24 Killed, 425 Wounded On First Day Of Thailand's 'Dangerous Seven Days'

[spectrumisgreen]

The vice minister said that 2,501 checkpoints have been set up across the country, with 65,494 personnel being deployed. Over half a million vehicles -- 526,610 -- have so far have passed through the inspection process at the checkpoints.

Legal action has been taken against 60,497 people for violating traffic rules -- 19,260 for riding motorcycle without helmets and 18,916 for driving without licences, stated Mr Sorayut.

WOW, Those are overwhelming numbers

11.5% of drivers passing thru the check point got a blister. (assuming no driver got more than one).

For nearly every rider that was booked not wearing a helmet there was a rider or driver without a licence . If those statistics ring through at that same ratio, everytime you see a rider without a helmet, very close by is a driver without a licence.

Amazing Thailand.

On a side note, I wonder how many of those rider/drivers that were booked for not having a licence were allowed to ride/drive away after being booked?

Try ALL of them being allowed to ride away!! It's a 100 baht (200 baht for farangs) pay at your leisure fine (non)system, from my experience.. NOT a deterrent, just a little money-spinner with the side-shoot of having some figures they can brandish!!! And this is NOT negativity, this is fact, after living under the British Driving penalty system for most of my life (where at the very least you get summoned to take in ALL your documents within a week and taken to court if you don't produce them, or if anything isn't legit or as it should be!!!!!!!)

[jobsworth]

As a motorist in the UK and a pedestrian in Thailand,

I notice a large number of differences.

I would suggest that Thailand has police patrol cars

looking for bad driving.

That would cut down the accident rate.

Not just gangs of traffic police stopping motorcyclists for no helmet.

Motor cycles drive at speed every which way without fear of repercussions.

Car drivers drive at the highest speed possible.

Especially dangerous is the tactic of not slowing down when a hazard is spotted

but rather speeding up and sounding the horn to clear the road ahead.

When crossing the road a pedestrian moves from across the slow lane to across the fast lane

where drivers speed up to cut off the pedestrian and sound the horn.

Meanwhile a motor cycle can be overtaking in the other direction

heading straight for the oncoming cars in the fast lane.

There don't seem to be any effective driving lessons, driving schools or driving tests.

They are really needed to cut down the accident rates.

[sundaram444]

I refuse to serve alcohol - beer, local whisky etc- to my Thai Wife's friends and relatives in this village.

I like to party with soft drinks , plenty of food and music. But my TW insists that this is the custom and we have to serve

liquor. Of course this is why there are so many accidents, esp. all the youngsters totally drunk , riding motocycle without

any licence and picking up fights with other guys and creating lot of problem.

The villge police at the checkposts cannot do any thing to stop this. Last Songkran time, the youths of this village and the

opposite village went on a rampage fighting with big knifes , bamboo poles and rocks. One youth died while trying to escape on his

bike and skidded into a ditch. This youth 17 years old was the son of the village head.

Parents should try to control them. But no luck.

[venturalaw]

I refuse to serve alcohol - beer, local whisky etc- to my Thai Wife's friends and relatives in this village.

I like to party with soft drinks , plenty of food and music. But my TW insists that this is the custom and we have to serve

liquor. Of course this is why there are so many accidents, esp. all the youngsters totally drunk , riding motocycle without

any licence and picking up fights with other guys and creating lot of problem.

The villge police at the checkposts cannot do any thing to stop this. Last Songkran time, the youths of this village and the

opposite village went on a rampage fighting with big knifes , bamboo poles and rocks. One youth died while trying to escape on his

bike and skidded into a ditch. This youth 17 years old was the son of the village head.

Parents should try to control them. But no luck.

Whenever my Thai wife and I have a party at our home, no alcohol is served to minors. If they can't have fun without it, they don't come. Simple.

[Colabamumbai]

So does that mean that it is down 12% more than the 5% they hoped for. Or that just because it is the first day and many are still working.

Edited December 30, 2010 by Colabamumbai

[neverdie]

I wonder how many of those rider/drivers that were booked for not having a licence were allowed to ride/drive away after being booked?

All of them! I was in that situation myself already.

Here lies one of the problems. If you are Unlicensed, your bike should be impounded if you don't have a licenced driver/rider who can take control of the vehicle. And a fine and each time you get subsequently caught, the fine increases or turns into a public flogging or something

If you want to reduce the numbers, YOU NEED TO GET TOUGH!

[transam]

I wonder how many of those rider/drivers that were booked for not having a licence were allowed to ride/drive away after being booked?

All of them! I was in that situation myself already.

Here lies one of the problems. If you are Unlicensed, your bike should be impounded if you don't have a licenced driver/rider who can take control of the vehicle. And a fine and each time you get subsequently caught, the fine increases or turns into a public flogging or something

If you want to reduce the numbers, YOU NEED TO GET TOUGH!

+1, but they wont..

[jfchandler]

NeverDie, thanks for posting all the various stats... Quite interesting...

Where are you pulling them from... The links didn't quite come thru....

Glad to be staying home -- and off the roads -- this New Year in LOS.

[kropotkin]

Legal action has been taken against 60.497 people.

I assume extracting 100 or 200 baht without handing a receipt, is not considered legal action.

Rather illegal action ?

Anyway, i wonder, why did 60.497 people not hand over 100 or 200 baht??? Poverty on the rise? People fed up with corruption?

[ginjag]

Came through about 15 checkpoints yesterday evening in an 85k drive back home in Ubon and SiSaket provinces. Not one showed any interest in stopping traffic - just lay people sitting around marking up traffic numbers and chatting to each other.

Are these village checkpoints, having been given some kind of authority by the police I understand, supposed to be doing anything useful? My TW just tells me they are there to 'help local people' if there are any troubles or accidents, whatever that means. I suspect that if Fred down the road came riding or driving thru' one of these checkpoints pi$$ed out of his head they would have a laugh and wave him thru'.

Is there any attempt by the government, through TV advertising say, to change the laissez faire attitude?

I go to a party thrown by my wifes uncle - a policeman - and there's loads of booze and all his police friends and mates drive there and back. If I decline more than the odd drink 'because I'm driving' you should see the incredulous looks I get. Love it though we do, Thailand is another (self-deluding) planet sometimes.

I live opposite a village checkpoint, a few people are employed on a daily wage basis, to help with anything during the holiday period. No crash hats, drunk, loud music, kids without silencers on motorbikes(trendy) You name it you can do it. The HELPERS most of the time are smoking and drinking alcohol, as yet in all my years here I have not seen any checks. 46 villages in this towns control, 5 staff X 500 baht per day--over 5 days=====?????? multiply that by how many towns in Thailand. Now thats the tip of the iceberg----how many cities are there and how many check areas in each. BUT still we have the carnage. Anyone could have a guess at the overall cost, to do not much at all.

[tcris52]

On my 50 km ride back from Mukdahan city to the village where I am living and working I saw 3 police checkpoints today. At the first one they stopped me to fine me for not wearing a helmet. When I opened the seat of my motorcycle the ploiceman saw my helmet under the the seat and asked me why I am not wearing it. I told him, that I had been wearing in the city area - but took it off later (that was true!). He checked my passport, my driving licenses (everything ok with it) and started to talk about New Year's Eve, many accidents and so on and on ....

I told him about my job as English teacher in my village about 30 km further on and about the sports day together with the provincial governour the day before - and it worked. He remided me to put on the helmet right now - and send me further on back home ... without any fine. Lucky me that day.

But - infront of the law all people should be treated in the same way! Good for me to be able to talk in Thai to him, to mention my job and the governour - but this is not the way it should be!

BTW - the next 2 checkpoints were abandoned ...

Amazing.

Why would you ride a motorcycle anywhere in Thailand (or anyplace else, for that matter) without a helmet? Your head splits open as easily in the rural areas as in the cities.

[neverdie]

NeverDie, thanks for posting all the various stats... Quite interesting...

Where are you pulling them from... The links didn't quite come thru....

Glad to be staying home -- and off the roads -- this New Year in LOS.

Sorry, I didnt notice that. A couple of the documents were pdf's:

ROAD ACCIDENTS IN THAILAND: CHANGES OVER THE PAST DECADE

by Yordphol TANABORIBOON

Professor, Transportation Engineering Program, School of Civil Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani, Thailand

(Received March 18, 2004)

& another one he did

"Traffic Accidents in Thailand - 2004"

and

Thailand Accident Research Centre

http://www.tarc.ait.ac.th/research.php

[Just1Voice]

On my 50 km ride back from Mukdahan city to the village where I am living and working I saw 3 police checkpoints today. At the first one they stopped me to fine me for not wearing a helmet. When I opened the seat of my motorcycle the ploiceman saw my helmet under the the seat and asked me why I am not wearing it. I told him, that I had been wearing in the city area - but took it off later (that was true!). He checked my passport, my driving licenses (everything ok with it) and started to talk about New Year's Eve, many accidents and so on and on ....

I told him about my job as English teacher in my village about 30 km further on and about the sports day together with the provincial governour the day before - and it worked. He remided me to put on the helmet right now - and send me further on back home ... without any fine. Lucky me that day.

But - infront of the law all people should be treated in the same way! Good for me to be able to talk in Thai to him, to mention my job and the governour - but this is not the way it should be!

BTW - the next 2 checkpoints were abandoned ...

The only part of your comments I agree with is: "but this is not the way it should be". The rest of it is total B.S. from the standpoint that you managed to talk your way out of it by mentioning your job as an English teacher and the sports day with the provincial governor. A little name dropping??? To me, it's a..holes like you who give foreigners a bad name. As a teacher you should be setting an example, not living the motto of "When in Rome....".

[retell]

truly shocking, but its the same every year...

when i saw 24 dead, i thought it was just samui, with the amount of manics on the roads, and accidents happening everywhere

guess the same for koh pha ngan where every busy fullmoonparty or half moon getting about 5 to 15 people killed

[Soapa]

The vice minister said that 2,501 checkpoints have been set up across the country, with 65,494 personnel being deployed. Over half a million vehicles -- 526,610 -- have so far have passed through the inspection process at the checkpoints.

Legal action has been taken against 60,497 people for violating traffic rules -- 19,260 for riding motorcycle without helmets and 18,916 for driving without licences, stated Mr Sorayut.

WOW, Those are overwhelming numbers

11.5% of drivers passing thru the check point got a blister. (assuming no driver got more than one).

For nearly every rider that was booked not wearing a helmet there was a rider or driver without a licence . If those statistics ring through at that same ratio, everytime you see a rider without a helmet, very close by is a driver without a licence.

Amazing Thailand.

hi

can someone explain to a thick scotsman. why is there so much accidents and fatalities ?? i am baffled..

brian

On a side note, I wonder how many of those rider/drivers that were booked for not having a licence were allowed to ride/drive away after being booked?

It is soothing to see how much the police can do in one day.

Imagine Thailand the safest place on the globe to drive... if only they could make it their job 24/7/365 ....

Dogs and motorcyclists are the menace to all.

4 kids on one scooter and not one helmet between them! - this is the symbol of Thailand....- and no police in sight....

Because of all said above, the authority's initiative for the Seven Deadly Days is yet another useless 'crockdown'

It is very difficult for 4 people to wear a helmet on a motorbike Plus if your mobile phone rings its very hard to hear

[adam1]

On my 50 km ride back from Mukdahan city to the village where I am living and working I saw 3 police checkpoints today. At the first one they stopped me to fine me for not wearing a helmet. When I opened the seat of my motorcycle the ploiceman saw my helmet under the the seat and asked me why I am not wearing it. I told him, that I had been wearing in the city area - but took it off later (that was true!). He checked my passport, my driving licenses (everything ok with it) and started to talk about New Year's Eve, many accidents and so on and on ....

I told him about my job as English teacher in my village about 30 km further on and about the sports day together with the provincial governour the day before - and it worked. He remided me to put on the helmet right now - and send me further on back home ... without any fine. Lucky me that day.

But - infront of the law all people should be treated in the same way! Good for me to be able to talk in Thai to him, to mention my job and the governour - but this is not the way it should be!

BTW - the next 2 checkpoints were abandoned ...

The only part of your comments I agree with is: "but this is not the way it should be". The rest of it is total B.S. from the standpoint that you managed to talk your way out of it by mentioning your job as an English teacher and the sports day with the provincial governor. A little name dropping??? To me, it's a..holes like you who give foreigners a bad name. As a teacher you should be setting an example, not living the motto of "When in Rome....".

So, the mods are allowing people to insult other posters by calling them a'holes?

Oh,, ok, well in that case Mr., please allow me to call you a sanctimonious old buzzard = nothing better to do than preach to this guy who obviously likes to feel the wind in his hair sometimes, like a lot of us. Geez, so many bad things happaning and you have to insult someone for this......................

[stuffonsticks]

I cant really understand what they mean by the Festive Period? Since when were Thais Christian and celebrate Christmas? I always thought they were Buddhists? Strange. ; )

[bobshaw]

Legal action has been taken against 60,497 people for violating traffic rules -- 19,260 for riding motorcycle without helmets and 18,916 for driving without licences, stated Mr Sorayut...

Yea, they all paid the cop 200 baht and drove off.

[neilf]

The vice minister said that 2,501 checkpoints have been set up across the country, with 65,494 personnel being deployed. Over half a million vehicles -- 526,610 -- have so far have passed through the inspection process at the checkpoints.

Legal action has been taken against 60,497 people for violating traffic rules -- 19,260 for riding motorcycle without helmets and 18,916 for driving without licences, stated Mr Sorayut.

WOW, Those are overwhelming numbers

11.5% of drivers passing thru the check point got a blister. (assuming no driver got more than one).

For nearly every rider that was booked not wearing a helmet there was a rider or driver without a licence . If those statistics ring through at that same ratio, everytime you see a rider without a helmet, very close by is a driver without a licence.

Amazing Thailand.

On a side note, I wonder how many of those rider/drivers that were booked for not having a licence were allowed to ride/drive away after being booked?

hi

can someone explain to a thick scotsman. why is there so much accidents and fatalities ?? i am baffled..

brian

the motorcylists have no license no training often no lights and no brain

[Teddy3943]

This is how the Thai police handels a drunk driver:

10 days ago I drove my Steed 600 normal at the left side of a street. My wife sitting on the buddyseat. Suddenly a car with an incredable high speed raced by. I just wanted to say to my wife what an indiotic high speed this was as we were hit by the second car racing behind the first one. Luckily it was a graze hit. The car's left mirror broke off and the car had a long scratch along the total left side. After the car hit us he tried to escape by increased speed, but had to brake for other traffic. I managed to come in front of the car to held the driver responsible for his stupid behavior. He came out of the car and almost fell on the ground saying excuses and that I was his friend... People had called the police and four of them came.

The driver was very obviously drunk. He could not stand still and had a strong alcoholic breath. Fortunately my wife and me had no injuries and my bike had only a bent brake handle. The police acted really bad. They ignored the drunkness of the driver and asked me if I wanted money. I said that I didn't want money but that the driver would be held responsible for his dangerous driving.

In short: The police didn't agree with my wish. My demand for justice was not heard. As a farang between the crowd of Thai people my remarks were not heard. My wife tried to convince the police of my words, but all what she achieved was reluctance by the police officer and no action what so ever. After 15 minutes of trying to clear the situation in the midst of chaotic talking by police and bystanders I gave up and told my wife that I wanted to leave from that crazy scene. So the drunken driver was not held responsible for crazy driving and hitting another vehicle, which could have been a very severe accident if he had hit us 8 inches more to the left.

Where is justice in this so called "civilized" country?

[kropotkin]

I cant really understand what they mean by the Festive Period? Since when were Thais Christian and celebrate Christmas? I always thought they were Buddhists? Strange. ; )

Buddhists? - as in 'non materialists' - 'inner peace' etc?

Animists celebrate at all times.

[reason1]

You Guys complaining instead of applauding the efforts have a wish to live in New Zealand? Duh! There is a solution! Any way Happy New Year to all you miserable ones winging about helmets dogs Police etc always same ones same posts

[anterian]

Brian,

In 11 years of living in the Land of Smiles, I would suggest the following reasons for such crazy road death & injury stats:

1) Cultural indifference to the risk of death....Buddhist influence of reincarnation?

2) Little or no law-enforcement

3) Rampant bribery at all levels of society

4) Variations of the above

regards

Brewsta

The vice minister said that 2,501 checkpoints have been set up across the country, with 65,494 personnel being deployed. Over half a million vehicles -- 526,610 -- have so far have passed through the inspection process at the checkpoints.

Legal action has been taken against 60,497 people for violating traffic rules -- 19,260 for riding motorcycle without helmets and 18,916 for driving without licences, stated Mr Sorayut.

WOW, Those are overwhelming numbers

11.5% of drivers passing thru the check point got a blister. (assuming no driver got more than one).

For nearly every rider that was booked not wearing a helmet there was a rider or driver without a licence . If those statistics ring through at that same ratio, everytime you see a rider without a helmet, very close by is a driver without a licence.

Amazing Thailand.

On a side note, I wonder how many of those rider/drivers that were booked for not having a licence were allowed to ride/drive away after being booked?

hi

can someone explain to a thick scotsman. why is there so much accidents and fatalities ?? i am baffled..

brian

You left out lack of driving skills, have you ever seen a driving school, or "L" plates, plus of course no real driving test involved in getting a licence.

[kropotkin]

My wife tells me it is 3.000 for a motorbike drivers licence, 5.000 for a car - that is for thai, i do not know the farang price.

[reason1]

You Guys complaining instead of applauding the efforts have a wish to live in New Zealand? Duh! There is a solution! Any way Happy New Year to all you miserable ones winging about helmets dogs Police etc always same ones same posts

[Boyblue]

You Guys complaining instead of applauding the efforts have a wish to live in New Zealand? Duh! There is a solution! Any way Happy New Year to all you miserable ones winging about helmets dogs Police etc always same ones same posts

If the police are worried about drivers without licences, why do they stop traffic outside of the schools to let the 3 9 year old's on the same motor bike out into the traffic.......?

Edited December 30, 2010 by Boyblue

[reason1]

Boyblue Thanks Bro Happy New Year to you

[diehard60]

The vice minister said that 2,501 checkpoints have been set up across the country, with 65,494 personnel being deployed. Over half a million vehicles -- 526,610 -- have so far have passed through the inspection process at the checkpoints.

Legal action has been taken against 60,497 people for violating traffic rules -- 19,260 for riding motorcycle without helmets and 18,916 for driving without licences, stated Mr Sorayut.

WOW, Those are overwhelming numbers

11.5% of drivers passing thru the check point got a blister. (assuming no driver got more than one).

For nearly every rider that was booked not wearing a helmet there was a rider or driver without a licence . If those statistics ring through at that same ratio, everytime you see a rider without a helmet, very close by is a driver without a licence.

Amazing Thailand.

On a side note, I wonder how many of those rider/drivers that were booked for not having a licence were allowed to ride/drive away after being booked?

Well This must be a first for most of the MIB. They have to work - a little.

[antsrule]

In 2004 the following figures were fatality rates based per MVK (Million vehicle Kilometres)

Thailand: 2.85

Canada 0.01

France 0.02

Germany 0.02

Italy 0.01

UK 0.01

USA 0.001

Bahrain 0.002

Egypt 0.44

Oman 0.04

Yemen 0.11

The figures are directly from the Thailand Accident Research Centre.

[reason1]

During my lifetime the world population is x3 mostly in SE Asia so the figures are alarming but with not prevent climate change