Songkran Water Festival Death Toll Continues To Rise

[jdinasia]

sooo Final count UNDER 509! cool!

[johng]

sooo Final count UNDER 509! cool!

Pattaya hasn't finished playing Songkran yet

[jdinasia]

yeppers .. addressed above I think ... but not counted in the 10 day count the Gov't runs

[Jai Dee]

Bangkok Songkran road accident rate lower this year

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) revealed that road accident statistics for this year’s Songkran celebration are much better than the celebration last year.

Mr. Isara Suthornwat (อิสรา สุนทรวัฒน์), the Spokesman for the BMA, revealed that during Songkran, 253 road incidences occurred, with 9 fatalities, and 190 injuries. The figures were much lower in comparison to the previous year, in which 16 people lost their lives and another 247 were injured. The city areas with highest Songkran accident rates were Klong Teoy, with 47 incidents, Lat Krabang, with 25, and Bangna, with 24.

Garbage cleanup after the festival in various locations has proceeded smoothly, and sanitation officials reported that between April 9th and 16th, a total of 291.24 tonnes of garbage was collected.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 18 April 2006

[Jai Dee]

COUNTING THE COST OF SONGKRAN

Festival lives up to its grim reputation for road carnage

Phitsanulok has most accidents with 20 killed

The road toll during the 10-day Songkran holiday was 476 deaths and 5,985 injuries, with Phitsanulok seeing the highest number of deaths at 20, caretaker Interior Minister ACM Kongsak Wantana said yesterday.

On Sunday alone, the last day of the April 7-16 holiday, 386 accidents killed 35 people and hurt 452, Kongsak said, with drunk driving being the number one cause, followed by speeding.

Most accidents involved motorcycles, occurred on straight stretches of highway and took place between 4pm and 8pm, he said.

The overall death toll of 476 was down 46 from last year's Songkran. Total injuries, at 5,985, were down 153, Kongsak said. There were 5,327 accidents, down 325, he said.

The five provinces with the highest death tolls were Phitsanulok (20), Chiang Mai (17), Nakhon Ratchasima (16), Lop Buri (15) and Rayong (14), Kongsak said.

Nakhon Ratchasima, which was at the top of the list on several days during the holiday and has seen the highest death toll in previous years, reported 16 deaths. The figure was disputed by some because it did not include two men killed in a road accident in Pak Chong district at 11.45pm on April 13, an observer said. Only Phrae, Ranong and Samut Songkhram were casualty-free.

Of the 18 provinces that surpassed their pre-Songkran death toll estimates, the 10 worst were Phitsanulok, Uthai Thani, Lop Buri, Sa Kaew, Tak, Rayong, Phang Nga, Phattalung, Uttaradit and Chumphon, in that order.

Chiang Rai reported the most accidents throughout the period with 223, followed by Phitsanulok and Chiang Mai, each with 191. Chiang Rai also had the highest number of injuries with 228, followed by Phitsanulok, Chiang Mai and Si Sa Ket, Kongsak said.

The nationwide police checkpoints stopped 825,952 vehicles and charged 34,300 motorists, mostly for failing to present a driving licence, riding a motorcycle without a helmet, and reckless driving, in that order, Kongsak said.

Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya yesterday thanked police officers, public officials and motorists for their help in reducing the long holiday's casualty toll. Although the toll remained under the pre-holiday projection, the number of casualties was still quite high, he said. Yesterday, 13 people were injured when a taxi rear-ended their pickup truck, causing it to hit a roadside pylon at 3.45am on Bangkok's outbound Vibhavadi Road.

Source: The Nation - 18 April 2006

[Thaipwriter]

The overall death toll: 476

Source: The Nation - 18 April 2006

Wow! Two weeks Khun Neeranam predicted that the death toll would be 478.

I would be PM'ing him for next weeks lottery numbers if i were you

He is a genius!!!!

Hail Neeranam