Songkran rush starts early on roads

[rooster59]

Songkran rush starts early on roads

By THE SUNDAY NATION

 

 

HIGHWAYS leading to the North and Northeast became more congested than usual this weekend as many people working in Bangkok and nearby provinces made early journeys to their hometowns for the upcoming Songkran Festival.

 

Police and related agencies set up checkpoints to look for those violating traffic laws or Article 44-backed road safety regulations such as the requirement for public transport vans to have all passengers wearing seatbelts – punishable at up to Bt5,000 per head. 

 

Public transport hubs saw throngs of travellers while buses and trains were packed. As part of the 4th “Police in Train” campaign, a 30-strong combined police team inspected all trains at Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong train station.

 

Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), dubbed the Gateway to Northeast, experienced higher traffic volume on roads. Some sections such as the uphill stretch in Tambon Klangdong of Pak Chong district and another section in Tambon Klong Phai of Sikhieo district became particularly congested. Police said they expected that traffic conditions would be worst on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

 

Korat transport office, which had increased the number of bus trips to 400 a day, yesterday fined two public transport operators Bt5,000 each for allegedly taking advantage of passengers. The two separate complaints were filed by Thai users on Facebook; one over a bus operator’s unfair refusal to sell ticket to a short-journey passenger and the other over a bus ticket seller who almost doubled a passenger’s fare. 

 

Korat also opened a road safety centre at Pak Chong and joined the Miracle of Life Foundation to promote an awareness campaign in the hope of reducing the number of Songkran road casualties. Last Songkran, there were 3,447 road accidents nationwide which claimed 442 lives. Most cases stemmed from drunk driving and speeding.

 

Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith launched a road safety campaign in Ayutthaya’s wang Noi district in a bid to reduce Songkran road fatalities to under 10 per 100,000 of population.

 

Ayutthaya police issued a regulation to ban pickup trucks loaded with water tanks, people and water guns on five roads around the city’s heritage site as safety precaution during Thursday and Friday. They included two sections of Highway 309, a section of Highway 3263, Klong Sa Bua and Hua Ro-Pa Niad roads.

 

With more vehicles on roads to the South |yesterday, officials warned motorists using the Ranong-Chumphon road of 17 bends and 29 |accident-prone spots in Ranong.

 

Meanwhile, Songkhla’s Hat Yai district was buzzing yesterday with foreign tourists and Thai workers who returned for visits on packed Singapore-Malaysia-Hat Yai buses ahead of the Hat Yai Midnight Songkran Festival from Tuesday to Thursday. The event was expected to generate over Bt200 million in Hat Yai where hotels were fully booked.

 

Songkhla police joined with the provincial transport office to set up 33 alcohol checkpoints during Songkran. As well as making strict checks to catch any law-breaking motorists, they will dispatch 31 mobile police teams, each equipped with breathalysers, to patrol secondary roads and party areas to punish drunk drivers.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30311780

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-04-08

[Sphere]

Warning - graphic images.....

 

 

[ezzra]

Sadly, as every year, 4-500 of those revelers will not be going back home

ever again... I sure hope I'm wrong....

[naboo]

Something is wrong. In that photo, between the left and right lanes of traffic there is space for another lane, yet nobody is using it.

 

Good to see they're using the hard shoulder though, all is not lost.

[elgordo38]

4 hours ago, Sphere said:

Warning - graphic images.....

 

 

Cannot give you a like as it is shocking but the really sad thing is that it no longer shocks me. 

[wvavin]

Here starts the death clock ticking in Thailand.

[elgordo38]

Can we start the death day clock now or must we wait till Thursday. 

[franklnooner]

Let the madness and killing begin.

 

[bbbbooboo]

hmmm..... and the carnage will begin.... a sad pointless waste of life(again)

[doctormann]

16 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

Can we start the death day clock now or must we wait till Thursday. 

 

The death clock, of course, doesn't include anything outside of the 'seven dangerous days'.  In Pattaya, the mayhem will start tomorrow and continue until the evening of the 19th so that's ten days and people will still be travelling back to their normal locations after that.

[blazes]

One thing I find puzzling at these "festive" times when traffic is chock-a-bloc is this:  

if there is so much traffic on the roads, thus dropping the speeds quite a bit, why wouldn''t there be a reduction in traffic fatalities at this time?

[elgordo38]

1 minute ago, doctormann said:

 

The death clock, of course, doesn't include anything outside of the 'seven dangerous days'.  In Pattaya, the mayhem will start tomorrow and continue until the evening of the 19th so that's ten days and people will still be travelling back to their normal locations after that.

Yes amazing Thailand one wonders where they find the money to fill the gas tanks of their bank owned cars and hit the road. They all live on a cloud of credit. 

[elgordo38]

12 minutes ago, blazes said:

One thing I find puzzling at these "festive" times when traffic is chock-a-bloc is this:  

if there is so much traffic on the roads, thus dropping the speeds quite a bit, why wouldn''t there be a reduction in traffic fatalities at this time?

They get antsy waiting and look to thread the eye of the needle. 

Edited April 9, 2017 by elgordo38

[Kabula]

The photo reminds me how safe and dry I will be in my home for 3 days in Bangkok away from the nonsense.

[thailand49]

3 minutes ago, blazes said:

One thing I find puzzling at these "festive" times when traffic is chock-a-bloc is this:  

if there is so much traffic on the roads, thus dropping the speeds quite a bit, why wouldn''t there be a reduction in traffic fatalities at this time?

Just my opinion, once drivers get behind the wheel, all the national saying " Mai pen rai goes out the window. There design of roads, signal lights, lack of education and enforcement year round has develop a population of drivers who are impatience, lack of consideration and courteous towards others once on the road.  The chock-a-bloc is actually slowing and preventing them from getting to grave early. But once there is a opening it is pedal to the medal. The time they spend in traffic is creating a time bomb ready to go off for some?

[darksidedog]

16 minutes ago, blazes said:

One thing I find puzzling at these "festive" times when traffic is chock-a-bloc is this:  

if there is so much traffic on the roads, thus dropping the speeds quite a bit, why wouldn''t there be a reduction in traffic fatalities at this time?

The problem is that whenever you get tailbacks as pictured before, it puts people behind on their planned journey time.

So, as soon as the road clears, they go full throttle to try to make up for lost time, and that's when the accidents start piling up.

[Philthyphil]

19 minutes ago, doctormann said:

 

The death clock, of course, doesn't include anything outside of the 'seven dangerous days'.  In Pattaya, the mayhem will start tomorrow and continue until the evening of the 19th so that's ten days and people will still be travelling back to their normal locations after that.

The mayhem as you describe it, or the fun as most people describe it in Pattaya doesn't have anything to do with the video clip.

It was on a motorway, 7 they were not playing with water. They were speeding as they always do, everyday of the year. I use this road at least twice a week, and accidents are common, really frequent, speeding and tail gating pickups, and benzes and beemers being the worst. Most accidents are in the fast lane

 

The man who took the video mentioned that the emergency vehicles couldn't get through. Because the traffic was blocking them. In Thailand it seems the emergency lanes are for everyone to use in an emergency, not just the emergency vehicles.

 

It is the bad driving that causes the deaths, not splashing water from water pistols.

How old is that video?

[Happyman58]

Ready set go Thais this is your moment Put the pedal to metal and go for it Dont worry about the cops there wont get in you way Let the carnage begin

[Thaidream]

Speed is mostly to blame for Songkran deaths but throwing water and ice at motorcyclists and at cars and trucks causes death and destruction. anyone with any sense knows this type of activity must be stopped. In addition, pick up trucks with water drums on the back are also an accident waiting to happen and should also be banned.

Songkran is not fun when people are dying and entering hospitals because of selfish revelers that have no sense.

It really used to be a sensible and fun time many years ago when people could control themselves and live in the real spirit of the festival. Now, it is just the opposite- an excuse to cause harm to those who do not want to participate.

[alex8912]

39 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

Speed is mostly to blame for Songkran deaths but throwing water and ice at motorcyclists and at cars and trucks causes death and destruction. anyone with any sense knows this type of activity must be stopped. In addition, pick up trucks with water drums on the back are also an accident waiting to happen and should also be banned.

Songkran is not fun when people are dying and entering hospitals because of selfish revelers that have no sense.

It really used to be a sensible and fun time many years ago when people could control themselves and live in the real spirit of the festival. Now, it is just the opposite- an excuse to cause harm to those who do not want to participate.

Your first paragraph is pure urban myth. Or in other words TVF BS. 

I'm talking about water and cold water thrown at passing bikes and cars.  Not speeding. 

Edited April 9, 2017 by alex8912

[natway09]

Alcohol road blocks????     Come on Mr Plod

Get out there in mufti cars & drive with the normal people & actually see what happens.

You have one of the best communication radio systems in the world,,,, catch the idiots

Everybody behaves themselves at roadblocks

[Philthyphil]

1 hour ago, Thaidream said:

Speed is mostly to blame for Songkran deaths but throwing water and ice at motorcyclists and at cars and trucks causes death and destruction. anyone with any sense knows this type of activity must be stopped. In addition, pick up trucks with water drums on the back are also an accident waiting to happen and should also be banned.

Songkran is not fun when people are dying and entering hospitals because of selfish revelers that have no sense.

It really used to be a sensible and fun time many years ago when people could control themselves and live in the real spirit of the festival. Now, it is just the opposite- an excuse to cause harm to those who do not want to participate.

 

41 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

Your first paragraph is pure urban myth. Or in other words TVF BS. 

I'm talking about water and cold water thrown at passing bikes and cars.  Not speeding. 

It wasn't just the first paragraph.

"it really use to be a sensible and fun time many years ago"

He imagined that, he wasn't here.

Another TV often repeated complete MYTH.

[Wilsonandson]

Where is this? Any details?

 

The video of the accident on post #2 by Sphere.

[Thaidream]

Actually I was there and I will stick with my original post-  It used to be one day of water throwing in all locales because Thais realized water was precious.  It certainly wasn't Pattaya because that area did not have many tourists 40 years ago when I was there. I can tell you on many occassions very recently I have personaly witness- chunks of ice and huge amounts of water dumped on motocyclists who then fell over while the 'revellers' cheered.  The festival 40 years ago - did nt have such cruelty= it just consisted in getting wet- if you wanted to participate and nothing wrong with that. People then were kinder and polite and you notice in the pictures there are no foreigners- acting out- and disturbing the flow.

Urban myth- I know not- the real urban myth are those who refuse to believe Songkran has developed into a raucous spectacle where even assault and sexual harrassment goes on. 

[Philthyphil]

1 hour ago, Wilsonandson said:

Where is this? Any details?

 

The video of the accident on post #2 by Sphere.

On motorway 7.

From what the man said, near Sri racha, I think.

I don't know when. 

Doubt if it is Songkran related. Songkran haters will blame songkran for everything.

 

Happy New Year Thai!

[kannot]

10 hours ago, Sphere said:

Warning - graphic images.....

 

 

Just "bad  luck"

[Philthyphil]

52 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

Actually I was there and I will stick with my original post-  It used to be one day of water throwing in all locales because Thais realized water was precious.  It certainly wasn't Pattaya because that area did not have many tourists 40 years ago when I was there. I can tell you on many occassions very recently I have personaly witness- chunks of ice and huge amounts of water dumped on motocyclists who then fell over while the 'revellers' cheered.  The festival 40 years ago - did nt have such cruelty= it just consisted in getting wet- if you wanted to participate and nothing wrong with that. People then were kinder and polite and you notice in the pictures there are no foreigners- acting out- and disturbing the flow.

Urban myth- I know not- the real urban myth are those who refuse to believe Songkran has developed into a raucous spectacle where even assault and sexual harrassment goes on. 

I will grant you the sexual assaults.

In Pattaya I get assaulted quite often.

But those girls up in Issan, they take the sexual assaults on me to another level.

 

Assaults are very rare for such an alcohol,fueled day where everyone is shooting each other. You see more assaults at Engglish football games.

 

I disagree with you that there were few tourists in Pattaya 40 years ago. I was there 39 years ago, and there were plenty of us. Same year Tahitian Queen opened and from memory, the Royal Cliff.

[kannot]

5 hours ago, wvavin said:

Here starts the death clock ticking in Thailand.

That clock ticks daily here. Songkran is NO different to a "normal" day!!

[Thaidream]

I don't blame Songkran for everything at all but after seeing almost 50 of them I can give a perspective that many people cannot and I guarantee you that many foreigners and many Thais do not like the way Songkran is currently celebrated.

I can avoid it if I want, some people cannot and do not want to participate because they have other things going in their life. My issue with the current Songkran is the fact that there is no respect for those who decline to participate. You want to have some fun go ahead but if someone else is not interested- your dousing of them is not fun for them. Anything wrong with a little respect being shown?

[Philthyphil]

2 hours ago, Wilsonandson said:

Where is this? Any details?

 

The video of the accident on post #2 by Sphere.

 It was uploaded to,YouTube yesterday. 

So probably recent.