Songkran death toll highest in a decade with 442 people killed during seven-day span

[pedro01]

The funny thing is 99% of Thai drivers are fine.

It's just there's no rules enforced to curtail the 1% of complete idiots.

So there is no "on the road" enforcement - no traffic cops on the motorways, no unmarked traffic cops looking for idiots.

So you can drive as dangerously and as stupidly as you like here and no-one will catch you.

Of course, cops will stand at corners, fining motorists that dare to put there wheel the wrong side of a white line but that is merely extortion under the guise of enforcement. It saves no lives and is merely a means of corruption.

Everyone in Thailand knows this, yet nothing is done about it.

[ChrisKC]

They should give each Thai licensed to drive a 6 months mandatory driving classes and a final test they must pass before issue of a license. Then a complete driving test. Along with police getting out of these pit stops and stopping them speeding when it happens along with bigger fines. I was fined 400 baht for going 120 kph, I could laugh it off.

I was fined 400 Baht for going 133 in a 90km/h zone, which of course doesn't have any speed limit signs. I think they only fine you if you are caught doing more than 120.

However, dangerous driving, drink driving, driving the wrong way down a road, not wearing seatbelts, too many people riding in the tray of a pickup and a whole list of other offences are generally much more dangerous and rarely cracked down upon.

Usually, people who are caught are persistent offenders. I am not sure how your stated position as a driver being "caught" speeding allows you to be calling the kettle black! If there is a limit of 90 kmh and you were speeding at 133 kmh, in my book that is dangerous driving.

Am I being self-righteous or riding a high horse? No, I just find driving within the limits unlikely for me falling foul of the law and less likely my being involved in an accident when there are so many other reckless drivers on the road!

I never think it is necessary to be in a hurry at the expense of safety and the law!

[retarius]

I seriously think it is time to take an evidenced based approach here. Clearly crackdown aren't very effective. How about all year round policing of the traffic laws?

[retarius]

It seems that 'crackdowns'don't work very well. Just judging by the numbers. Why not try year round enforcement?

[tuanku]

Minister of Interior Gen Anupong Paojinda, as chairman of the Road Safety Directing Center, should be handing in his resignation if he had any honour and integrity.

As should the chief of police. If they were held accountable by the public, they might be more disposed to do something effective.

[Sambotte]

Total nonsense in most of what you can read about all that... In the medias.

All that because Thailand is the second worst country for driving accident, it's not juste about songkran.

I'm a very experienced driver, cars, big bikes, motorcycle small... Since more than 30 years. Zero accident.

I must say i'm speeding, because i like it, because it makes you focus, and i'm serious about that : because you avoid being hit from behind !

Not to mention, by the way, drivers who make a big mistake, very, very, slowly

I'm not right here, i know, but speeding is not the big problem.

But most importantly, i'm driving since years in Thailand : the only and biggest problem is that there is so many people who have no idea on how to drive here, or they just don't care, i don't know but that's something... I see a average of 1 driver making a big and dangerous mistake every minute here !!! Especially against motorcycle, cars think they can pass on the other way/direction, for example. Or motorcycle engaging in a way without looking, changing direction same not looking, drivers of motorcycle using only one hand, having a baby or a ombrella in the other, etc. Driving wrong way like they think it's normal... Crazy...

So... keep on going, medias and others, it's the speeding, the lack of helmet, alccol... partially true, but the N° ONE problem is obviously Thais drivers don't know how to drive, most of them !!!

Takes a few common sense, talks, and some spots on TV or internet, not to mention a serious driving licence for every one, to fix that. I mean it's just unreal, nobody care ?

24.000 deads, not to mention the thousands injured, sons, wifes, babys, every year, nobody care ??? I don't get it.

Some source says it's more than 25.000 injured during songkran, 4.500 being the severe one only.

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/health-safety/the-statistics-that-should-shock-the-world/news-story/4583c8cae35ebc3f51a25ac7d972f6a2

Sad. And stupid. And what about people trowing loads of water on motorcycle driving ? Nobody to explain them it's not funny this way, but deadly dangerous ?

The driving in Thailand, i just don't understand. Very easy to fix those problem (learning not to make the 6-8 big mistakes they make all the time, seriously it's very easy), so i don't get this.

Edited April 18, 2016 by Sambotte

[Gutenberg]

I did approx. 200,000 Km on Thai roads and only saw 1 fatal accident (corpse laying on the street) but many minor (without fatalities) accidents happened (to me as well).

So, if the death number is high it is great to have at least 70 million people to share the death chance with.

[crazydrummerpauly]

Gov talk crap, police don't work, so how will it ever change...It will not, why, gov talks crap, police don't work and the populous don't give a stuff about anything......UNTIL someone has to be blamed for their stupidity, then the shit hits the fan cos it wasn't their fault, always someone else fault...

Yes, with all the HYPE we have read about it will be safer this year....Total crap....Police do not work, populous have no fear about the BiB...None...Crazy stuff..

Let's be honest, if Thailand had law and order like any western country would there be enough westerners interested in the place to have a forum like this? I think not. It's all part of Thainess, like it or not.

As if there is only one kind of 'westerner' !

[crazydrummerpauly]

I posted in the other thread that I'd collated the data from the WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015. Here's the 'Top 10' rankings (for those countries with fatalities above 30.0 per 100,000 population).

1. Libya 73.4

2. Thailand 36.2

3. Malawi 35.0

4. Liberia 33.7

5. DR Congo 33.2

6. Tanzania 32.9

7. Central African Republic 32.4

8. Iran / Rwanda 32.1

9. Mozambique 31.6

10. Togo / Sao Tome & Principe 31.1

Libya seems to be a bit of an outlier. Fatalities were 20 per 100,000 in 2011 before civil war broke out & rose sharply thereafter. Only 2% of deaths were from motorcycles, pedestrians 26% with drivers & passengers of 4-wheeled vehicles making up the rest (71%); I suspect most of the deaths were due to roadside bombs & bazookas...

So Thailand takes the top spot, if you discount countries ravaged by civil war.

Exactly, but the apologists will still chime in and say its because of motorcycles, condition of the roads, condition of brakese , etc, etc.

I'm sure Cambodia and Vietnam have loads of motorsais but they don't make the top of the charts. No one can deny the Thais have a problem like no one else.

And is it still the case that Thais subdue the statistics by only counting 'road fatalities' as those actually dead at the scene and not those that die later in hospital ?

[GanDoonToonPet]

I posted in the other thread that I'd collated the data from the WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015. Here's the 'Top 10' rankings (for those countries with fatalities above 30.0 per 100,000 population).

1. Libya 73.4

2. Thailand 36.2

3. Malawi 35.0

4. Liberia 33.7

5. DR Congo 33.2

6. Tanzania 32.9

7. Central African Republic 32.4

8. Iran / Rwanda 32.1

9. Mozambique 31.6

10. Togo / Sao Tome & Principe 31.1

Libya seems to be a bit of an outlier. Fatalities were 20 per 100,000 in 2011 before civil war broke out & rose sharply thereafter. Only 2% of deaths were from motorcycles, pedestrians 26% with drivers & passengers of 4-wheeled vehicles making up the rest (71%); I suspect most of the deaths were due to roadside bombs & bazookas...

So Thailand takes the top spot, if you discount countries ravaged by civil war.

Exactly, but the apologists will still chime in and say its because of motorcycles, condition of the roads, condition of brakese , etc, etc.

I'm sure Cambodia and Vietnam have loads of motorsais but they don't make the top of the charts. No one can deny the Thais have a problem like no one else.

And is it still the case that Thais subdue the statistics by only counting 'road fatalities' as those actually dead at the scene and not those that die later in hospital ?

It never has been the case. It's just a popular misconception perpetuated on forums such as this. The WHO report clearly states that fatalities are defined as 'unlimited time after crash'.

Of course the 'Songkran statistics' only reach back 7 days, so there will be some fatalities to add to the total. However, this a minor problem compared to trying to statistically analyse such a small sample. Generally, a sample size < 30 is meaningless but even opinion polls need a sample size in the many 1000s to achieve an accuracy of +/- 1%.

[Bangkok Barry]

Gov talk crap, police don't work, so how will it ever change...It will not, why, gov talks crap, police don't work and the populous don't give a stuff about anything......UNTIL someone has to be blamed for their stupidity, then the shit hits the fan cos it wasn't their fault, always someone else fault...

Yes, with all the HYPE we have read about it will be safer this year....Total crap....Police do not work, populous have no fear about the BiB...None...Crazy stuff..

Let's be honest, if Thailand had law and order like any western country would there be enough westerners interested in the place to have a forum like this? I think not. It's all part of Thainess, like it or not.

No, the LAWS are there in place...But the Police do not WORK.....End of story...

They work when someone has to be scraped off the road....NOTHING preventative because they have to WORK..

They probably reason that they get paid anyway whether they work or not. So why work?

[brling]

The funny thing is 99% of Thai drivers are fine.

Nonsense, the only "funny thing" is your reply.

[dominique355]

I don't know if the "official" numbers can be trusted, but ...

if indeed every year there are 24,000 fatalities on Thailand's roads then every day almost 66 (65.75) people die on the road.

So 442 fatalities during seven days is an average of 63 (63.14) fatalities per day.

Actually Songkran is below average then!

[Caveat Emptor]

I don't know how much this will help but in his report on Songkran road accidents Richard Barrow states that if, for example, someone is injured on Day 1 and dies during Day 2 they are counted as a fatality for that day and so on.

However anyone who is injured over Songkran but dies after the holiday isn't counted as a holiday fatality.

[Assurancetourix]

Gov talk crap, police don't work, so how will it ever change...It will not, why, gov talks crap, police don't work and the populous don't give a stuff about anything......UNTIL someone has to be blamed for their stupidity, then the shit hits the fan cos it wasn't their fault, always someone else fault...

Yes, with all the HYPE we have read about it will be safer this year....Total crap....Police do not work, populous have no fear about the BiB...None...Crazy stuff..

Let's be honest, if Thailand had law and order like any western country would there be enough westerners interested in the place to have a forum like this? I think not. It's all part of Thainess, like it or not.

" Pas faux, pas faux " ; not wrong but when I was living in my country ( France ), I was an international truck and coach driver and went in nearly all european countries;

I never had a problem with police; whether in France , Great Britain ( where I liked so much to drive) , Italy, ....Ukrainia, Portugal ...Danmark, Sweden ..

And with my different cars and some of them were sport ones...with much power .

If you respect the Law(s) and like me never drink alcool and never smoke ...you will never have a fine ;

When on the open roads, you need to know how to drive but more important you must know how to behave well towards other drivers, pedestrian, cyclists ...

You want to go fast with your car , pickup, truck ..?

Go to a racing circuit ; there is one in Buriram ...

[jamesbrock]

I posted in the other thread that I'd collated the data from the WHO Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015. Here's the 'Top 10' rankings (for those countries with fatalities above 30.0 per 100,000 population).

1. Libya 73.4

2. Thailand 36.2

3. Malawi 35.0

4. Liberia 33.7

5. DR Congo 33.2

6. Tanzania 32.9

7. Central African Republic 32.4

8. Iran / Rwanda 32.1

9. Mozambique 31.6

10. Togo / Sao Tome & Principe 31.1

Libya seems to be a bit of an outlier. Fatalities were 20 per 100,000 in 2011 before civil war broke out & rose sharply thereafter. Only 2% of deaths were from motorcycles, pedestrians 26% with drivers & passengers of 4-wheeled vehicles making up the rest (71%); I suspect most of the deaths were due to roadside bombs & bazookas...

So Thailand takes the top spot, if you discount countries ravaged by civil war.

Exactly, but the apologists will still chime in and say its because of motorcycles, condition of the roads, condition of brakes, etc, etc.

Libya's motorcycle death rate was so low because motorbikes only make 0.5% or registered vehicles.

In Thailand, on the other hand, 59% of registered vehicles are motorcycles; 73% of road deaths are motorcycle users. 88% of people who died on motorcycles died from head injuries.

Exactly, but the apologists will still chime in and say its because of motorcycles, condition of the roads, condition of brakese , etc, etc.

I'm sure Cambodia and Vietnam have loads of motorsais but they don't make the top of the charts. No one can deny the Thais have a problem like no one else.

Indeed, 95% of registered vehicles in Vietnam are motorcycles, as opposed to 59% in Thailand, but only 60% of road deaths in Vietnam are motorcycle users, compared to 73% in Thailand. Obviously, there are a large number of factors involved, but one telling statistic stands out: the helmet wearing rate: Vietnam - 96% Drivers, 83% Passengers; Thailand - 52% Drivers, 20% Passengers.

Vietnam: 24.5 deaths per 100,000; 95% of registered vehicles are motorcycles; 60% of road deaths are motorcycle users; helmet wearing rate: 96% Drivers, 83% Passengers;

Malaysia: 24.0 deaths per 100,000; 46% of registered vehicles are motorcycles; 62% of road deaths are motorcycle users; helmet wearing rate: 97% Drivers, 89% Passengers;

Myanmar: 20.3 deaths per 100,000; 86% of registered vehicles are motorcycles; 23% of road deaths are motorcycle users; helmet wearing rate: 48–51% All riders;

Cambodia: 17.4 deaths per 100,000; 84% of registered vehicles are motorcycles; 71% of road deaths are motorcycle users; helmet wearing rate: 64% Drivers, 6% Passengers;

Thailand has the lowest percentage of motorcycles of all its regional neighbours bar Malaysia, yet the highest percentage of deaths of motorcycle users of all its regional neighbours. It also has the second lowest usage of motorcycle helmets of all its regional neighbours. Research has clearly shown that correctly wearing a helmet can cut the risk of death by 40% and reduce the risk of serious head injuries by almost 70%, and since head injuries are estimated to account for up to 88% of motorcycle user fatalities, strictly enforcing the wearing of helmets could cut the road toll by more than 25%.

24,237 people die

17,693 (73%) of these are motorcycle users

15,570 (88%) of these motorcycle users died due to head injuries

6,228 (40%) of these deaths could be reduced by wearing helmets

18,009 (25.7% reduction of original toll) potential road toll if wearing of motorcycle helmets is strictly enforced

This would reduce Thailand's death rate to 26.7 deaths per 100,000 - dropping it to 30th in the list of deadliest countries.

Of course not wearing helmets doesn't cause accidents—speed, drink driving, reckless driving are the highest causes, mainly due to ineffectual driver education and lax enforcement—but the strict enforcement of wearing helmets would clearly cut the road toll.

[irwinfc]

They should give each Thai licensed to drive a 6 months mandatory driving classes and a final test they must pass before issue of a license. Then a complete driving test. Along with police getting out of these pit stops and stopping them speeding when it happens along with bigger fines. I was fined 400 baht for going 120 kph, I could laugh it off.

I was fined 400 Baht for going 133 in a 90km/h zone, which of course doesn't have any speed limit signs. I think they only fine you if you are caught doing more than 120.

However, dangerous driving, drink driving, driving the wrong way down a road, not wearing seatbelts, too many people riding in the tray of a pickup and a whole list of other offences are generally much more dangerous and rarely cracked down upon.

try driving from bangkok to chonburi. drive less than 100km/h and you'll be sandwiched by trucks, less than 120km/h and you'll be driving with them crazy van drivers. 125km/h is the sweet spot. "known" speed limits for light vehicles are 80km/h (inside bangkok), 90km/h (to other provinces from bangkok), and 80km/h to 120km/h (tollways)

[MrJohnson]

When Songkran arrives every year I have a simple strategy, If I am not leaving the country, I'm not leaving the house. There are a number of reasons for this but chiefly it is for safety reasons and certainly road safety. I think the incredible thing is not that the road death toll is so high. The incredible thing is that it is not so much higher. Drink driving, speeding, tailgating, driver fatigue, failure to wear seat belts, failure to wear helmets, passengers in the rear of pick-up trucks, and on and on. Of course there is little law enforcement as well. As with many issues in this country it is not about lack of laws but simply the lack of enforcement.There also probably needs to be more driver education. A little more carrot and a lot more stick.

And yet you fail to notice that the death toll is lower during the 7 dangerous days. Good thing you stay inside.....you may be contributing to the lower road toll.

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you suggesting that the death toll over the Songkran period is lower than a normal 7 day period. That not withstanding, even it is correct, the road toll in Thailand is ridiculously high by any standards. We can debate or quibble around the methodology of the ranking of most dangerous places for road deaths but the fact remains that the road toll is very high and could be reduced. I am merely making some observations on what might be contributing factors in the road accident rates here in Thailand. And to the best of my knowledge I have never contributed to the road toll. I've been a licensed driver since 1974 and have never been involved in anything other than a paint scrape in a carpark.

[bluesky76]

Songkran is embaressing, cant believe this madness continues year after year

[Nobb]

Khun PM i guess your road safety rules did not work. Even with the Army assisting the police sitting on chairs and making some extra money for doing nothing. If you do not fine these drunks and keep there cars and scooters for 30 days as you ruled and also send them to the morgues to work. They will cry a lot but not as much as the families of the dead! Enforce your ruling or this will tell people it does not matter what i say. Enforce it and it is called tough love!

[DM07]

Songkran is embaressing, cant believe this madness continues year after year

...not half as embarrassing, as your comment!

[thaibeachlovers]

Gov talk crap, police don't work, so how will it ever change...It will not, why, gov talks crap, police don't work and the populous don't give a stuff about anything......UNTIL someone has to be blamed for their stupidity, then the shit hits the fan cos it wasn't their fault, always someone else fault...

Yes, with all the HYPE we have read about it will be safer this year....Total crap....Police do not work, populous have no fear about the BiB...None...Crazy stuff..

Let's be honest, if Thailand had law and order like any western country would there be enough westerners interested in the place to have a forum like this? I think not. It's all part of Thainess, like it or not.

No, the LAWS are there in place...But the Police do not WORK.....End of story...

They work when someone has to be scraped off the road....NOTHING preventative because they have to WORK..

That may be true, but it doesn't mean I'm wrong. The things I came to LOS for, for many many years would not be allowed in most countries, so I like that they don't do what you want. There are other countries in SE Asia with more officious police, but strangely there are many posters that want to stay in LOS and complain about the Thai police. I'm sure Vietnam or Burma would like your money. Malaysia definitely would and they have the law and order so many want.

[thaibeachlovers]

Exactly, but the apologists will still chime in and say its because of motorcycles, condition of the roads, condition of brakes, etc, etc.

Libya's motorcycle death rate was so low because motorbikes only make 0.5% or registered vehicles.

In Thailand, on the other hand, 59% of registered vehicles are motorcycles; 73% of road deaths are motorcycle users. 88% of people who died on motorcycles died from head injuries.

Exactly, but the apologists will still chime in and say its because of motorcycles, condition of the roads, condition of brakese , etc, etc.

I'm sure Cambodia and Vietnam have loads of motorsais but they don't make the top of the charts. No one can deny the Thais have a problem like no one else.

Indeed, 95% of registered vehicles in Vietnam are motorcycles, as opposed to 59% in Thailand, but only 60% of road deaths in Vietnam are motorcycle users, compared to 73% in Thailand. Obviously, there are a large number of factors involved, but one telling statistic stands out: the helmet wearing rate: Vietnam - 96% Drivers, 83% Passengers; Thailand - 52% Drivers, 20% Passengers.

Vietnam: 24.5 deaths per 100,000; 95% of registered vehicles are motorcycles; 60% of road deaths are motorcycle users; helmet wearing rate: 96% Drivers, 83% Passengers;

Malaysia: 24.0 deaths per 100,000; 46% of registered vehicles are motorcycles; 62% of road deaths are motorcycle users; helmet wearing rate: 97% Drivers, 89% Passengers;

Myanmar: 20.3 deaths per 100,000; 86% of registered vehicles are motorcycles; 23% of road deaths are motorcycle users; helmet wearing rate: 48–51% All riders;

Cambodia: 17.4 deaths per 100,000; 84% of registered vehicles are motorcycles; 71% of road deaths are motorcycle users; helmet wearing rate: 64% Drivers, 6% Passengers;

Thailand has the lowest percentage of motorcycles of all its regional neighbours bar Malaysia, yet the highest percentage of deaths of motorcycle users of all its regional neighbours. It also has the second lowest usage of motorcycle helmets of all its regional neighbours. Research has clearly shown that correctly wearing a helmet can cut the risk of death by 40% and reduce the risk of serious head injuries by almost 70%, and since head injuries are estimated to account for up to 88% of motorcycle user fatalities, strictly enforcing the wearing of helmets could cut the road toll by more than 25%.

24,237 people die

17,693 (73%) of these are motorcycle users

15,570 (88%) of these motorcycle users died due to head injuries

6,228 (40%) of these deaths could be reduced by wearing helmets

18,009 (25.7% reduction of original toll) potential road toll if wearing of motorcycle helmets is strictly enforced

This would reduce Thailand's death rate to 26.7 deaths per 100,000 - dropping it to 30th in the list of deadliest countries.

Of course not wearing helmets doesn't cause accidents—speed, drink driving, reckless driving are the highest causes, mainly due to ineffectual driver education and lax enforcement—but the strict enforcement of wearing helmets would clearly cut the road toll.

Not wearing helmets has to be a point of principle with some Thais. In the town I live in, the cops have a checkpoint for helmets every day, but some carry a helmet to wear for the check point and take them off once through. You can't legislate common sense.

To make a difference, you'd have to have road check points on every street, which is obviously not possible.

[jamesbrock]

Not wearing helmets has to be a point of principle with some Thais. In the town I live in, the cops have a checkpoint for helmets every day, but some carry a helmet to wear for the check point and take them off once through. You can't legislate common sense.

To make a difference, you'd have to have road check points on every street, which is obviously not possible.

No, you can't legislate common sense - that I agree - but, you can enforce the current legislation effectively. That is something that most certainly is not happening here.

Public awareness campaigns would also play an important role in supporting the enforcement of legislative measures, by increasing awareness of risks, influencing attitudes and opinions on the need for road traffic safety programmes, and of the penalties associated with breaking the law.

[Sambotte]

try driving from bangkok to chonburi. drive less than 100km/h and you'll be sandwiched by trucks, less than 120km/h and you'll be driving with them crazy van drivers. 125km/h is the sweet spot. "known" speed limits for light vehicles are 80km/h (inside bangkok), 90km/h (to other provinces from bangkok), and 80km/h to 120km/h (tollways)

I totally agree. When you drive slow you are indeed in more danger.

That said, a drunk driver or a bad driver speeding increase the risk of accident, on the other hand.

I really don't think the number of accident will decrease any time soon, since so many people are arguing about helmet (witch does not reduce the number of accident), checkpoint, and so on...

The source of so many accident is drivers have no clue about what to not do on a road, like the big mistake they make all the time.

And the money is spend in check-point, radar, nothing in driving education...

Do nothing about that, and nothing will change.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Sambotte

[Guy360]

In the modified words of a politician: “With all due respect, the fact is we had 442 dead Thais. Whether it's because of drunk drivers or whether a Thai was a careless, stupid and untrained driver, what difference at this point does it make?”

[jamesbrock]

I totally agree. When you drive slow you are indeed in more danger.

That said, a drunk driver or a bad driver speeding increase the risk of accident, on the other hand.

I really don't think the number of accident will decrease any time soon, since so many people are arguing about helmet (witch does not reduce the number of accident), checkpoint, and so on...

The source of so many accident is drivers have no clue about what to not do on a road, like the big mistake they make all the time.

And the money is spend in check-point, radar, nothing in driving education...

Do nothing about that, and nothing will change.

Driver education is just one of many strategies required in order to have any hope of reversing the ever-increasing road toll.

Effective strategies include incorporating road safety features into land-use, urban planning and transport planning; designing safer roads and requiring independent road safety audits for new construction projects; improving the safety features of vehicles; promoting public transport; effective speed management by police enforcement and through the use of traffic-calming measures; setting and enforcing internationally harmonized laws requiring the use of seat-belts, helmets and child restraints; setting and enforcing blood alcohol concentration limits for drivers; establishment of Graduated Driver Licensing systems for novice drivers; and improving post-crash care for victims of road crashes.

When it comes to driver behaviour, enforcement is the key. Establish a Graduated Driver Licensing system, of course, but that won't change the behaviour of the tens of millions of existing roads users.

I'm "arguing about helmet" because the statistics don't lie - 64% of the annual road toll dies due to head injuries sustained in motorbike accidents. 64%!!

143 people who died over this Songkran were not wearing helmets.

As I wrote above, of course not wearing helmets doesn't cause accidents—speed, drink driving, reckless driving are the highest causes, mainly due to ineffectual driver education and lax enforcement—but the strict enforcement of wearing helmets would clearly cut the road toll significantly.

All the other strategies would take time to implement - blanket, year-round enforcement of speeding, drink driving, reckless driving, wearing of helmets could start tomorrow.

[jamesbrock]

In the modified words of a politician: “With all due respect, the fact is we had 442 dead Thais. Whether it's because of drunk drivers or whether a Thai was a careless, stupid and untrained driver, what difference at this point does it make?”

Because knowing how those 442 people died would—in any developed country—lead to targeted strategies to try to prevent those kind of deaths in the future.

With the kind of attitude displayed by the politician you paraphrased, there's little wonder the tragic figures repeat themselves every single year.

[Sambotte]

Maybe... I'm not so sure...

In my opinion, it would take a 10mn spot, TV/Internet, to focus on the 6-8 enormous mistake i see every minute on the road (i'm not in a modern area). Doesn't require months of planning, organization, and big money ! And it would reduce i think by half at least the number of accident. Considering they just don't know...

If actually they don't care, and show a different "picture" of Thailand, something they could be very sensitive... i don't know, but then maybe it takes police enforcement indeed, but via controls of a real driving licence, for everyone ! You can not check everywhere drivers making dangerous mistake, they do it everywhere, all the time...

I insist on accident, because wearing the light helmet required will not change much i think, and in many case with a very good helmet well you still get severely injured, permanently sometimes.

I'm not really oriented "dead is the only thing to avoid". Injured is not that good i think. And driving in safer and relaxing condition would be really good too And would correspond to the image Thailand want to have : respect, confort, and safety. This will not happen with helmet, check-point, and that sort of thing, i think. They make very big and dangerous (and disrespectfull) driving mistake, all the time, this is the point, imo.

Edited April 19, 2016 by Sambotte

[jerojero]

Well, well, well.... How are they going to spin this news?