Death toll nears 300 after five of the ‘Seven Dangerous Days’ of Songkran

[snoop1130]

Death toll nears 300 after five of the ‘Seven Dangerous Days’ of Songkran

By THE NATION

 

 

ROAD accidents during the first five days of the Songkran festival have left 297 people dead and 2,807 injured with drunken driving again singled out as the main cause of the accidents, according to the Road Safety Operations Centre (RSOC) on Tuesday.

 

On Monday alone, the fifth of the “Seven Dangerous Days” of the festive season, 472 accidents across the country claimed 54 lives and left 494 people injured. The northern Chiang Mai province saw the most number of road accidents with 104 cases and also the most number injured while Udon Thani province in the Northeast reported a record 14 deaths, according to the Public Health Ministry’s permanent secretary, Dr Sukhum Kanchanapimai, who heads the centre. 

 

 

The authority blamed drunken driving as the major factor in 40.68 per cent of the total accidents while speeding was responsible for 27.54 per cent. 

As in previous years, most of the accidents – 78.85 per cent – involved motorbikes. About 67 per cent took place in small roads in villages and 37.92 per cent on highways. 

 

Most of the accidents happened between 4pm and 8pm and most of the victims were people aged above 50. 

 

Thailand has been plagued by a high number of road accidents and casualties during long holiday breaks and renewed efforts by the authorities every year have done little to improve the situation. 

 

The authority set up 2,040 checkpoints with 65,308 officials and volunteers deployed around the clock nationwide. More than one million vehicles were checked at the checkpoints and 235,383 people were charged with traffic law violations such as riding motorbikes without wearing helmets and having no driving licence. 

 

More than half of the detained 1,814 drivers were found to have a high percentage of alcohol in their blood, according to Dr Sukhum, who added that 33 per cent of them were teenagers. 

 

“The drivers must have zero alcohol in their blood, otherwise they must not be allowed to operate any vehicle at all,” he said.

 

The authority prosecuted 8,338 cases of drunken driving during April 11-15 and nearly 400 people were under a one-year probation, according to the chief of the Probation Department, Prasan Mahaleetrakul. 

 

Officials confiscated 1,166 motorbikes, 457 cars and 2,291 driving licences from those who had violated the traffic laws during the dangerous days.

 

The authorities have now fully strengthened their road safety operations as the long Songkran holiday season ended on Tuesday, with thousands of commuters set to hit the roads again on their return journey. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30367796

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-04-16

[fishtank]

Great. But is it a record?

We know that they are so proud of the record deaths.

Lets hope they achieve it this year,

 

[observer90210]

Looks like they will never understand ????? At one point it will require something drastic like all vehicles banned during Songkran ! Not the best way, but the death toll will at least be elsewhere !

[DaRoadrunner]

Unfortunately it is often the innocent that get killed here. While the drunk driver gets off if he can pay the cops.

[Nsp64]

Only 300!

Well that's ok then.

Why no just ban this stupid cultural event.

Thainess.

[Justgrazing]

6 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

ROAD accidents during the first five days of the Songkran festival have left 297 people dead and 2,807 injured with drunken driving again singled out as the main cause of the accidents,

Sigh' .. They never learn do they .. 

And capturing it in a cartoon is hardly taking it serious is it .. 

The risks of driving p*ssed are well known .. everyone knows it yet Thai's continue to sally forth with utter p*ssed abandon into oblivion almost like lemmings leaping offa cliff and with an ave' of near 60 a day deaded its getting hard not to see it any other way .. 

 

[Artisi]

6 hours ago, fishtank said:

Great. But is it a record?

We know that they are so proud of the record deaths.

Lets hope they achieve it this year,

 

Well they are certainly working hard to achieve it...... 

[YetAnother]

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

“The drivers must have zero alcohol in their blood, otherwise they must not be allowed to operate any vehicle at all,” he said.

idiot; heaven help us if people like this are ever law-makers

[faraday]

10 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

idiot; heaven help us if people like this are ever law-makers

Yea, it's not exactly a profound statement.

 

 

[Geoffggi]

They say the seven deadly days yet Pattaya does not end the celebrations until the 19th, are the numbers too high to include or is Pattaya not part of Thailand.....???

[PatOngo]

46 minutes ago, Geoffggi said:

They say the seven deadly days yet Pattaya does not end the celebrations until the 19th, are the numbers too high to include or is Pattaya not part of Thailand.....???

Forget the 19th, the annual cull continues till 31 Dec then begins again on 1 Jan.

[passiflora]

Just propaganda 

[chang1]

9 hours ago, Nsp64 said:

Only 300!

Well that's ok then.

Why no just ban this stupid cultural event.

Thainess.

Annual road death toll = approximately 24000.

24000/365 = about 66 road deaths per day so 330 over 5 days on average.

300 over 5 days gives a daily death rate of 60 per day.

According to these figures Songkran is safer than normal.

Why not have Songkran all year? Maybe Thais drive safer drunk than sober!

[rabas]

9 hours ago, Nsp64 said:

Only 300!

Well that's ok then.

Why no just ban this stupid cultural event.

Thainess.

"The National Safety Council said its calculations indicate 582 people may be killed on roads during this [4th of July] holiday weekend period, and an additional 66,900 may be seriously injured in crashes." Much of it related to drinking.

 

The US 4th of July is half the length of Thailand's Songkran so about 1000+ deaths comparatively.  The other major cause of death and accident during the 4th of July is fireworks, fire, and explosion. Thailand uses water.

[manchega]

the police along with most officials don't actually understand the thai rules nor common sense - self preservation

 

the real problem here is those that don't enforce the laws having made it a political issue

 

yes fifty watches and el dictator are the ones at fault

[TKDfella]

Two points really; one is, and I've said it before about similar occasions, is that they can't speed along when they are stuck in a traffic jam so road deaths are 0 at that point. I do appreciate though, that they probably make up for it afterwards.

The other point is more general; on other threads one reads about the pending drought, water management and that people should use water wisely. So a nationwide splashing of water, where most of it ends up on the roads, is hardly consistent with water management just mentioned. Confine the celebrations to where it should be...at home with the family and/or religious activities using water in the traditional way. Ha, having said that I doubt that conserving water would conserve life on the roads.

[bstafford214]

Just curious on how they test anyone for drink driving here in Thailand?

I have never seen one since living here now for 3 years.

 

Do they use breathalyzer or breathalyser as they do in US and UK?

 

 

Is this the Thai breathalyzer or breathalyser ?  5555

 

[Kinnock]

1 hour ago, chang1 said:

Annual road death toll = approximately 24000.

24000/365 = about 66 road deaths per day so 330 over 5 days on average.

300 over 5 days gives a daily death rate of 60 per day.

According to these figures Songkran is safer than normal.

Why not have Songkran all year? Maybe Thais drive safer drunk than sober!

Yes - with less busy roads in Bangkok over the holiday, schools closed and more people at home, it's probably the safest time of year on Thai roads.

 

I guess the annual stats-fest is just really a holiday safety campaign? 

 

[Chrisswe]

And how many dead after bad injurys !???

[hotchilli]

Unfortunately it's part of Thai culture, eat, drink, drive... they are aware of the dangers and except them as part of life in Thailand.

No point in trying to compare it with other countries... it's the way it's done here every day of the year.

Extended holidays just gives them more opportunity to drink & drive later in the day.

[Jaxxper]

11 hours ago, Nsp64 said:

Why no just ban this stupid cultural event.

Thainess. 

Good idea NOT. We could also get Christmas and New Year banned in the western world too. What a stupid idea. It shows the low level of esteem you appear to have for other cultures.

[kuzmabruk]

10 hours ago, Nsp64 said:

Only 300!

Well that's ok then.

Why no just ban this stupid cultural event.

Thainess.

Firstly, Songkran is the first day of the year in Thailand and the festival revolves around family values and reuniting with the loved ones.  The idea to ban it is plain stupidity.

 

As to comparing the US' 4th of July versus Thailand's Songkran, a little math helps. 

 

The US 4th of July is a 3-day holiday and Songkran is a 5-7 day holiday.

 

The Thai population is 69m vs the US population of 327m. 

 

Following is for 2014 - the last year for which I found both US and Thai well published statistics for on a quick search:

Bangkok Post 19, Apr 2014.  "322 killed over ‘7 dangerous days"  https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/405614/322-killed-over-7-dangerous-days.    ==== That is 46 fatalities per day.

 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 2014, there were 197 traffic fatalities between 6pm on July 3rd and 5:59 am July 7th -- and 41 percent were caused by drivers who were legally intoxicated.  ==== That is 56 fatalities per day - the statistic is based on 3.5 days not 3 or 4.

 

So in 2014, we have 46 road fatalities per day in Thailand versus 56 road fatalities per day in the US.  At this stage of the comparison Thailand has more deaths than the US.

 

BUT, the US has a population that is 4.7 times larger than Thailand (327m vs 69m).  So, you divide 56 by 4.7 = 12.

 

SO, rather than just be presumptuous let's look at the facts, in the United States during the 4th of July holiday, 4 people die for every 1 person who dies in Thailand during Songkran. 

 

 

[Caine]

11 hours ago, Nsp64 said:

Only 300!

Well that's ok then.

Why no just ban this stupid cultural event.

Thainess.

Will never ban the event, because it’s children at play. With the Thai adults having the average age and intellect of a 3yr old there’s your answer.

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm.... this is pathetic and repeats every Songkran... and yet the Thais seem surprised. I am so thankful I no longer live there

[billmichael]

OMG...!!!  WTH is wrong with people...???  This is an outrageous outrage.

[kwak250]

2 hours ago, chang1 said:

Annual road death toll = approximately 24000.

24000/365 = about 66 road deaths per day so 330 over 5 days on average.

300 over 5 days gives a daily death rate of 60 per day.

According to these figures Songkran is safer than normal.

Why not have Songkran all year? Maybe Thais drive safer drunk than sober!

According to this it shows that songkran is safer as more people are so pissed they can't even stand let alone drive.

[BEngBKK]

EU have just announced that new cars are required to have sensors for detecting cars in front/behind/overtaking etc.

 

Problem: To many people die in traffic in EU every year... About 26000 in the entire EU... Makes you wonder...

 

[chang1]

7 minutes ago, bbbbooboo said:

Hmmm.... this is pathetic and repeats every Songkran... and yet the Thais seem surprised. I am so thankful I no longer live there

The only thing that surprises is, considering how much is drunk,  how low the death rate is compared to what the normal daily rate is and the pointless fuss made around Songkran.

What is pathetic is that Thailand has one of the worlds worst road death rates and Songkran makes very little difference to that. 

[PatOngo]

1 hour ago, manchega said:

the police along with most officials don't actually understand the thai rules nor common sense - self preservation

 

the real problem here is those that don't enforce the laws having made it a political issue

 

yes fifty watches and el dictator are the ones at fault

The lack of self preservation on the part of the drivers to me is the crux of the matter. Until drivers embrace this foreign concept, there is only so much the authorities can do, regardless of their incompetence!

[samsensam]

18 minutes ago, chang1 said:

The only thing that surprises is, considering how much is drunk,  how low the death rate is compared to what the normal daily rate is and the pointless fuss made around Songkran.

What is pathetic is that Thailand has one of the worlds worst road death rates and Songkran makes very little difference to that. 

 

interesting point, if there are so many drunk drivers on the road at songkran you would expect the death toll on the roads to be considerably higher than the norm which is 66 per day according to WHO figures.

 

last year, according to the nation there were 418 fatalities, average 60 per day  - less than the normal daily average... so on average songkran is a safer time to be on the roads.

 

apparently the thai media are completely unaware of this fact, hence sensationalist  annual 'seven dangerous days' headlines