Road accidents continue higher trend even as revellers defy heat to celebrate Sonkgran

By The Sunday Nation

 

 

EVEN AS police claimed to push stricter law enforcement to suppress crimes during the Songkran Festival, the increase in the number of accidents, injuries and deaths on the road on the third day of this year’s “seven dangerous days” of the Songkran holidays raised doubts whether the preventive measures are working.

 

The Road Safety Centre (RSC) yesterday reported that after the first three of the seven days, the number of road fatalities, injuries and accidents were all higher than during the same period of last year.

 

According to the road accident report on April 13 – the third day of the monitoring period – there were a total of 820 accidents, 86 deaths and 852 injured people – with increases in all numbers except the death toll.

 

When added to the statistics of the previous two days of the campaign, the totals for the first three days were all higher than the same period last year.

RFSC statistics reported that from Wednesday until yesterday, there were 1,846 road accidents that injured 1,934 persons, killed 183 people, while during the same period last year there were 1,741 accidents, 1,778 injured, and 183 deaths.

 

Meanwhile, police have been monitoring about 300 surveillance TV cameras in Bangkok’s Silom Road area around the clock as part of precautionary measures for tourist safety during Songkran, while also checking revellers for the modesty of their dress and actions.

 

In addition, in an attempt to avoid violence, police have issued warnings to revellers over alcohol consumption in prohibited areas. 

 

On the tourism front, the Songkran Festival has attracted millions of Thai and foreign tourists to popular destinations nationwide, generating significant revenue for local economies.

 

Chuchat on-charern, the Tourism Authority of Thailand chief for the southern province of Phang-nga, said an estimated 155,000 tourists visited the province, with each Thai tourist spending an average of Bt4,000 per day and each foreign tourist spending an average of Bt6,586 per day.

 

The province’s 11,000 hotel rooms have an occupancy rate of over 80 per cent this year, he said, adding that the tourism revenue during Songkran is estimated to top Bt1.1 billion, up 5 per cent from the previous year. The province is popular among German, Scandinavian and Asian tourists due to its proximity to popular islands.

 

On the second day of the three days of the long traditional Thai New Year yesterday, Thailand was still soaked in a festive mood, even as the Meteorological Department reported a midday temperature above 32 degrees Celsius in every part of the country. Some provinces in the upper part of Thailand reeled in heat exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.

 

For the remainder of the holidays, the Weather Forecast Bureau yesterday said every region would face very hot weather. Temperature in the northern, northeastern, central and eastern regions would range from 34 to 40 degrees Celsius, while the average temperature in Bangkok and the South would be slightly cooler, averaging 32 to 38 degrees Celsius.

 

The highest temperature yesterday was recorded at 40.2 degrees Celsius in Nong Khai, Si Saket, Chaiyaphum and Surin provinces in the Northeast.

 

People planning to participate in outdoor Songkran water fights were advised to stay cool to prevent heat stroke and avoid long exposure to the midday sun without skin protection, or they could suffer sunburns.

 

Songkran celebration venues in major cities across the country reported an unexpectedly high turnout as people played in the water to cool off during the hot day.

 

Wanchai Sakudomchai, director of the Meteorological Department, forecast that today – the final day of the Songkran Festival – an approaching cold front from southern China would affect the weather in the eastern and northeastern regions, with risk of summer storms from today until next Wednesday.

 

As summer storms often bring intense downpours, thunder, gusty winds and hail, Wanchai urged all people residing in affected regions to be cautious. Local people and farmers have also been told to remain prepared, as the summer storms could damage crops and properties.

 

In the northern region, large crowds of Chinese tourists were seen celebrating Songkran and joyfully splashing water on each other with colourful water guns. There also were tourists from Western countries and Thais at Chiang Mai’s Tha Pae Gate and along the moat in Chiang Mai’s old town.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30343190

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-04-14

Putting one's van in the drink to keep cool is a but over-the-top, yes? 

Edited April 14, 20188 yr by MaxYakov

because you cannot turn road safety and law enforcement  on and off like a tap, it needs to be 24hrs a day 365 days a year

21 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

the Songkran holidays raised doubts whether the preventive measures are working.

Raised doubts?..........it's blatantly obvious to anyone with half a brain that it's not working!

12 minutes ago, smedly said:

because you cannot turn road safety and law enforcement  on and off like a tap, it needs to be 24hrs a day 365 days a year

Neither can a largely immoral/unprincipled, quasi-free society be effectively policed under any circumstances.

Good to see the morality police were concentrating on those wearing politically incorrect attire during the celebrations,should help with reducing road accidents and fatalities.

48 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Meanwhile, police have been monitoring about 300 surveillance TV cameras in Bangkok’s Silom Road area around the clock as part of precautionary measures for tourist safety during Songkran, while also checking revellers for the modesty of their dress and actions.

"...while also checking revellers for the modesty of their dress and actions..."

 

Perhaps this is the problem?

 

Perhaps if the police weren't so hung up on trying to promote their idea of 'Modesty', then they might enforce laws and safety better?

 

Thailand needs to re-think its priorities. ...

 

49 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

The Road Safety Centre (RSC) yesterday reported that after the first three of the seven days, the number of road fatalities, injuries and accidents were all higher than during the same period of last year.

Well done Thailand. Top of the class again 

 

the average thai cares very little about these stats . the volume of vehicles on the roads most days and the lawlessness and sleep patterns of thais ,just the mini vans on any given day is huge , this wont change ..the stat I want to see is,... vehicles / occupants vs collisions, deaths andserious injuries ,in the holiday period... fatalities = a very small percent of the sum total on the roads.one can argue any fatalty is too much and yes its sad ,but..its the thai lottery and thais love to gamble...

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

raised doubts whether the preventive measures are working.

raised doubts ? look at the numbers

If ever proof was needed that the country is regressing, here it is, P, take a bow!

 

regress

verb

gerund or present participle: regressing

rɪˈɡrɛs/

1. 1.

   return to a former or less developed state.

   "they would not regress to pre-technological tribalism"

   synonyms:

   revert, retrogress, relapse, lapse, backslide, go backwards, slip back, drift back, subside, sink back; More

Thai tow truck services have been busy in our neck of the woods.

If only they were as good at doing something as they were at providing meaningless numbers and stats thing might? improve.

Generated income for local tourist areas.....that money has therefoe been diverted from the poorer communities to the already richer tourist areas....not such a good thing to shout about

The weakly death toll on the Thai roads is like losing a big wide-body aircraft every week!  

An offensive post has been removed. 

Only crazy person drive in Songkran!

Stay home, walk, no drive!

You can not train the low IQ  untrainable

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

On the tourism front, the Songkran Festival has attracted millions of Thai and foreign tourists to popular destinations nationwide, generating significant revenue for local economies.

 

Chuchat on-charern, the Tourism Authority of Thailand chief for the southern province of Phang-nga, said an estimated 155,000 tourists visited the province, with each Thai tourist spending an average of Bt4,000 per day and each foreign tourist spending an average of Bt6,586 per day.

 

The province’s 11,000 hotel rooms have an occupancy rate of over 80 per cent this year, he said, adding that the tourism revenue during Songkran is estimated to top Bt1.1 billion, up 5 per cent from the previous year. The province is popular among German, Scandinavian and Asian tourists due to its proximity to popular islands.

That's what it's all about - MONEY!!!!!

 

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

 

The Road Safety Centre (RSC) yesterday reported that after the first three of the seven days, the number of road fatalities, injuries and accidents were all higher than during the same period of last year.

"The Road Safety Centre" - That's got to be a joke!  They should change their name to "The Culling Department"!  Can't cull the soi dogs, so let's cull a few peasants!

 

Does anybody, in any department in the government, take their job seriously!

...and we get only 50% of the information...

5 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Raised doubts?..........it's blatantly obvious to anyone with half a brain that it's not working!

Nailed it. The reason that the gov't authorities keep putting forward initiatives that fail year after year after year. 

1 hour ago, smew said:

You can not train the low IQ  untrainable

I would respectfully disagree with that statement, you can train them in my experience, if you are commited to change and put time & the right resources.

Until you have a functioning Police force and a "government" that gives a dam, that is committed to the people and not just paying lip service to the problems! ?

I see no change in the future!

Very odd how the number of generals does not decrease in Songkran ? 

6 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Raised doubts?..........it's blatantly obvious to anyone with half a brain that it's not working!

Half a brain here would be classified as "gifted".

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

Very odd how the number of generals does not decrease in Songkran ? 

I think you will find plenty of Gens, Lt/Gens, Maj/Gens in Thailands police force.

All paid for of course.

Now at 258.   http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/248-people-killed-2557-injured-road-accidents-april-11-14-songkran-celebrations/

8 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Raised doubts?..........it's blatantly obvious to anyone with half a brain that it's not working!

You beat me to it.

I was going to say:

"Bahahahahahahaha, (breath), Bahahahahahahaha, OMG (breath), Bahahahahahahaha 

25 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I think you will find plenty of Gens, Lt/Gens, Maj/Gens in Thailands police force.

All paid for of course.

I meant that they very rarely have accidents in Songkran - unlike joe public

27 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I think you will find plenty of Gens, Lt/Gens, Maj/Gens in Thailands police force.

All paid for of course.

To explain to the "confused" poster, there are a lot of fancy ranks in the Thai police force which they have to pay for. Get it now?

7 hours ago, PatOngo said:

If ever proof was needed that the country is regressing, here it is, P, take a bow!

 

regress

verb

gerund or present participle: regressing

rɪˈɡrɛs/

1. 1.

   return to a former or less developed state.

   "they would not regress to pre-technological tribalism"

   synonyms:

   revert, retrogress, relapse, lapse, backslide, go backwards, slip back, drift back, subside, sink back; More

 

The country has been constantly developing.

 

However it has been developing (and continues to develop) into an entity that is totally unlike where you, I and most of the contributors to these pages came from.

 

It is those who cannot see that who remain "undeveloped"......yearning for the arrival of a Western reality (the one that they turned their backs on) which cannot be realised outside of the West where it was constructed.

 

You left that behind.

 

The East, China, Thailand......the non-Western world are building their own version of the future.

 

At best, unimaginable to Westerners (and probably not the one that the non-West imagines for itself).

 

At worst.........Chaos.

 

That's History folks.

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 20188 yr by Enoon