537 Thais Killed In New Year Road Accidents

[george]

537 Thais killed in road accidents during holiday season

BANGKOK, Thailand: The New Year holidays are certain to prove Thailand's deadliest ever, with at least 537 persons having already been killed and more than 26,000 others injured in road accidents, according to official statistics released Friday.

The Public Health Ministry said some 20,000 of the 26,000 casualties were injured in motorcycle accidents, half of which involved alcohol abuse, since millions of Thais began vacationing last Saturday.

The toll does not include Thursday's victims and there are still three days of holiday celebrations left. The death toll from last year's New Year holidays was 562, a record high.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was quoted in local newspapers as saying the figures were high because of lax enforcement of traffic laws during the holiday celebrations, the government said Thursday.

An average of 60 people are killed in road accidents in Thailand every day, according to the Department of Land Transport. The average holiday season death toll this year is about 90 a day.

Thailand has one of the world's highest mortality rates from road accidents - mostly caused by drunk driving, and the failure to use protective gear on motorcycles. -

--AP 2004-01-02

[Garry]

Songran in Chiang Mai last year wasn't as big (maybe becasue of the SARS crisis) but the year before 2545/2002, I had the misfortune to see some nasty motorcycle accidents, through drunkedness, drug related maybe, no safety gear and no road rules adherance. Basically no brains engaged.

It amazes me how easily preventable some accidents can be, but I suppose the old 'It won't happen to me factor' comes to mind.

I'll get off my soap box now and leave room for someone else.

[maerim]

Just come back from Chiang Kham, at the front of the market where the hot springs are is the wreck of the Isuzu pick up that was in last Sundays crash in Doi Saket district.

What should be done is to take a photo of this have it enlarged and put in every booze outlet in Thailand.

[the gentleman]

Anyone riding bikes should wear helmuts, its great to have the wind in your hair, but not in Thailand - 6 mates dead in 6 years, so sad. I dont know if any of you read about a young English guy in Phuket about 2 months ago, he was one of my mates sons. He wasnt drunk, nor speeding, but was on a fast road - he was hit by the side mirror of a truck going the other way and basically decapitated him... the guy in the truck was lighting a cigarette and moved onto the other side of the road a little and thats the end of that...

I shudder when I see the tourists come over and rent bikes, most of them look like they have never been on a bike and off they go, you see the same guys bandaged up the next time - they were the lucky ones!

[Dove]

After all the safety campaigns and strict driving licence requirements that the Depart of Land Transport prescibes after studies of traffic regulations overseas like Japan we are still witnessing this carnage. Looks like they are not effective in what they are doing. Maybe they are aiming at the wrong targets.

[george]

Update:

Premier promises to reduce road accidents

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday pledged to do more to reduce traffic fatalities as the road death toll for the New Year period surged to an all-time high of 801.

Thaksin said in his weekly radio address that the government would find ways to reduce road accidents, which have increased dramatically this year.

He said the rising road carnage resulted in part from the recovery of the economy, which meant people celebrated and travelled more during this year's New Year holiday.

The Public Health Ministry yesterday released figures from over 900 hospitals around the country showing that a total of 801 people had been killed and 38,923 injured from December 27 to January 2.

In the same period of last year 657 people were killed and 32,014 injured.

"The main reason causing the accidents is recklessness," Thaksin said. "Many of the victims were not aware of traffic regulations, didn't use safety belts, were drunk or didn't wear crash helmets." The premier told the audience that his daughter Pinthongtha, 22, had been slightly injured on Friday when her car was hit another vehicle.

--The Nation 2004-01-04

[Capricorn]

Road Accidents, well people will always die thats life. THe biggest problem is in Thailand the amount of underedcuated people that are allowed to use vehicles. Normally this is a factor never counted...maybe the statistics should take note of how many underage people were on motorcyles, or how many people instead (common here), how many drivers in cars didnt have there licences on them but were still driving etc...

The amount of times i have been run of the road by some morons who thinks its perfectly correct to turn left from the right side of my car or bike...Nether the less the farang is always wrong. After all what would we know? We only invented the motor vehicle...

Driver education my friends combined with heavier fines and vehicle confiscation, that will ease the burden of society for so many deaths per year here.

You cant kill people if your cars impounded, and no money to get it realeased.

Oh and 500 hours of community service helping the persons family you have just killed cause you were a drunken fool, looking for a cigaratte on the floor of your Mighty X Pickup, whilst driving at 145 km an hour down sukhumvit road with no lights on, would put the Thais idea of im better than you back into persective.

Matthew