Songkran Death Toll 29 Percent More Than Last Year; Tougher Law Enforcement Ordered

[Thai at Heart]

Given the number of people that used the morbid statistics as an opportunity to do Thai-bashing it is surprising there were no hands clapping smily's in the posts.

How does acknowledging the fact that driving in Thailand is more dangerous than elsewhere in the world Thai bashing?

Is one expected to park ones brain at immigration?

According to this article, Thailand isn't even in the top ten of most dangerous countries to drive in. http://www.safetravel.co.uk/dangerous-countries-drive-in.html

The list starts at number 10 with the least dangerous of the finalists and working down to the ones you, as a driver, really want to avoid at all costs.

1.Belgium - 100 deaths per year for every million inhabitants.168 deaths per year for every million vehicles

2.Czech Republic - 118 deaths per year for every million inhabitants. 235 deaths per year for every million vehicles

3.United States of America - 136 deaths per year for every million inhabitants. 163 deaths per year for every million vehicles

4.Greece - 121 deaths per year for every million inhabitants. 226 deaths per year for every million vehicles

5.Korea - 127 deaths per year for every million inhabitants. 317 deaths per year for every million vehicles

6.Hungary - 123 deaths per year for every million inhabitants. 347 deaths per year for every million vehicles

7.Turkey - 68 deaths per year for every million inhabitants - 594 deaths per year for every million vehicles

8.Poland - 147 deaths per year for every million inhabitants. 310 deaths per year for every million vehicles

9.Slovakia - 122 deaths per year for every million inhabitants. 426 deaths per year for every million vehicles

10.Russia - 235 deaths per year for every million inhabitants. 939 deaths per year for every million vehicles

Well, obviously Thailand is exceedingly safe to drive in.

Give my a day and I will find a PDF that put Thailand top for semi developed countries. I saw it a few months ago. These stats are I would think wrong or is the daily carnage we read about fictional?

Obviously Thais don't need helmets because their skulls are thicker?

[mok199]

stop the insanity....if i want filthy, dirty, urine infested water thrown on me,i will ask my gf to do it....this has to end...get some balls thailand....

[mok199]

this government cant say no to money...so the carnage continues....

[DocN]

if the government would stop pimping out this country and all the people in it ,and have the balls to say''this thing is out of control'',and have a one day water fight....but no ...they see the dollar signs...so lets have a 10 day drunk....they get what they deserve......

I think, this is just too easy to say.

The government can say...

The police have to do....

People have to follow...

It will not happen!

[Thai at Heart]

if the government would stop pimping out this country and all the people in it ,and have the balls to say''this thing is out of control'',and have a one day water fight....but no ...they see the dollar signs...so lets have a 10 day drunk....they get what they deserve......

I think, this is just too easy to say.

The government can say...

The police have to do....

People have to follow...

It will not happen!

Genuinely, it needs the people to become concerned of the consequences of their actions.

The police can't enforce everything every moment of every day.

[movsrus]

Dr Chonlanan Srikaew, a deputy public health minister, said this year's accidents were more severe than last year. Of the 1,321 seriously injured, 67 per cent died at the scene and 43 per cent in hospital emergency rooms.

Hmm. This must be new math in action. 67% die on the scene and 43% die in hospitals. I guess if you are going to be dead a 110% death rate is better than 100%.

[apetley]

Obviously maths not needed to be a govt health minister or a reporter for that matter.

[tropo]

In the cities most are wearing helmets but in the country they never do anyway.

That's because the only reason Thais wear helmets is to avoid tickets. They carry them around and only put them on if there's a high chance of getting a ticket.

Edited April 15, 2013 by tropo

[bristolgeoff]

no change from last year except numbers went up.new plans next year will happen now

[meatboy]

pick ups with barrels full of water,idiots with fire hose's conected to the hydrants,one lane blocked so traffic have to run the gauntlet ,drink free zone's,gun fights,gang fights so this is all in good fun.not forgetting hundreds being killed.

[moe666]

The usual crying, moaning and groaning by the expat community. Everytime one of the driving threads comes up You folks are right here recycling the same old manure. let the Thais kill themselves when the carnage gets deep enough they will act until then you guys are wasteing your time here, go have a beer

[bangon04]

Surely they mean "EVEN TOUGHER" law enforcement needed. they have already given consecutive orders to increase police efficiency......

[DocN]

The usual crying, moaning and groaning by the expat community. Everytime one of the driving threads comes up You folks are right here recycling the same old manure. let the Thais kill themselves when the carnage gets deep enough they will act until then you guys are wasteing your time here, go have a beer

Yeah right...you are so right!

Damn stupid whining expats we are.

Oh...when your gf get's run over by a drunk driver...go, have a beer and relax!

[Commander Tamson]

On Thursday evening I missed my flight from Don Muang to Ubon. Next available seat was 14th. My choices - stay in Bangkok for Songkran or drive home. The drive is just over 600km and under normal road conditions, getting on for a 7hr drive. Everybody and their dog however were heading up the A1/A2/A12 that night and my average speed for the whole journey was 37kph. I won't go into the detours I took, hoping the smaller roads would be quieter, but what amazed me was when the expressways/dual carriages ended. I though now the crawl will really begin. But of course there were much less vehicles heading towards Bangkok than away. And the Thais of course KNOW that if there is only one car coming the other way, there is still plenty of room for them to overtake. These kamikaze idiots were overtaking 4 a breast, even with cars coming the other way - it was like a game of chicken. Fortunately, I didn't see any actual accidents but witnessed dozens of near misses, with cars and pickups skidding and swerving. Whacky Races!

what can you say? This is Thailand and I don't believe their style of driving will ever change. Everyone must have noticed the rapid increase of vehicles even on country roads in the last year or so. The death toll is going to go up.

[Commander Tamson]

The usual crying, moaning and groaning by the expat community. Everytime one of the driving threads comes up You folks are right here recycling the same old manure. let the Thais kill themselves when the carnage gets deep enough they will act until then you guys are wasteing your time here, go have a beer

I would agree with you - there is nothing we [the expat community] can do about the roads, or about much else in Thailand. But TV is there to get stuff off your chest and to assure yourself that you are [mostly] not alone in your views. Amongst all "The usual crying, moaning and groaning" there is often some good advice and often a thread that makes very interesting following.

<<<< Flame removed >>>>

Edited April 16, 2013 by metisdead

[hellodolly]

I thought Yingluck had said a few years back there would be no more deaths.

Kinda hard to keep up with her through all the rhetoric.

The only thing I know for sure was she said give me six months.

[Thorgal]

if the government would stop pimping out this country and all the people in it ,and have the balls to say''this thing is out of control'',and have a one day water fight....but no ...they see the dollar signs...so lets have a 10 day drunk....they get what they deserve......

I think, this is just too easy to say.

The government can say...

The police have to do....

People have to follow...

It will not happen!

Genuinely, it needs the people to become concerned of the consequences of their actions.

The police can't enforce everything every moment of every day.

People should be responsible for their acts.

No laws can stop a drunken driver to drive into a crowd.

[lee b]

well all the so called new rules of the festival were boken !!

[kevvy]

About 68,970 police manned 2,339 checkpoints, stopped 719,010 vehicles and charged 123,770 people with traffic offences, of whom 37,420 did not wear safety helmets and 34,936 could not produce a driver's licence.

this is the problem. the police need to get away from under a shade tree and patrol the highways and ticket drivers that are speeding and going through red lights and passing over a yellow line

putting cameras at traffic lights and sending tickets to offenders in the mail would do alot to stop running through red lights

drove over 1100 klms and only seen 2 active police on the road booking someone . seen many under their tents just sitting there

[Rustapha]

I think he should announce less attentive statistic recording

Of 1,321 Seriously injured, 67% died @ scene. & 43% died in hospital rooms. 67% +43% = 110%?????????????????

[pitrevie]

34,936 drivers could not produce or didnt have a licence,what happened to the vehicle's? korp-kun [mahk mahk]

In Vietnam not being able to produce a local license results in confiscation of the bikes and in theory, you can go to jail for a long, long time. In practice this law is rarely exercised, but the confiscation of the offender's bike for up to 30 days DOES indeed happen and SHOULD also happen in more developed Thailand.

In China, you can be detained for up to 15 days for not being in possession of a driver's license. I'm pretty sure that in China the police can and do carry out enforcement of this law, although it is up to the discretion of the officer of course.

In the UK driving a vehicle without a valid licence, insurance or out of date MOT certificate (road-worthiness) if stopped by the police results in the car being confiscated and destroyed. Probably one of the best laws ever passed.

[Tboy928]

I guess there comes a time when the Gov't has to hold there hands up and

say .... we are too stupid to stop stupid people from doing stupid things.

Peoples habits will not change unless there are strict penalties

such as immediate loss of certain privelages, confiscate cars and mopeds

and do not let people of with warnings do not let people off with 100 baht tea

money.

Saying you will do something and actually doing something are two different things

In Bali you dont see any driver on bikes without helmets strapped to their heads, her y see the local monkeys ,some of them with helmet on, but not strapped down to head.. totaly useless even have it on. They should issue big tickets all the time for some days, then this problem is solved in days also, when they see they dont get away with it.. Another issue is the cheap usless 200 bath helmets they all have,, should be banned also .

[culicine]

It is very sad that at what is meant to be a happy,joyful time so many Thais will lose their lives and be badly injured. Yesterday in Pattaya I saw people hurling buckets of water at people going past on motor bikes and they seemed even gleeful when some skidded and fell off !

So much for water not being allowed to be thrown onto bikes..oh my bad, water must not be thrown from pickup trucks LOL

[alexth]

My deepest condoleances go to the deceased and their families, but man I do love to see the overwheling grade of incompetence of the BiB shining brightly in the mirrors