Police On Alert On Day 6 On New Year Break: Thailand

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ROAD SAFETY

Police on alert on Day 6 on New Year break

Death toll reach 282 Monday

The Road Safety Centre ordered checkpoints to be on the look out for drunk or speeding drivers Wednesday, as many people returned to Bangkok for work after spending the New Year holidays in their home provinces.

The centre also said that the first five days of the New Year Festival had claimed 282 lives and injured 2,783 others in 2,544 road accidents nationwide, with Buri Ram having the most deaths at 16 cases while Chaiyaphum was the only province with no accidents.

Compared to the same period last year, the cumulative 282 deaths increased by one person, the cumulative 2,783 injuries was lower by 308 injuries and the cumulative 2,544 accidents was also lower with 337 fewer incidents, said Deputy Permanent Secretary for Transport Silapachai Jarukasemrattana. Chiang Rai had the most cumulative accidents at 95 cases while Nakhon Sawan had the most cumulative injuries at 100 cases.

On January 2 alone, 41 people were killed (six fewer than last year) and 401 were wounded (34 less than last year) in 377 road accidents (31 fewer than last year). Most were the result of drunk driving (32.89) per cent and speeding (20.69 per cent), Silapachai said. The majority of the accidents involved motorcycles (82.99 per cent) and over half (50.23 per cent) the victims were of working age, he said. A total of 69,673 officials manning 2,468 checkpoints had stopped 724,752 vehicles and arrested 95,822 law-breaking motorists - most of them for failing to wear helmets (30,326 cases) or for failing to present a driver's license (27,764 cases), he added.

-- The Nation 2012-01-03

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NEW YEAR BREAK

Extra buses, trains to cope with return to Bangkok

The Nation

Photo : Pramote Putthaisong

With up to 20,000 people expected to board buses from Nakhon Ratchasima Bus Terminal to Bangkok, 500 bus trips (with a further 50 buses as backup) were prepared.

Streams of people returning from their holiday continued to pass through Bangkok's Hua Lamphong Train Station, but the State Railway of Thailand prepared 270 trains to cope with the 120,000 expected travellers and was confident none would be left behind. Flooding in the south has affected the southern train services, forcing them to stop at Nakhon Si Thammarat's Khok Khram station, Songkhla's Hat Yai station or Phatthalung's Thung Song station.

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department chief Wibul Sanguanpong said today was the last day of the holiday, so many would be travelling back to work resulting in heavy traffic congestion, especially on roads leading to Bangkok.

The Road Safety Centre therefore had police officials operating at checkpoints particularly on main roads, so as to stop drunk, speeding or sleepy drivers, and accommodate traffic flows.

Traffic on Nakhon Ratchasima's Mitraparp Highway started to build up today, as many vehicles headed to Bangkok, so cars could only drive at up to 60-90km/h.

-- The Nation 2012-01-03

[laurentbkk]

It seems those numbers dont scare anyone here .... Government doesnt care at all ,otherwise the policy of thai way of driving would be changed for a long time. I hardly saw a country with so many bad behavior drivers .... except in Africa perhaps ...

[janverbeem]

Good idea BIB,set up some roadblocks when the traffic flow is so high that it is difficult to cope with already,preferably right after a curve so with a bit of luck you can cause some more deaths.

[champken]

This could be quite a lucrative period for the BiB then.

[Phatcharanan]

. I hardly saw a country with so many bad behavior drivers .... except in Africa perhaps ...

You can add some Middle Eastern countries to that.

And drivers in Nigeria are way more crazy than Thai's.

[whybother]

Why weren't they alert for the previous 5 days?

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Checkpoints put on alert for drunks, speeders

WATTANA KHAMCHOO

THE NATION

The Road Safety Centre yesterday ordered checkpoints to look out strictly for drunk or speeding drivers returning to Bangkok from spending the year-end holidays at their home towns.

The first five of the seven dangerous days of New Year festivities have killed 282 people and injured 2,783 in 2,544 traffic accidents nationwide, the centre reported.

Buri Ram was still the deadliest province with 16 fatalities, while Chaiyaphum was the only accident-free province.

Compared with last year, deaths were up by one, while injuries were down by 308 and accidents down by 337, Silapachai Jarukasemrattana, deputy permanent secretary for the Transport Ministry, said yesterday.

Chiang Rai had the most accidents at 95 while Nakhon Sawan was tops in injuries at 100.

On Monday alone, the fifth dangerous day, 41 people were killed and 401 injured in 377 road accidents. That was six fewer deaths than last year, 34 injuries fewer and 31 accidents fewer.

Drunk driving was blamed for 32.9 per cent of accidents and speeding 20.7 per cent.

Most accidents involved motorcycles, at 83 per cent. Half of the victims were of working age.

Almost 70,000 officials manning 2,468 checkpoints had stopped 724,752 vehicles and arrested 95,822 offenders, with 30,326 failing to wear helmets and 27,764 failing to produce a driver's licence, Silapachai |said.

Wibul Sanguanpong, director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said that since yesterday was the last holiday, highways would be heavily congested with people going back to work, especially to Bangkok. The centre instructed police operating checkpoints particularly on main trunk roads to stop drunk, speeding or sleepy drivers and facilitate the flow of traffic.

In Nakhon Ratchasima's Chok Chai district, a pickup truck crashed into a tree on Chok Chai-Dechudom Road at 1.50am, injuring six people. One of them was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital.

Mittrapap Highway in the province, the gateway to the Northeast, started to fill up with vehicles, so traffic was only moving at 60-90 kilometres per hour. Up to 20,000 passengers were expected at Nakhon Ratchasima Bus Terminal, which laid on 500 Bangkok-bound buses with 50 spare coaches prepared to carry them.

Hua Lamphong Train Station in Bangkok was crowded with returnees.

The State Railway of Thailand had scheduled 270 trips to serve some 120,000 expected travellers and was confident no one was left behind.

The southern floods cut short southbound train routes, which had to end at Nakhon Si Thammarat's Khok Khram Station, Songkhla's Hat Yai Station or Nakhon Si Thammarat's Thung Song Station.

-- The Nation 2012-01-04