Songkran total death toll now stands at 277

[webfact]

Songkran total death toll now stands at 277



BANGKOK: -- Total death toll from road accidents in the past six days of the seven dangerous days during the Songkran festival now stands at 277 dead and 2,926 injured.

The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said 29 people died and 283 were injured on Wednesday, the sixth day of the seven dangerous days.

It said a total of 273 cases of accidents were reported in a single day on Wednesday.

Total toll now stands at 277 deaths and 2,926 injuries.

In all, from April 11-16, a total of 2,754 accidents were reported, 173 cases higher than the same period last year.

Chiang Mai remained on top of the number of accumulated accident cases of 107, while Nakhon Ratchasima recorded the highest accumulated deaths of 13.

Drunk driving and speeding are two major causes of accidents.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/songkran-total-death-toll-now-stands-277/

-- Thai PBS 2014-04-17

[webfact]

Songkran death toll hits 277 during 6-day period
By Digital Content



BANGKOK, April 17 -- Road accidents killed 277 people nationwide over the first six of the seven days of the Songkran holiday, according to the Road Safety Centre of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Visarn Techateerawat, caretaker deputy minister of interior, said that statistics compiled by the Road Safety Centre showed that 2,754 road accidents during the first six days of the seven-day campaign to reduce road accidents nationwide, ending today.

The number of road accidents over the first six days this year was 173 more than the first six days of the previous year, 277 deaths was nine less fatalities than last year and 2,926 injuries represented an increase of 143 over last year, he said.

Yesterday alone, 29 deaths and 283 injuries in 273 road accidents were reported.

Chiang Mai was tops in the number of accidents recorded at 107 while the death toll was highest in Nakhon Ratchasima at 13. Chiang Mai has also has the highest number of injuries at 118.

Most accidents resulted from drunk driving, followed by speeding.

Motorcycles are the vehicle type with the highest number of accidents, followed by pickup trucks. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2014-04-17

[JoePai]

Heck, talk about wrapping a car round a tree !

[seajae]

on monday on our way to Trang we saw a double decker bus at the bottom of a 5' embankment on a straight section of road only a couple of klm past the police check point, It was on its side & totally crumpled. I am absolutely buggered if I could work out how the driver managed to do it especially as he had just gone through a police stopping area. Then again after what I saw of thai drivers on the trip I can understand the deaths, there is no patience at all, they all simply try to force their way through/around the traffic even overtaking off the road on the outside of the lane/road if they cant go around the cars due to oncoming traffic, it was an absolute joke. What this country needs is a police force that actually drives on the roads and pulls these idiots over, they also need to make sure that the road rules are known and followed but that is probably just too much to expect.

[Loles]

This is the case which can't be understood by myself at all. If comes a big celebration why have to die a small village every times.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Loles

[khwaibah]

Road Safety Centre: 29 deaths, 283 injuries in 273 road accidents nationwide reported on Wednesday, the sixth days of seven-day Songkran holiday /MCOT

I would not believe any Thai authority or news media for accurate figures for the highway carnage.

[webfact]

related:

Four die and 24 injured in bus crash



CHIANG MAI: -- Four passengers were killed and 24 others injured, four seriously, when a double-deck bus from Chiang Mai veered off mountain road, falling down and overturned.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/719532-four-die-and-24-injured-in-chiang-mai-mae-hong-son-bus-crash/

[sadako]

just waiting for the apologists to pop along " it happens in every country "

[connda]

What is the normal 'weekly' average death and injury statistics? Do we have a case of lies, damn lies, and statistics. Is the Songkran weekend really any different than any other week???

[Estrada]

I have said it before in previous years, but I will say it again. The figure of 277 people killed nationwide for the 6 day period quoted is no different to the average for the year. Secondly these figures are much lower than reality since these are only deaths at the scene of the accident. The figure does not include those that died on the way to the hospital, in hospital or otherwise due to injuries sustained during the road accident within a 30 day period. Judging by previous figures given by W.H.O. the total number of people who will have died as a result of accidents during the 6 day period will be in the order of 460. It is a myth that road deaths during Songkran are much higher than normal and the road safety campaign should be all year around.

[PaulHamon]

A. 277 deaths / 6 days = ~46 per day

QUOTE: " Thailand now ranks third in the list of countries having highest road traffic deaths worldwide with 38.1 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year in 2010. "

Approximate Population of 68,000,000

38.1 per 100,000 x 680 (number of 100,000S) = 25,908 per year

B. 25,908 deaths / 365 = ~71 per day

B > 1.5A

So the 7 deadly days are actually the safest around!

Edited April 17, 2014 by PaulHamon

[JosieL]

What is the normal 'weekly' average death and injury statistics? Do we have a case of lies, damn lies, and statistics. Is the Songkran weekend really any different than any other week???

You have a very good point there sir, i was looking to make the same comment.. Nice 1

[Iforbach]

life seems cheap to some as to trying to combat or educate some people !! i came from airport to pattaya it was a racing track why????

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[EyesWideOpen]

A. 277 deaths / 6 days = ~46 per day

QUOTE: " Thailand now ranks third in the list of countries having highest road traffic deaths worldwide with 38.1 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year in 2010. "

Approximate Population of 68,000,000

38.1 per 100,000 x 680 (number of 100,000S) = 25,908 per year

B. 25,908 deaths / 365 = ~71 per day

B > 1.5A

So the 7 deadly days are actually the safest around!

I was thinking the exact same thought, thanks for doing the math. So if a Songkran day is

safer than a regular day, than what is the point of hyping up all this road safety during

the 5 deadly days? Maybe an excuse for the police to set up road blocks everywhere

and collect more money under the guise of promoting safety during the holidays....

Maybe the police are more clever than I give them credit for...

[RedRoadRunner]

A. 277 deaths / 6 days = ~46 per day

QUOTE: " Thailand now ranks third in the list of countries having highest road traffic deaths worldwide with 38.1 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year in 2010. "

Approximate Population of 68,000,000

38.1 per 100,000 x 680 (number of 100,000S) = 25,908 per year

B. 25,908 deaths / 365 = ~71 per day

B > 1.5A

So the 7 deadly days are actually the safest around!

I would go with those numbers.............so Songkran is nothing much more dangerous than the rest of the year..........hmmmmmmm

[upena]

More dead on the roads during Songkran, even with the BS numbers, than in the MH370 disappearance and Korean ferry capsizing - but - no outrage.

[Bkungbank]

In some countries police car are not painted just ordinary car to enforce road users , hope Thailand will these cars one day.

[Nip]

In some countries police car are not painted just ordinary car to enforce road users , hope Thailand will these cars one day.

Sadly wont make any difference. I took a minibus recently from Hua Hin to BKK and on a three lane highway without any thought or fear the driver overtook a marked highway patrol police car on the inside doing 120 KPH.

[Peterphuket]

on monday on our way to Trang we saw a double decker bus at the bottom of a 5' embankment on a straight section of road only a couple of klm past the police check point, It was on its side & totally crumpled. I am absolutely buggered if I could work out how the driver managed to do it especially as he had just gone through a police stopping area. Then again after what I saw of thai drivers on the trip I can understand the deaths, there is no patience at all, they all simply try to force their way through/around the traffic even overtaking off the road on the outside of the lane/road if they cant go around the cars due to oncoming traffic, it was an absolute joke. What this country needs is a police force that actually drives on the roads and pulls these idiots over, they also need to make sure that the road rules are known and followed but that is probably just too much to expect.

I agree with what you say but believe me it is very hard, or better IMO impossible to change Thai driving habbits, it is in de genes.

[fonsboy]

I have two very good Thai friends , two really good guys , I am proud to say are my friends , One is the pastor of the local church , the other a very well educated man has is own business . What is the point of my post you ask . The point is put them behind the wheel of a car and they both become maniacs .

[robert888d]

They should pass a law forbidding people from throwing water at moving vehicles with a hefty fine and prison for a second offence.

[art vandelay]

it is baffling how thai people can look at these photos and read the death and injury statistics and do absolutely nothing about it.

[Winniej]

It's incredibly frustrating when people are so stupid when it comes to road safety in Thailand .

I was telling my step daughter that she should put her 6 month old in a child safety seat . Oh la la . He is ok , anyway he does not like it . Aw , that's ok the precious little pet , yes your right , whatever he wants is fine .

[EyesWideOpen]

It's incredibly frustrating when people are so stupid when it comes to road safety in Thailand .

I was telling my step daughter that she should put her 6 month old in a child safety seat . Oh la la . He is ok , anyway he does not like it . Aw , that's ok the precious little pet , yes your right , whatever he wants is fine .

I can barely get my wife to put our daughter in the safety seat. " Oh she not like being

there".... Good luck on getting the step daughter to follow safe procedures.. :-)

[FinChin67]

In some countries police car are not painted just ordinary car to enforce road users , hope Thailand will these cars one day.

I do not believe it affects in any way how the police enforce the law in Thailand. They could be riding pink elephants and the results would be the same.

[badmedicine]

 

What this country needs is a police force that actually drives on the roads and pulls these idiots over.

You hit the nail on the head there. I've yet to ever see a highway patrol pulling people over. Every now and then there's a roadblock and that's it, but there's no enforcement out among the moving traffic.

Two weeks ago a car transporter (ironically carrying a mashed up Mercedes that had been involved in a collision) was swerving around behind me, inches from my rear bumper and when he eventually managed to find a space between me and the thousand other cars that were log jammed on the A4 back into Bangkok, he pulled up alongside me then swerved straight into my lane. It was clearly a deliberate attempt to either hit me or force me off the road. I had to slam the brakes on and its a miracle that the cars behind me didn't pile straight into me. I guess the people behind him had eased off seeing what a jerk he was being. I then noted that he did the same thing to the next car he came up behind.

People like him will never be educated, and until the Thai Traffic Police actually start enforcing the law with highway patrols, they never will.

[MikeOboe57]

A. 277 deaths / 6 days = ~46 per day

QUOTE: " Thailand now ranks third in the list of countries having highest road traffic deaths worldwide with 38.1 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants per year in 2010. "

Approximate Population of 68,000,000

38.1 per 100,000 x 680 (number of 100,000S) = 25,908 per year

B. 25,908 deaths / 365 = ~71 per day

B > 1.5A

So the 7 deadly days are actually the safest around!

I would go with those numbers.............so Songkran is nothing much more dangerous than the rest of the year..........hmmmmmmm

To get the correct number for Songkran you would have to wait another 30 days to add those that die in hospital from their injuries. That should put the "Seven Dangerous Days" into perspective. Of course these figures will not be published. Last year Phuket boasted "zero" deaths, although at least one person died in hospital, albeit "after the deadline" (which is not the 30 day period!).

[bristolgeoff]

same time next year people.no change again as usual

[Tomtomtom69]

related:

Four die and 24 injured in bus crash

CHIANG MAI: -- Four passengers were killed and 24 others injured, four seriously, when a double-deck bus from Chiang Mai veered off mountain road, falling down and overturned.

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/719532-four-die-and-24-injured-in-chiang-mai-mae-hong-son-bus-crash/

Just read the article which states this wasn't a double decker bus.

Anyway, can anyone tell me why there are no double decker city buses in Bangkok? It would make much more sense to employ double decker buses in Bangkok than on such roads.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Tomtomtom69

[lostmebike]

Just waiting for Suradit to tell us how wrong we are and that the roads at Songkran are no more dangerous than that of the roads in Europe or US