Thailand’s Road Safety Centre has reported 53 deaths and 262 injuries from 271 road accidents on New Year’s Eve, prompting authorities to tighten enforcement against speeding and drink-driving during continued holiday travel. The figures underline the ongoing risk to public safety as people travel to celebrate and make merit for the New Year.

The statistics were announced at 10.15am on 1 January 2026 at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation by the Road Safety Centre, which is overseeing the New Year 2026 road safety campaign. The data cover 31 December 2025, the second day of the national campaign “Drive Safely, Reduce Speed, Reduce Accidents”.

According to Mr Thiraphat Kachamat, Director-General of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and secretary to the Road Safety Centre, the main causes of accidents were speeding at 40.96% and drink-driving at 27.31%. Motorcycles were involved in 74.44% of cases, with most crashes occurring on straight roads at 82.29%.

Main highways accounted for 39.48% of accidents, while roads under local administrative organisations and within villages made up 32.47%. The peak time for accidents was between 6.01pm and 9.00pm, representing 18.82% of cases, with the highest number of casualties among people aged 40 to 49 at 17.46%.

Picture courtesy of DDPM

On 31 December alone, Phetchaburi recorded the highest number of accidents with 12 cases. Phayao and Surat Thani had the most injured, with 12 people each, while Nakhon Ratchasima and Suphan Buri recorded the highest number of deaths, at four each.

Cumulative figures for the first two days of the campaign, from 30 to 31 December 2025, show 469 accidents, 452 injuries and 86 deaths nationwide. Phetchaburi again led in total accidents with 19, Phuket had the highest number of injured with 20 and Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Pathum Thani and Suphan Buri recorded the highest death tolls, with five each. A total of 36 provinces reported zero fatalities.

Officials said traffic remains heavy on both main and secondary routes on 1 January, as people continue to travel. Authorities have been instructed to maintain strict law enforcement, particularly on secondary roads used as shortcuts and to focus on helmet use, fatigue checks and rapid emergency response.

Picture courtesy of DDPM

Key Takeaways

• Road accidents on 31 December 2025 killed 53 people and injured 262 nationwide.

• Speeding, drink-driving and motorcycle use remain the leading risk factors.

• Authorities have ordered stricter enforcement as New Year travel continues.

Related Stories

29-killed-in-road-accidents-on-day-one-of-dangerous-week

Two-killed-four-injured-in-Chumphon-new-year-crash

 Adapted by Asean Now from DDPM 2026-01-01

 

Surely the main cause of speeding is drink driving, on those 80 odd % of 40 year olds on straight roads between 6 - 9 pm.

And while driving the 35km home this morning , I passed about 5 'Police Tents' each with one or two men inside, all watching telly or on their phone, with un-helmeted bikes going by, and for sure, many still-drunk drivers. They do eff all.

53 declared, so real figure is probably 80+

A bit off-topic, but looking at crash photos, it looks like modern vehicles are made of aluminum foil, the way they completely crumple and disintegrate.

6 minutes ago, Peabody said:

A bit off-topic, but looking at crash photos, it looks like modern vehicles are made of aluminum foil, the way they completely crumple and disintegrate.

Details of that crash is in the related stories link of OP and occurred on 31 December.

7 minutes ago, Peabody said:

A bit off-topic, but looking at crash photos, it looks like modern vehicles are made of aluminum foil, the way they completely crumple and disintegrate.

You, don't know what hit it and at what speed.........

Flame post removed. @Usnh discuss the topic and stop trolling other posters.

Rules 9. You will not post disruptive or inflammatory messages. You will respect other members and post in a civil manner. Personal attacks, insults or hate speech posted on the forum or sent by private message are not allowed.
 
10. You will not post troll messages. Trolling is the act of purposefully antagonizing forum members by posting controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages with the primary intent of provoking other members into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

It would help if everyone stayed in their lanes without speeding and driving tipsy.

15 minutes ago, khunJam said:

It would help if everyone stayed in their lanes without speeding and driving tipsy.

and don't forget tail gating at high speed.

1 minute ago, mason 45 said:

and don't forget tail gating at high speed.

And coming up behind other vehicles at high speed and slamming on the brakes. It’s like a lot of those drivers can’t see more than 5 meters ahead.

Just now, Peabody said:

A bit off-topic, but looking at crash photos, it looks like modern vehicles are made of aluminum foil, the way they completely crumple and disintegrate.

the lunar lander was made from foil 555

3 hours ago, transam said:

You, don't know what hit it and at what speed.........

I miss the old days, when you could get impaled on a broken steering column or have your guts ripped out by a knobby door handle.

Too many safety features these days. Too many potential Darwin Award winners survive.

Best safety device that I've heard of: giant, sharp spike, mounted right in the center of the steering wheel.

The yearly road safety campaign.

It's so boring and hopeless.

They have a long way to go.

Not worth spending too many words.

18 hours ago, wil iam not said:

And while driving the 35km home this morning , I passed about 5 'Police Tents' each with one or two men inside, all watching telly or on their phone, with un-helmeted bikes going by, and for sure, many still-drunk drivers. They do eff all.

Well, where I live in the west, we don't have police tents, the cops could be anywhere before or after a booze bus, and people complain about the nanny state, and no, it is not about revenue, it is about saving lives, stop talking about your homecountry bad and at the same time bad about Thailand.

More road checks ? Looks that one may need to have good supply of those 500 THB notes in the car. Could be handy ? 🤔

The reality is the 7 dangerous days are only marginally more dangerous.

The uptick over the annual average was 2-3% in 2023 and peaks at 25% in 2024. Over the last 4 years the average uptick is just over 11%, this is mostly accounted for there being more vehicles on the road.

15 hours ago, wil iam not said:

the lunar lander was made from foil 555

A bit of filler and an aerosol of paint would soon sort that out.🤣

New Years Eve BiPass Rd 37 from Pranburi towards Petchaburi was like amatuer night at the Indy 500

every pickup loaded with a crew sitting in the bed/ bmw'/ Merc's are all in competition for the highest speed,closest cutting off cars and erratic driving you ever saw !

and yes .. a majority of those plates were from Petchaburi / เพชรบุรี and Bangkok / กรุงเทพมหานคร

If they examined the statistics from previous years they would see that the measures they take are ineffective. Someone in RTP needs to use their brain cell to realise that only proper stop checks both by mobile patrols and static checkpoints can do anything to reduce the toll. In Western countries it is the fear of arrest and consequences of harsh penalties that reduces offending, not the actual number arrested.

Any stats for E bikes/scooters ?

Personally, I like to see a comparison with last year and the year before that. I want to see if this is getting better or worse.

7 hours ago, still kicking said:

stop talking about your homecountry bad and at the same time bad about Thailand.

Please explain. I never mentioned my Home Country

So when do the Stats, come out for 2025 to declare Thailand came 1st in World Wide Stats again?

Congratulations in advance Thailand!

Heres your trophy. 🏆and here is the https://media4.giphy.com/media/3oFzmrqh43AvYwn9Cw/200.gif?cid=d9f52f32kjtk1neznkmw6c4iqeadyobmxset4e276w8ip9hv&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200.gif&ct=g.

2 minutes ago, cynic1 said:

So when do the Stats, come out for 2025 to declare Thailand came 1st in World Wide Stats again?

Congratulations in advance Thailand!

Heres your trophy. 🏆and here is the https://media4.giphy.com/media/3oFzmrqh43AvYwn9Cw/200.gif?cid=d9f52f32kjtk1neznkmw6c4iqeadyobmxset4e276w8ip9hv&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200.gif&ct=g.

Thailand aint even top ten.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/road-deaths-by-country

12 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Thailand aint even top ten.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/road-deaths-by-country

Am I missing something? Your link shows stats for 2019 and 2021? Aside from that since 2025, which only ended 2 days ago, I would be extremely surprised that this web you sent being {: https://worldpopulationreview.com. "} ,has stats. for 2025 already,? Unless the statisticians hang out at all international morgues???🤣

13 minutes ago, cynic1 said:

Am I missing something? Your link shows stats for 2019 and 2021? Aside from that since 2025, which only ended 2 days ago, I would be extremely surprised that this web you sent being {: https://worldpopulationreview.com. "} ,has stats. for 2025 already,? Unless the statisticians hang out at all international morgues???🤣

Ohhh my bad.

Show world stats for 2025 then.

Be proactive.

3 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Ohhh my bad.

Show world stats for 2025 then.

Be proactive.

Your asking me to be proactive?

Your the person who stated the stats for 2025. WTF?

You justify those stats!

5 minutes ago, cynic1 said:

Your asking me to be proactive?

Your the person who stated the stats for 2025. WTF?

You justify those stats!

Your facts ands stats are not showing.

Colour me surprised.

Just the usual Thai bashing BS.

30 minutes ago, cynic1 said:

49 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

Thailand aint even top ten.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/road-deaths-by-country

Am I missing something? Your link shows stats for 2019 and 2021? Aside from that since 2025, which only ended 2 days ago, I would be extremely surprised that this web you sent being {: https://worldpopulationreview.com. "} ,has stats. for 2025 already,? Unless the statisticians hang out at all international morgues???🤣

The WHO does not rely on raw, real-time national tallies. Instead, it extrapolates from historical data, applying statistical modelling to ensure international comparability.

Official global road-fatality statistics typically lag by 18–24 months. For 2025, harmonised WHO figures will not be published until around mid-2026. Compounding this delay, countries differ markedly in how they collect, classify and report road-traffic deaths. Some rely on incomplete civil registration systems, others apply inconsistent injury-coding standards. As a result, direct country-to-country comparisons are not possible without mathematical adjustment.

This is a crucial nuance often overlooked: in many countries, the headline figures are not direct counts from civil registries but estimates. The WHO therefore compiles a modelled time series, correcting for under-reporting and definitional inconsistencies. While imperfect, this approach is the only way to place countries on a genuinely comparable footing.

Viewed through this lens, Thailand currently sits well outside the global top ten. The latest WHO-modelled figure, extrapolated from 2021 data, places Thailand at 25.4 road-traffic deaths per 100,000 population.

Local Thai reporting for 2024 aligns closely with this estimate:

... Road-traffic deaths (2024): ~17,447

... Mid-2024 population: ~71.67 million

... Implied rate: ~24.3 deaths per 100,000 population

In other words, there is no material divergence between the WHO’s modelled comparison (based on 2021) and Thailand’s locally reported 2024 figures. The numbers tell a consistent story.

Do you expect a sudden transformation between 2024 and 2025 ??? or even 2021 and 2025 ???

Absent a radical overhaul of enforcement, infrastructure, vehicle mix and behaviour, the answer is self-evident.