Songkran 2015: Fifth day death toll now stand at 251

[webfact]

Fifth day death toll now stand at 251



BANGKOK: -- Death toll from road accidents during the past five days of the Songkran festival now increased to 251 dead and 2,532 injured.

The Road Safety Directing Centre stated Tuesday that on the fifth day of the seven dangerous days starting April 9-15, 60 more persons died in a single day on Monday and 724 injured.

The centre recorded 671 road accidents on Monday (April 13) alone nationwide.

In all, the five days of the dangerous period have claimed a total of 251 deaths and 2,532 injuries in 2,406 accidents across the country.

Nakhon Si Thammarat has the highest accumulated cases of 94 accidents, while Roi Et province in the Northeast recorded the highest death toll of 11 in the past five days.

Drunk driving remains the No. 1 cause of most accidents or 44.26%, followed by speeding 24.44%.

Motorcycles are the vehicles that involved in most accidents or 81.83%.

Most fatal accidents happened on straight section of the secondary roads or 62.30%, while time of most accidents happened between 4.01–8.00 pm.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/fifth-day-death-toll-now-stand-at-251


-- Thai PBS 2015-04-14

[Commerce]

Roi Et 5/1 on, Surin 3/1 against. Any bidders? 3 days to go, not 2.

[marko kok prong]

What are the stats from Syria this weekend,maybe the Thai's have beaten even a civil war death toll with these figures.

[Brit_Doggie]

Needs a reshuffle as to where songkran can be celebrated me thinks, say open parkland or retricted to open beaches.

[DM07]

...so we are right on the way to the usual numbers in the 300s.

Oooooohhh, things worked so much better with "7 core rules for a boring songkhran" instead of simple law-enforcement!

[Anthony5]

I don't see any minister anymore standing on a soapbox and shouting that the death rate is 20% less than last year, like there was on the very first day.

[Strangebrew]

Cause What's the point we all know there safety record sucks anyway Think there going for triple digits this year. Well so much for the liquor buying time not working. Wait why have free working girls for those that stay home only have a drunk taxi driver drive you. Because you know those drugged bus drivers kill bus loads.

[khwaibah]

I don't see any minister anymore standing on a soapbox and shouting that the death rate is 20% less than last year, like there was on the very first day.

There all pissed lying on their arse.

[ricklev]

So about the same number as die every weekend on Thai roads.

[jackinthebox]

Hey, Thai PBS, this picture isn't appropriate! You show a normal traffic and road-condition here (ie. pickup overtaking some trucks). The graphics that describe the actual situation better can be found on kaotic or liveleak or bestgore.com: dozens of mashed or beheaded moped-drivers under truck-wheels.

[pinkpanther99]

Don't about 50 people die on Thailand's roads everyday anyway?

These figures would suggest the deaths during Songkran aren't that much higher than normal.

[masuk]

Once again, the national financial problems would be fixed if they employ a fleet of alcohol and drug breathalysers, and maybe save a few hundred lives a WEEK!.

The introduction of these 'booze buses' caused a significant drop in alcohol related deaths in Western countries, and those on drugs are now also being snared.

While the publicans might complain, more families will keep their fathers and sons.

But it's all in the hands of the government and a competent police force.

[geriatrickid]

So about the same number as die every weekend on Thai roads.

You just nailed the weakness of these stupid announcements. There is nothing to compare it to. Thailand does not collect nor publish reliable data.

[ToddinChonburi]

Only 2 days left ? this does not seem fair , we still have till midnight on Sunday.

[ToddinChonburi]

It is like a Ghost town around Chonburi city. Very nice I have never seen it so quiet. Hard to find a place to eat.

[StefanBBK]

Don't about 50 people die on Thailand's roads everyday anyway?

These figures would suggest the deaths during Songkran aren't that much higher than normal.

I just Googled that, not much in depth depth mind you, but Pink Panther seems to be about correct regarding number of fatalities.

Rather than concentrating on the holiday accidents, they should focus on all traffic accidents and law enforcement.

Back to the statistics, I am sure that for example weekends yield more accidents than for example Wednesdays. ..

[nuananddon]

A statistic id like to see is, where are these vehicles from in all these accidents. The big cities and provinces in Issan and the North usually have the most accidents and fatalities but I'd bet my left eye that a BIG percentage carry Bangkok license plates. Just about every time I wittiness a crazy driver the wife tells be they are from Bangkok. I think their mentality is"Oh boy the open road, petal to metal and get the hell out of my way I'm coming thru"

[teacherpaul]

You talk as though these people actually have any value.

Anyone who drinks and drives only have themselves to blame.

It took 20-30 years in the UK to educate people not to drink and drive. Howver, I wonder if this would have much effect in a country where life has less value than in the West.

Once again, the national financial problems would be fixed if they employ a fleet of alcohol and drug breathalysers, and maybe save a few hundred lives a WEEK!.

The introduction of these 'booze buses' caused a significant drop in alcohol related deaths in Western countries, and those on drugs are now also being snared.

While the publicans might complain, more families will keep their fathers and sons.

But it's all in the hands of the government and a competent police force.

[steveyinasia]

Its pretty much the same each year with the cause being mostly alcohol related and motorbikes, what will they do about it....absolutely nothing. If the muppets don't care about their own countrymen and their stupidity on the road to do something concrete about it, it's a waste of our time even suggesting ways to reduce the number.

[Wadan]

Regardless of whichever way one wants to spin this , the facts are staggering. It is pure insanity that so many should lose their lives on a regular basis by actions that are completely avoidable. Yes the government has a big role to play but at the same time the travelling public needs to wake up and smarten up. it is ridiculous that commuters are aware of this nightmare and continue to go about their daily business accepting this as a fact of life.

Edited April 15, 2015 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[Godders]

Looks like Songkran is one of the safest times of the year to be on the road. A mere 251 dead in five days? The average of up to 26,000 deaths a year, according to a recent report in the Nation newspaper, is twice that number per week;

Most of the victims of road deaths and accidents are motorcyclists, of whom just seven per cent have the sense to wear crash helmets. And alcohol is a main ingredient of the carnage. Few Thai drivers ever have driving lessons from a professional instructor before taking the joke of a test.

This largely avoidable carnage must be one of the worst self-inflicted wounds in Thailand's blood-soaked history.

[lavender19]

The annual cull of the drunk and stupid or the stupid drunk

[bruceybonus]

Looks like Songkran is one of the safest times of the year to be on the road. A mere 251 dead in five days? The average of up to 26,000 deaths a year, according to a recent report in the Nation newspaper, is twice that number per week;

Most of the victims of road deaths and accidents are motorcyclists, of whom just seven per cent have the sense to wear crash helmets. And alcohol is a main ingredient of the carnage. Few Thai drivers ever have driving lessons from a professional instructor before taking the joke of a test.

This largely avoidable carnage must be one of the worst self-inflicted wounds in Thailand's blood-soaked history.

As usual, I'm sure somebody is massaging the figures

[Moonlover]

Don't about 50 people die on Thailand's roads everyday anyway?

These figures would suggest the deaths during Songkran aren't that much higher than normal.

Actually it is less than normal. The average daily death rate on Thailand's roads is 71. The previous two Songkrans saw a reduction to 46 per day. So this year it is up slightly so far, but still less than the overall average.

This has been pointed out a few times, including by myself, in various threads.

I find these two paragraphs in the O/P very revealing.

Motorcycles are the vehicles that involved in most accidents or 81.83%.

Most fatal accidents happened on straight section of the secondary roads or 62.30%, while time of most accidents happened between 4.01–8.00 pm.

To me, this suggests young kids getting fueled up on Lao Kaow in the villages and then racing each other up and down the country lanes. Even the time scale marries with this scenario. And it certainly seems to be 'in character' with the behaviour that I have observed when I have been out in the sticks.

Edited April 15, 2015 by Moonlover

[maidee]

you can always look at this way:

251 new job openings for thais

[WitawatWatawit]

Looks like Songkran is one of the safest times of the year to be on the road. A mere 251 dead in five days? The average of up to 26,000 deaths a year, according to a recent report in the Nation newspaper, is twice that number per week;

Most of the victims of road deaths and accidents are motorcyclists, of whom just seven per cent have the sense to wear crash helmets. And alcohol is a main ingredient of the carnage. Few Thai drivers ever have driving lessons from a professional instructor before taking the joke of a test.

This largely avoidable carnage must be one of the worst self-inflicted wounds in Thailand's blood-soaked history.

Looks like Songkran is one of the safest times of the year to be on the road.

What the heck is wrong with you posters who keep beating this drum? You are sick. It's PEOPLE who are DYING, not a statistic. Does it matter that it is less than on a normal day?

If constant pounding of the theme of the "seven deadly days" - even on this foreign forum - helps to save lives, then it's worth it. But to belittle the effort by tossing up meaningless statistics inorder to score smartarse points is pretty damnn disgusting. More than 250 people have died - that's the only thing that matters.

[Wadan]

Thank you Witawat. This topic and forum needs more constructive responses like you just posted. Partly to understand the problem, we just need to take a look at some of the pitiable comments that people choose to post on such a serious issue.

[AlQaholic]

It's like this and I said it before; the accidents do not occur because Songkran, the accidents occur because there are so many more vehicles on the road. You take a normal day any time of the year, divide the total number of vehicles on the road with the number of accidents, then do the same for a Songkran day and you will get very much the same result.

Of course there is a exponential factor that increases the the number of accidents exponentially to the number of traffic jams but basically the bottom line is it is there are not more accidents during Songkran than any other time of the year if you compare the accidents with the number of vehicles on the roads.

[Broeno]

Somebody told that Thai people dont like to kill theirself. Exept when its sonkran or driving a moterbike.

[doctormann]

It's like this and I said it before; the accidents do not occur because Songkran, the accidents occur because there are so many more vehicles on the road. You take a normal day any time of the year, divide the total number of vehicles on the road with the number of accidents, then do the same for a Songkran day and you will get very much the same result.

Of course there is a exponential factor that increases the the number of accidents exponentially to the number of traffic jams but basically the bottom line is it is there are not more accidents during Songkran than any other time of the year if you compare the accidents with the number of vehicles on the roads.

And why do you think that there are more vehicles on the road? Yes, it's because it's Songkran!

DM