Songkran 2015: Road toll exceeds last year's figures

[webfact]

Road toll exceeds last year's figures
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- THE SONGKRAN holiday period saw 364 deaths and 3,559 injuries from 3,373 accidents - higher than last year's figures, the Road Safety Centre said yesterday.

This year saw 42 more deaths, 334 more injuries and 381 more accidents.

On Wednesday alone, there were 458 accidents that claimed 58 lives and injured 489.

With drunk driving continuing to be the major cause of accidents, the Public Health Ministry yesterday admitted that alcohol-control measures during the holiday period had not been as successful as expected. The ministry blamed, in part, a lack of cooperation from business operators.

On behalf of the Road Safety Centre, which closed its doors yesterday, Deputy Interior Minister Suthee Makboon announced that drunk driving (39.31 per cent) and speeding (24.35 per cent) remained the two major contributors to most road accidents.

Motorcycles were involved in the majority of accidents (81.34 per cent), while 62.89 per cent of accidents took place on straight stretches of road.

Phitsanulok reported the highest number of accidents (141), while Surin had the highest number casualties (16 deaths and 152 injuries).

The five provinces that did not report any deaths were Phuket, Mae Hong Son, Yala, Samut Songkhram and Samut Sakhon.

The centre's work would be used in an attempt to improve holiday road safety, Suthee said.

The deputy minister said that the rise in road accidents this year was due to the higher number of cars and tourists, while summer storms posed more risks to motorists, especially motorcyclists.

Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin praised those who manned the 206 community checkpoints in 10 provinces for helping boost road safety, especially checkpoints in Surin's Prasat district where former street-racing youths manned them 24 hours a day and brought many drunk motorists home safely.

The ministry planned to expand the checkpoints to all villages for the 2016 New Year holiday, he added.

Disease Control Department chief Sopon Mekthon reported that the ministry's alcohol-control measures over the past two week had resulted in 602 arrests.

Most of those arrested (208) were for promoting alcohol products, while 152 were related to drinking alcohol in prohibited areas, 79 to the sale of alcohol during a prohibited time and 62 to the sale of alcohol without a licence.

Sopon said officials would continue this operation for seven days after Songkran as some areas still hosted celebrations.

He said people drank more during festivals so officials had to be stricter and business operators should cooperate more with them by being aware of the social security issues linked to drinking.

Meanwhile, national police deputy chief General Pongsapat Pongcharoen said the project in which Songkran holidaymakers left their homes under police care covered 4,634 homes - 206 more than last Songkran and 959 more than the 2014 New Year period.

Meanwhile, 400-strong city operation to clean Silom area during the festival resulted in 30 tonnes of garbage being collected on average per day compared to 100 tonnes per day last year.

Meanwhile, the number of people injured in fights and treated at the Silom first-aid centre peaked at 12 on Monday compared to between 30-40 injuries per day last year.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Road-toll-exceeds-last-years-figures-30258126.html


-- The Nation 2015-04-17

[canuckamuck]

If the normal rate of road deaths is a little over 70 per day, Songkran appears to have saved 133 lives this year.

[samjaidee]

Normal rate of road deaths in 2012 was approx. 12 per day and has been reducing annually for years although the speed of reduction has slowed dramatically recent;y.

[Cake Monster]

Songkran has not yet finished.

The main event in Pattaya is not until the 19th

I wonder if the total number of tradjedies will ever be published

if you want to reduce the count, the Thai way is to close the office early so you cannot report the deaths

TIT

[sfokevin]

^^^ Plus the death count is only those who are dead on the road... It does not count those that were taken to the hospital and died later...

[tracker1]

Does that mean Thailand will make Number 1 for road carnage this year or oh dam those dam Africans win again Nothing to be proud of !

[LuckyLew]

Has no one explained to Thai that the lower the number the better? Seems they are striving to break thru the 500 barrier. Amazing that the death tallies are so high year after year, guess they all think it will happen to someone else

[Cpkt8]

After implementing so many restrictions and rules? Uncle will not be pleased...

[jollyhangmon]

Normal rate of road deaths in 2012 was approx. 12 per day and has been reducing annually for years although the speed of reduction has slowed dramatically recent;y.

Whoa mon, you seem to be a tad short in your numbers, no!? 12 per day in average? That would make just 4392.0 traffic related check-outs in a leap year even ... does make chanukas 70/day slightly more likely, don't ya think?

>Tha Nation< on March 16, 2013 had it at quote 'up to 26,000 every year':

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Road-death-toll-in-Thailand-among-highest-in-the-w-30202066.html

[TheFishman1]

What do you think the Real Numbers are?

[canuckamuck]

Normal rate of road deaths in 2012 was approx. 12 per day and has been reducing annually for years although the speed of reduction has slowed dramatically recently.

The W.H.O. lists road fatalities for 2010 in Thailand at 26,312. divided by 365 gives me 72.08 per day.

Now you may be right about 2012 statistics, but somehow I doubt the death count dropped so dramatically in 2 years.

Edit, Jolly beat me to it.

Edited April 17, 2015 by canuckamuck

[marko kok prong]

I have just read that Isis are battling to take over Ramadi in Iraq,this is a war,yet i doubt that anything,aproaching this apalling number of casualties,has been recorded there over the last 7 days,so Songkran is actually deadlier than a civil war,wonder how Tat can spin that one.

[bluebluewater]

^^^ Plus the death count is only those who are dead on the road... It does not count those that were taken to the hospital and died later...

I wish someone would "prove" this old chestnut to me. I/we have seen it and heard it for years but I'm not convinced it's just an urban myth.

I simply don't know and am not trying to say that it is not true. But nothing is at seems here in LOS and lot's of crap gets told as fact.

Show me the official policy. Provide a link. Something, anything. And just repeating that "a policeman/official, etc. told me" is certainly not fact.

Please

[DM07]

Now, that worked well, didn't it?!

[buhi]

Maths is not my strong point, but if the annual figures for road deaths include those of Songkran and the other New Year in Dec /Jan, then subtracting those peaks from the total to reach a daily average would seem to make sense.

[Strangebrew]

Pick a number any number and it will be closer to the truth than gets reported.

[Geordie59]

Regardless of the usual bickering about statistics on here one thing that can not be disputed is that the number, whatever it really is, is far too high.

A lot of sad families around now that should be having fun!

[angiolo]

Its all to do with the way the Thais drive. If you are involved in an accident it will be your fault >>>> because you do not know the way Thais drive .Now you know

[Tonawatchee]

Has no one explained to Thai that the lower the number the better? Seems they are striving to break thru the 500 barrier. Amazing that the death tallies are so high year after year, guess they all think it will happen to someone else

Thai thinking? Utterly absurd.

Edited April 17, 2015 by Tonawatchee

[Jonmarleesco]

'The deputy minister said that the rise in road accidents this year was due to the higher number of cars and tourists, while summer storms posed more risks to motorists, especially motorcyclists.' So nothing to do with driver incompetence?

[Stargeezr]

With the millions of the drivers in Thailand that are leaving the cities and then

returning to their homes during the festivities, there is no wonder that the highway

carnage is so great. I have been in the traffic when Bangkok's population is headed out to

the country for celebrations, and the traffic is horrific. The same for Chiang Mai when

I was there for Songkran, and again at Loei Kratong (sorry for my bad spelling)

I was amazed that more people were not killed during the holiday celebrations.

Every year, it seems that there are more people with motorcycles, and cars in the

country of Thailand, and I am not surprised to hear that so many are killed each year.

It will not keep me from visiting Thailand as a visitor, but I try to be careful

when I am there during the busy times. I tend to take the buses and trains, then

and leave my little cycle parked for the few days of celebrations.

Stargrazer

[cookee68]

And its not over yet, and they said it was going to be less than last year, lots of broken families after this is over, and lots of heart ache

[jerojero]

Surprise surprise surprise! Anyone who thought otherwise would happen is a dimwit. Until day to day enforcement of traffic laws happens, festive times will continue its death carnage.

[davehowden]

Stargrazer9889

Good luck with the buses!

[Langsuan Man]

I know I sound like a broken record but if they would just get the cops out policing and not sitting in their tents by the side of the road reading newspapers, snacking, and listening to music, there might some hope of lowering these annual carnage figures

[northernphil]

'The deputy minister said that the rise in road accidents this year was due to the higher number of cars and tourists, while summer storms posed more risks to motorists, especially motorcyclists.' So nothing to do with driver incompetence?

No ,nothing to do with bike riders riding around when drunk with no crash hats on ,nor lights after dark ,it is the fault of the weather, how dare it rain the day before Soakran !!