52 people killed and 431 injured on first day of Songkran festival on Monday

[kennw]

Eighty percent of accidents were motorcycles, Understandable considering the way they abuse the roads. Focus on this group for greatest effect.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

Again the maths dont work. The annual road death figure is 26000 or 72 people per day. During the new year and Songkran time the road deaths are well below the average figure, yet it is called the time of death etc etc. It would seem that they need to concentrate more on every day rather yhan 2 or 3 times a year.

[lvr181]

"....23,354 cases of riding with crash helmets." That is an offence?

No, just bad journalism I think. So, should we believe what else was written? Mmmmmm...........

[sabian]

It's very simple they don't obey or have any respect for the law, so they can campaign everyday as for as long as it takes, until the mindset changes it's a pointless task. It's just a waste of time.

[mydee]

Do you have any evidence to support this claim or is it just your opinion?

Another wasted and useless safety campaign.
And to think Songkran doesn't officially begin until tomorrow.

Most Thais have taken the entire week off. (Outside of tourist areas)
The result, if true, isn't too bad.

The numbers as usual are skewed for face saving. Thailand has the second highest road kill in the world at about 80 per day.

[ChrisKC]

For the dead it is the end. For over 400 injured in one day it is a new beginning. What a life ahead for many of them - and for some - to repent at leisure.

[elgordo38]

A good start!

Your not being fair your supposed to wait till the questioned is asked. What do you call the first day Mayhem Monday of Songkran and the number of people killed and injured.

Edited April 12, 2016 by elgordo38

[Shawn0001]

Isn't that figure in the ball park for the daily average, in fact it may be a little lower.

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Over the years I can find on the internet the average has varied from 40 to 70, it is within the daily average, it is every year and I imagine they only do these campaigns every holiday season to try to hide the fact that they are not actually doing anything about the real issues that are resulting in so many road deaths throughout the year.

[bangon04]

If drunk drivers die, so be it. My sympathy only goes to the unfortunate ones killed by the drunks.

and to the family/children left behind by the selfish stupidity of drunks and aggressive drivers.

[elgordo38]

Maybe if the cops got of their lazy backsides and did some actual policing these all-too-predictable tragic numbers might actually decrease!

What a terrible, tragic, waste of lives. Again.

With the amount of deaths injured and traffic violations in one day it makes one wonder what the cops do during the other 364 days of the year. Just goes to show you what good police work can do once they apply themselves.

[Mosha]

Do you have any evidence to support this claim or is it just your opinion?

Another wasted and useless safety campaign.

And to think Songkran doesn't officially begin until tomorrow.

Most Thais have taken the entire week off. (Outside of tourist areas)

The result, if true, isn't too bad.

The numbers as usual are skewed for face saving. Thailand has the second highest road kill in the world at about 80 per day.

UN figures give the 60 a day. Google is your friend.

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[KC 71]

My Thai uncle showed me a video of a guy in a car/ bike crash near to us yesterday- the guy was screaming and what were left of his legs looked like sphagetti ! It really hit home to me !

[guapo]

If only the thought could be told I I guarantee you that 70% of all deaths are related to drunk falangs . But that would never be disclosed not to upset The tourist trade and to make us look like idiots..... But we have long ago lost our face with Thais

[KC 71]

Dont drive for a few days

[elgordo38]

Just got back from doing a visa-run today..on the main highways it was just like other members have posted above..speed, speed ,speed..if the traffic in the right hand lane

slowed to 90/100kph the SUV's would swing to the left & undertake at 120kph!

Police?..never saw a single patrol car, never saw any roadside cameras, no check-points, & every 'rest tent' was manned by local Rangers in their Khaki uniforms..not RTP.

So NO traffic enforcement witnessed today..Same-same as every other day then eh?

Your supposed to buy into the government hype not be a fact checker. Are you trying to make the government look bad? Don't they can do that on their own with no outside help.

[Shawn0001]

Do you have any evidence to support this claim or is it just your opinion?

Another wasted and useless safety campaign.

And to think Songkran doesn't officially begin until tomorrow.

Most Thais have taken the entire week off. (Outside of tourist areas)

The result, if true, isn't too bad.

The numbers as usual are skewed for face saving. Thailand has the second highest road kill in the world at about 80 per day.

Thailand reported a higher road death rate than any other country apart from war-ravaged Libya in a report published last year by the World Health Organization (WHO).

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-traffic-idUSKBN0UJ10I20160105

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed as well as a nonsense post.

[masuk]

Isn't that figure in the ball park for the daily average, in fact it may be a little lower.

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the day is young. so sad to see these figures.

[crazydrummerpauly]

What is wrong with you people ? Normality (Thai style) reigns. 20,000 a year is the normal rate of road deaths. 20,000 divided by 365 is apporxmately 55 deaths a day. Get it ?

[Classic Ray]

I had to check the date on this media release. Looks like exactly the same report this time last year, same numbers, same causations. And wasnt their an order the other day; " learn by our mistakes"?

They even repeated the same mistake about people caught for wearing crash helmets rather than not wearing them. Rinse and repeat.

There is a checkpoint in Chiang Mai below the flyover from the Airport to the Super Highway at the beginning of Seraphi Road in Nong Hoi, with a prominent tent, signs and ambulance and a lot of sleeping staff during the day who no doubt spring into life when darkness falls. It's been there days so everyone naughty knows to avoid it already.

Sawadee pee mai everyone except for the families left fatherless, motherless or child less.

[Global Guy]

Exactly, how many are injured and die on any other day. Wait till it really kicks tomorrow. At some point the Thais may need to ask themselves if a week of this nonsense spread over the country is really necessary

Visiting family in other provinces for Thai new year may be a week of nonsense for you. I don't think the Thais will agree with you somehow. Let's ban this Santa Claus /Jesus/ Virgin Mary nonsense first along with summer holidays.

I think you maybe confused, the deaths are mainly caused by traveling long distances to visit loved ones, not splashing water.

[thailand49]

A good start!

Really? is that what you take from the death of 52 people, a good start? will it be better

for you with 500 dead?

if you don't understand the irony here, then I am quite sure you must be Asian

You got to be joking with that line " Asian " <deleted> Asian got to do with it?

[NoshowJones]

Speed limit all cars in Thailand to 80 or 100km an hour.

Worked on all mine sites I worked at in reducing accidents.

Thailands is not a nanny state. No thanks. You can even buy peptides in 7-11s here.

If the stats are correct that means only five or six died in cars, the rest were in pick ups or on motorbikes.

While it would be good if nobody died, that will never happen, five or six dead in car crashes considering all the kilometers travelled is not too bad. No need to limit all cars to 80kms per hour. It would just add to fatigue. They wouldn't even do that in the nanniest of nanny states, Victoria Australia.

"While it would be good if nobody died"

Wrong! I want to see every drunk driver dead, and I mean dead, with no heartbeats. to help keep those who don't drink drive, and ride safe.

[chiang mai]

I believe from memory of previous discussions on this subject that the RTA death toll during the Songkran holiday is actually lower than a normal non-holiday day. So whilst getting uptight at the high numbers of deaths, perhaps put that angst into perspective!

[rethaier]

Isn't that figure in the ball park for the daily average, in fact it may be a little lower.

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Yep Daily average is 60, so it was a good day.

[Doc46]

Great way to try to keep the population down ,,,Keep on keep on driving like Idiots ,,,You will get Dead,,,

[lavender19]

And so the annual cull begins.

It's like clubbing baby seals to death.

[Shadychris]

A good start!

Really? is that what you take from the death of 52 people, a good start? will it be better

for you with 500 dead?

Are you American?

Edited April 12, 2016 by Shadychris

[BangkokKen]

There we go again, despite all the government and the police efforts to minimize the carnage on the roads

the first 52 dead in a day that not even a proper holiday time, one can only sigh in despair and sorrow......

What efforts?

All I see is communication.

[RapidMethod]

There we go again, despite all the government and the police efforts to minimize the carnage on the roads the first 52 dead in a day that not even a proper holiday time, one can only sigh in despair and sorrow......

Actually, according to WHO, the average fatality rate is around 65 people per day. So even though 52 is still tragic, it is a significant reduction from what it would otherwise have been, especially during a time when it would normally be a lot higher. So kudos to the government and traffic police for at least beginning to make an impact!

Thailand is still one of the highest in the world (360 fatalities p.a. per million people), but I was surprised to see that it's fairly high in the US also (100 fatalities per million). European countries tend to be reasonably low at only around 30-50 deaths per million.