was the primary cause of road accidents.

 

 

More than 3,000 motorists were found to be driving while drunk on the first of the so-called “seven dangerous days” of the Songkran holiday.

The deputy spokesperson of the National Council for Peace and Order, Colonel Sirichan Ngathong, said yesterday that 156 vehicles were seized on Wednesday and 2,716 motorcyclists and other drivers were charged with drunk driving. 

 

Sirichan also said stepped-up spot checks on roads had identified 3,339 cases of drunk driving. 

 

More than 1,860 of those cases involved motorcyclists, she said, and 105 motorcycles were seized and |356 driving licences were confiscated.

 

Authorities arrested 1,457 motorcyclists who will be going to court, while the rest were fined. The remainder of the cases involved private cars and transport vehicles, with 41 vehicles seized and 82 driving licences confiscated. A total of 1,259 motorists face charges in court and the rest were fined.

 

Thanapong also advised other travellers who use public transportation to be wary of the safety standards of the vehicle they ride. Despite strict measures imposed on public transport carriers, there were still many illegal bus and van |operators whose vehicles did not meet the proper safety standards, he said.

 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30343090

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-04-13

[ice4351]

What a horrible holiday which creates danger for all.  This nonsense goes on for more than a week in Pattaya.  There should be clearly enforced rules and limited hours when water can be thrown on people.  No buckets of water period.  It is so dangerous to ride a motorbike in Pattaya during Songkran.  It would be interesting to see how many people who live in Thailand leave the country during Songkran!

[JOC]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Thanapong also advised other travellers who use public transportation to be wary of the safety standards of the vehicle they ride. Despite strict measures imposed on public transport carriers, there were still many illegal bus and van |operators whose vehicles did not meet the proper safety standards, he said

For crying out loud....

It is not up to the passengers to the check the safety of public transportation....but the duty of the authorities...

Not only one week around Songkran....but all year round

[JOC]

How does Big Joke looking at horses on Hua Hin beach prevent carnage on the roads ?......

[sammieuk1]

The budget ran out will the comedy horse's .  

[diddygq]

 

26 minutes ago, JOC said:

For crying out loud....

It is not up to the passengers to the check the safety of public transportation....but the duty of the authorities...

Not only one week around Songkran....but all year round

The police, in Isaan (on duty) are usually more drunk than the general public.  Maybe the normal Joe/Somchai can start breathalyzing the police. Hey, remember this is a backwards country. 

[Somchai Logic]

Very proud this year. Up 6 from last year - Go Team Thai, keep #1 Global Spot.

Yet, still much lower than the 'Everyday' average for the rest of the year.

Those Tourism stats are nicely fudged once again - Good Job 

[peperobi]

Is always the same, WARNING but at the end to nothing!

[peperobi]

1 hour ago, ice4351 said:

What a horrible holiday which creates danger for all.  This nonsense goes on for more than a week in Pattaya.  There should be clearly enforced rules and limited hours when water can be thrown on people.  No buckets of water period.  It is so dangerous to ride a motorbike in Pattaya during Songkran.  It would be interesting to see how many people who live in Thailand leave the country during Songkran!

I do not like the greasy peoples on Songkran, I do not leave the country but even not my house!

[colinneil]

Deploying extra police !!

What good will that do?

More police taking bribes, more police sitting on their a++es doing nothing, but playing candy crush/ chatting with the mia noi.

[agudbuk]

According to WHO figures Thai road deaths average a little over 68 per day. Is Songkran the safest time of year on the roads?

[essox essox]

1 hour ago, JOC said:

How does Big Joke looking at horses on Hua Hin beach prevent carnage on the roads ?......

to stop horse shit getting on roads which could cause vehicle to skid !!

[bushwacker]

"AVOID DOUBLE DECKER BUSES" .... that is about 95% of the VIP, First Class and Second Class buses in operation.  The one level buses are typically old, run down and suggest that the bus is on it's last trip. 

If the double decker buses are so dangerous then why has the government allowed them to be operation?  ... Welcome to Thailand. 

[akirasan]

Same number of chairs at the intersection tents as last year where I live.

[Lupatria]

Do not travel alone to risky places?

The spin doctors of the TAT must have done some editing here to avoid the sentence:

Avoid Thailand at all costs.

[The Teacher]

3 hours ago, ice4351 said:

What a horrible holiday which creates danger for all.  This nonsense goes on for more than a week in Pattaya.  There should be clearly enforced rules and limited hours when water can be thrown on people.  No buckets of water period.  It is so dangerous to ride a motorbike in Pattaya during Songkran.  It would be interesting to see how many people who live in Thailand leave the country during Songkran!

A smart thing to dot thats  would be close of streets and Soi's to all traffic , but that's too hard to think off

[kannot]

2 hours ago, JOC said:

How does Big Joke looking at horses on Hua Hin beach prevent carnage on the roads ?......

Neighhhh it dunt!

[Peterw42]

4 minutes ago, The Teacher said:

A smart thing to dot thats  would be close of streets and Soi's to all traffic , but that's too hard to think off

Sounds great in theory but how do you shut all streets in thailand to all traffic, 

[StefanBBK]

1 hour ago, agudbuk said:

According to WHO figures Thai road deaths average a little over 68 per day. Is Songkran the safest time of year on the roads?

That is exactly what I thought. I think they just cant get their statistics right. 

[hobobo]

3 hours ago, JOC said:

How does Big Joke looking at horses on Hua Hin beach prevent carnage on the roads ?......

Making sure that horses aren't high on ya-ba.

[JOC]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

More police deployed for Songkran

Hard work to collect tea money with too few officers...?

[TKDfella]

2 hours ago, agudbuk said:

According to WHO figures Thai road deaths average a little over 68 per day. Is Songkran the safest time of year on the roads?

Well, I suppose it might be because of more traffic jams...it is when they have a chance to drive/speed normally that there is a problem.

[berrec]

Don't drink and drive, drive within the speed limits. signal before changing lanes......that's what responsible drivers do....

 

You think anything will change irresponsible Thai driving habits, even for the 7 deadly days of Songkran... or the other 358 days of the year.....NO WAY JOSE!

 

What a joke......................

 

[NoshowJones]

Yes, all these tents are crammed with police, why are they not out and about arresting these scum who are throwing water at the traffic. Oh I know. Inactive posts.

[holy cow cm]

5 hours ago, ice4351 said:

What a horrible holiday which creates danger for all.  This nonsense goes on for more than a week in Pattaya.  There should be clearly enforced rules and limited hours when water can be thrown on people.  No buckets of water period.  It is so dangerous to ride a motorbike in Pattaya during Songkran.  It would be interesting to see how many people who live in Thailand leave the country during Songkran!

You need to lighten up. This is the best holiday in the world. 

[smew]

I am a cynic and I hope this is all fake news(extra police) as they will only complete for space in air condition rooms and still do very little unless collection of fines( cash only) is involved. And now they have an extra law on their side: touching. women, and  can collect up to 10K baht per touch. Watch out tourists, this is worse than a religious police in a Muslim country

[Bob1million]

Christ or mighty keep safe Songkran warnings really avoid DD buses mini vans etc
Dont do this and dont do that.
Well if the police And land and transport dept do there jobs well it would be a safer festive period. I was in a surrounding area, which is BKK on my motorcycle, only for a short time. But even so i did not see 1 policeman. Not even a P car.
Any way im home now and thats where im staying. If your going out use your own common sense thats farang way of staying safe... Enjoy all

Sent from my SM-G900I using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Megasin1]

I am cock a hoop today, it's always good to see the charts come out. You have to admire some peoples effort in putting these things into easily readable chart like format with nice simple diagrams and especially nice when they go to the effort of doing them in English....ok I can hear all you decriers grinding your teeth for poor Somchai, who can barely speak his own language, never mind read, but even he would understand the elephant spraying water although I do concede he may not have seen a red car before...