Songkran’s Seven Dangerous Days Begins 52 Dead, 431 Injured

 

BANGKOK – Pol Lt Gen Anan Srihiran, assistant chief of the Royal Thai Police and spokesman for the government’s campaign centre has reported there were 52 killed and 431 injured in 387 road accidents on the first day of a government campaign to reduce crashes during the Songkran festival.

Pol Lt Gen Anan Srihiran said 36.7% of the traffic accidents were caused by speeding and 26.9% by drink-driving. Just under 80% of the smash-ups involves motorcycles.

Chiang Mai province recorded the most accidents with 19. The highest death toll came in Prachin Buri where six were killed, and the provinces with the highest numbers of injuries, 23, were Chiang Mai and Udon Thani.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s Military Government hopes a morbid rehabilitation plan will ram home the message that drink driving kills and help to cut traffic-related deaths in a country with the world’s second most dangerous roads.

Nontajit Netpukkana, a senior official at the department of probation, said Thailand’s cabinet had approved their morgue proposal. “We originally had community services at hospital wards (for offenders),” he told AFP on Tuesday.

“But we think the intensity that comes from working in a morgue will help give those doing community service a clearer picture of what happens after accidents caused by drink driving,” he said.

The announcement coincides with Songkran, an annual three-day festival that kicks off on Wednesday and marks the Thai new year.

It is celebrated with water throwing, partying and, more often than not, heavy drinking – a lethal combination given many make long journeys to their hometowns to celebrate with family.

Each year hundreds of people are killed on Thailand’s roads during the Songkran week. It is one of two periods dubbed the “Seven Deadly Days” by the Thai government and press – the other being western New Year.

But while attention tends to be focused on those two holidays, each week brings carnage on Thailand’s roads.

Despite its relative wealth and infrastructure, the kingdom has the second most dangerous roads in the world in terms of per capita deaths. The World Health Organization estimates about 24,000 people die each year in Thai road traffic accidents.

Only Libya records a greater number of fatalities per capita. Successive government promises – both civilian and military – have made little dent in the annual death toll.

Over New Year, the government announced a renewed crackdown on drunk drivers, including powers to impound cars. But it appeared to make little difference.

By the end of the week, 380 people had died on the roads and more than 3,300 were injured according to government data, the highest toll in five years.

The WHO figures, however, would suggest that the true number is far higher and that Thailand, like many other countries, vastly under-reports the severity of the problem.