Songkran 2010: Two teens dead on Phuket roads

PHUKET: -- This year’s Songkran celebrations were marred by the deaths of two teenage boys in road accidents, according to the Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office (DDPM-Phuket).

From April 12 to 15 there were 38 accidents resulting in the two deaths and 42 injuries, DDPM-Phuket said.

On Monday around 11:30am a 14-year-old boy was killed when the motorbike he was sharing with two others collided with a pickup on Pa Khlok Road in Thalang District.

Two days later a 17-year-old was killed in a suspected case of drunk driving, also in Thalang. He died after driving his bike into a tree on Thepkrasattri Road around 1:30am. He was not wearing a helmet.

Around 70 percent of the accidents involved drunk motorcyclists driving too fast and not wearing helmets. Most took place between 8pm and midnight in Muang District.

About a quarter of the injured were foreigners, and most were men.

The annual ‘Seven Days of Danger Campaign’, which runs until Sunday, has seen police erect 24-hour checkpoints across the island.

So far officers have inspected 41,835 drivers, with 3,299 arrested or fined.

The most common violation in the arrests was driving without a license (1,739 cases). Next was riding a motorcycle without a helmet (1,192 cases), followed by riding in the front seat of a car without using a safety belt (144 cases) and operating a non-roadworthy vehicle (60 cases).

-- Phuket Gazette 2010-04-16

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So far officers have inspected 41,835 drivers, with 3,299 arrested or fined.

Piss poor effort really. Back home when the Highway Patrol stop 41,835 vehicles, at least 40,000 of them would lead to fines or arrest.

Its only mouth moving.