Songkran Death Poll

[britmaveric]

Bit morbid, but as you know a heaps of traffic related deaths occur during the Songkran period. Any thoughts on how bad it will be this year?

[edd]

Blow 20 would be great.

But it will be very high again

[Octaviousbp]

A very sad 700ish related fatalities would be my guess...

[DeathbyDurian]

So glad I'm going to be out of the country this year......

[ThaiPauly]

I would bet on between 500 and 1000, mostly YOUNG LIVES gone, and that does not include all the badly maimed that will never walk again

Then look at the loss to the famlily, Parents will loose Sons and Daughters, Children will loose parents.

Which one of us unfortunate posters is gonna witness death at first hand?

It should be illegal to throw water at motorcycle's and also illegal for motorists to spray water from cars or bikes.

Songkran's concept at the begining was nothing like what happens these days, splashing a bit of water on someone s head is totally different from what seems to happen these days where drunken yobs take great pleasure in causing as much pain and discomfort as possible to other human beings.

Supersoakers will be in the shops shortly now,,,, these should be regarded as lethal weapons and BANNED

I am not a killjoy, I like to have a laugh as much as anyone else, but Sonkran is out of control IMO and drastic measures should be taken to reduce this inevitably high death toll

[cdnvic]

I would bet on between 500 and 1000, mostly YOUNG LIVES gone, and that does not include all the badly maimed that will never walk again

Then look at the loss to the famlily, Parents will loose Sons and Daughters, Children will loose parents.

Which one of us unfortunate posters is gonna witness death at first hand?

It should be illegal to throw water at motorcycle's and also illegal for motorists to spray water from cars or bikes.

It's illegal to speed, fail to signal, drive drunk, or drive with your helmet attatched to your elbow. Unfortunately these laws are rarely enforced. Making more things illegal will just give the traffic police another law to ignore, or method of begging bribes off motorists.

It's all laughter and mai pen rai until it happens to a family member then its a horrible tragedy. Somehow nobody seems to link the two.

cv

[Kan Win]

Songkran

Under Friendly Fire :-

Sorry, but,

If you get a Face Full of this and a car is coming the other way, What do you think will happen ???

Khun Frigging Farang doing the same <deleted> as Khun Thai

But then again, one gets these lovely people doing this to us all:-

See how gentle they Kan be.

Let me take to the real horror photo (please note this could up-set you, so if you are squee-mish scroll down…………

Should you see this old buzzard, Kan you get him a drink or two as these photos are from his mate and yours truly,

and then my two mates

Songkran to me is full of colour and happy days, and yes blood shall be spilt on the roads of Thailand. R.I.P. to all.

Yours truly,

Kan Win

P.S. Simon the Aussie and me tried to capture Songkran for you all how it really was. Forgive us please for that moment in time, as death was around on the roads in Thailand.

No-Body died on our Watch BTW

Care-ful one and all

[daleyboy]

I bet your great fun at a party Brit Btw you going to meet up with us in pattaya in July?

Jus to keep on topic lets hope it is as few as possible

[britmaveric]

I bet your great fun at a party Brit Btw you going to meet up with us in pattaya in July?

Already on me Calendar mate!

[daleyboy]

I bet your great fun at a party Brit Btw you going to meet up with us in pattaya in July?

Already on me Calendar mate!

Good man

[Kerryd]

I'm assuming this poll relates to the national totals, not the Pattaya/Chonburi totals

Sadly, I expect this year's total to exceed last year.

Here are some figures I gleaned from the internet regarding the previous years fatalities:

2002 - 567

2003 - 569

2004 - 605

2005 - 481

One report I saw, dated 30 Dec 2005, states that around 14,000 people die in road accidents every year in Thailand. A different site (Global Road Safety) noted that around 14,400 people died in road accidents in 2003. That's an average of 38+ people per day !

[Neeranam]

478

Will be the official figure, but of course not the true one.

They can't lose face and have it above 500, which was the target.

[Explorer]

Looks like I will be giving out my "King Of Songkran" title for grabs

My guess this year would be 450 (hope it is far more less than that)

Explorer

[leisurely]

Even though I think it is bad taste, I voted. I have to say I can't believe how much water is watsted. I often read about droughts in LOS and then at the hottest point in the year there are countless litres wasted. It is dangerous. There are no two ways about it. Fun? Up to a point. Last year we had taken our youngest to BNH, she was diagnosed with pneumonia and on the day she left hospital we decided to take her to POla pola for a treat. It was no treat for her to be sprayed with a hose despite our serious pleas not to. Can it be so wrong to ask not to be hosed down with mucky water? The poor motorbike drivers don't stand a chance. I don't like this festival and will leave Thailand for a week. Sorry if I am miserable but I do feel strongly about it.

[nonthaburial]

Not the same, but a related subject. Living where I do, its relatively close to a large Uni and I have noticed that the Local Tesco Express does not sell alcohol any more. As this is my local TE, I took it for granted that it was close to a place of Education, hence the lack of alcohol.

However I have recently been to a few other TE's and found the same dry wells. Could it be that as the TE's are located at Esso Gas stations thats the reason alcohol cannot be sold/purchased. If so the decision is understandable, but would I be right in assuming that alcohol sales at Gas stations

are banned country wide or is it TE taking a positive step in trying to decrease drinking and driving.

[Donz]

Only thing i dont like about the Songkran is that no-one stock up enough on water bombs.

everytime i go to buy them they are all sold out.

I wont be going this year but next year i will bring my own packets from aussie land

[Maigo6]

would I be right in assuming that alcohol sales at Gas stations

are banned country wide

Yes you would be right.

[leisurely]

You are right. I think it was around xmas that convenienc stores at petrol stations stopped selling alcohol. It is of course a bloody good idea, I used to wonder at the sense in it particlarly when the Shell over teh road to us used to have 4 or 5 taxi drivers sharing a couple of bottles of Chang then driving off into the night. It is very inconvenient for me though, I don't drink and drive and I have to go to the blooming supermarkets to purhcase my bevvy of choice.

[britmaveric]

700 deaths this year. (hope I'm wrong)

[Maejo Man]

Well first figures are in, and it's not a pretty sight.....Today's Bangkok Post..

Holiday road toll rises

Road accidents during the Songkran holidays claimed 68 lives on Friday and Saturday, while the number of injured stood at 810, fewer than earlier projections, thanks to a 10-day annual media campaign aiming at reducing road fatalities.

The holiday hasn't really started yet, but we have 810 injured and 68 dead. Difficult to put a figure on it, but if I had to........mid to high 500's

I drove nearly 500 Kms today on a trip, and saw some incredibly stupid stunts, however, with police check points every 20 Kms or so it will hopefully reduce the toll.

[jdinasia]

I would bet on between 500 and 1000, mostly YOUNG LIVES gone, and that does not include all the badly maimed that will never walk again

Then look at the loss to the famlily, Parents will loose Sons and Daughters, Children will loose parents.

Which one of us unfortunate posters is gonna witness death at first hand?

It should be illegal to throw water at motorcycle's and also illegal for motorists to spray water from cars or bikes.

Songkran's concept at the begining was nothing like what happens these days, splashing a bit of water on someone s head is totally different from what seems to happen these days where drunken yobs take great pleasure in causing as much pain and discomfort as possible to other human beings.

Supersoakers will be in the shops shortly now,,,, these should be regarded as lethal weapons and BANNED

I am not a killjoy, I like to have a laugh as much as anyone else, but Sonkran is out of control IMO and drastic measures should be taken to reduce this inevitably high death toll

Actually you ARE a killjoy ..... death by supersoaker? geeze ......

If you want to make a point ... it is the drinking and driving that is the problem. A watergun is just that ... a squirtgun! A "super-soaker" is less dangerous than a pail of water thrown etc .... but really ... get the people drinking and driving off the road and you'll get down to a very few deaths ... and those will be just unfortunate accidents.

Get a grip people .... it's a waterfight ... in most places in Thailand for a couple of days only (the last 2 years I have been in places where it was 1 day only ....) And it was fun! ...

We saw 1 death last year ... drunken idiot on a bike .... had nothing to do with Songkran and 100% to do with booze and driving a bike ... I am just glad the guy was alone on his bike and didn't hit anyone else.

[daleyboy]

death by supersoaker? geeze ......

We saw 1 death last year ... drunken idiot on a bike .... had nothing to do with Songkran and 100% to do with booze and driving a bike ... I am just glad the guy was alone on his bike and didn't hit anyone else.

And him being drunk had nothing to do with the fact it was songkran?

Ever been hit in the face with a super soaker while travelling on a motorbike? I have and it almost took me off, yeah that was Fun!!!!!!

[Noel]

666

[Ulysses G.]

Supersoakers will be in the shops shortly now,,,, these should be regarded as lethal weapons and BANNED

They already have been. I've been looking everywhere for one to no avail.

[Maejo Man]

They already have been. I've been looking everywhere for one to no avail.

That's the best news I've heard all day, one less on the streets

[jdinasia]

death by supersoaker? geeze ......

We saw 1 death last year ... drunken idiot on a bike .... had nothing to do with Songkran and 100% to do with booze and driving a bike ... I am just glad the guy was alone on his bike and didn't hit anyone else.

And him being drunk had nothing to do with the fact it was songkran?

Ever been hit in the face with a super soaker while travelling on a motorbike? I have and it almost took me off, yeah that was Fun!!!!!!

No him being drunk was due to drinking ... amazing that huh? (He wasn't Thai ... but it really doesn't matter)

Yes Daley ... you've been hit but a 10 Kilo block of ice and a 5 gallon bucket of water .... and a supersoaker ... and who knows what else ... not once but many times ... (what does it take for you to learn?)

Wasn't rule 1 ... Don't get on a bike in Songkran .....?

[Lormaak]

It's true that no one should throw water or anything else at a motorcycle moving at normal traffic speeds. I think it's fine to chuck water at bikes going round the moat in Chiang Mai though; that's the whole point of going round the moat.

If you don't like Songkran or you don't want to get wet, then stay in or get out the country...simple!

As for the death toll, not a lot will change for a while. Drink driving isn't the same taboo here as it is in the west, and it's considered quite okay to have a few and then drive home. Just look at how many cars get parked at some of the night spots in BKK.

Songkran isn't the problem. It's Thailands attitudes towards drink driving that is to blame. It's just that during Songkran half the country travels somewhere, and many of 'em do so half-cut.

[britmaveric]

Supersoakers will be in the shops shortly now,,,, these should be regarded as lethal weapons and BANNED

They already have been. I've been looking everywhere for one to no avail.

Water Balloons?

[jdinasia]

It's true that no one should throw water or anything else at a motorcycle moving at normal traffic speeds. I think it's fine to chuck water at bikes going round the moat in Chiang Mai though; that's the whole point of going round the moat.

If you don't like Songkran or you don't want to get wet, then stay in or get out the country...simple!

As for the death toll, not a lot will change for a while. Drink driving isn't the same taboo here as it is in the west, and it's considered quite okay to have a few and then drive home. Just look at how many cars get parked at some of the night spots in BKK.

Songkran isn't the problem. It's Thailands attitudes towards drink driving that is to blame. It's just that during Songkran half the country travels somewhere, and many of 'em do so half-cut.

Cheers! you pegged it in one!

[chanchao]

You guys consistently guess too high every year, and the toll keeps dropping every year, especially since the anti drunk driving campaigns got in gear in ernerst. If I recall correctly, I won last year guessing the right number to within 10 or so.

My prediction for this year: 147.

That's not very different from regular new years, by the way, especially not when corrected against the number of holidays.

Cheers,

Chanchao