BANGKOK – Community safety advocates are urging the government to crack down on illegal alcohol sales, roaming vendors, and sales to minors before Thailand’s most dangerous holiday period starts. The 2025 Songkran figures show why they are speaking out.
Songkran, Thailand’s vibrant water festival marking the traditional New Year, brings families together for water fights, parties, and travel. But it also earns the grim nickname “Seven Dangerous Days” because of the sharp spike in traffic accidents, injuries, and deaths.
Every April, Thailand bursts into life with water fights, laughter, and packed streets. Songkran, the Thai New Year, is one of the region’s best-known festivals. It officially runs from April 13 to 15, and it brings millions of people back to their hometowns while drawing visitors from across the globe.
Still, the holiday has a grim side. Public health agencies and road safety officials refer to this period as the Seven Dangerous Days, which runs from April 11 to 17 each year. It covers the days before, during, and after the main Songkran celebrations. The campaign exists for a simple reason: Thailand sees its highest number of road crashes during this stretch.
The cause is no mystery. Huge numbers of people travel at the same time. Parties last late into the night. Alcohol is easy to find. As a result, the country faces the same pattern every year: serious crashes, rising injuries, and avoidable deaths.
The 2025 Figures Show Improvement, But Not Enough
This year’s Songkran brought mixed results. Thailand’s Ministry of Interior reported 1,538 road accidents, 1,495 injuries, and 253 deaths during the Seven Dangerous Days from April 11 to 17, 2025. Officials highlighted a drop from 2024. Crashes fell by 24.76 percent, injuries dropped by 27.43 percent, and deaths declined by 11.85 percent.
Still, civil society groups say those numbers should not be treated as a win. In their view, 253 deaths in one week is a warning, not a success.
Speeding caused 44.4 percent of all crashes during the festival. Drunk driving came next at 24.9 percent. Poor visibility played a role in 14.52 percent of cases.
Motorcycles appeared in more than 85 percent of all accidents. Most crashes happened on straight roads. About 40 percent took place on highways, while 34 percent happened on village roads. The riskiest time of day was between 3:01 PM and 6:00 PM, which made up 20.68 percent of all reported accidents.
Young adults paid the highest price. Most of those killed or hurt were between 20 and 29 years old.
Drunk Driving Remains One of Thailand’s Deadliest Problems
Alcohol sits at the center of this issue, and the numbers leave little room for doubt. Around 26 percent of road deaths in Thailand are linked to alcohol. More than a quarter of crashes involve impaired drivers.
During Songkran, the problem grows. In Songkran 2024, authorities recorded 5,589 DUI cases, which made up 96.6 percent of all traffic violations during that period.
The same pattern showed up again in 2025. After just the first two days of Songkran, Thailand had already recorded 460 crashes, 458 injuries, and 59 deaths. Drunk driving caused more than 27 percent of those crashes.
Thailand sets the legal blood alcohol content limit at 0.05 percent for most drivers. For drivers under 20, new drivers, and those without valid licenses, the limit drops to 0.02 percent. Penalties can include fines of up to 200,000 THB, jail terms of up to 10 years, and license suspension. Yet enforcement often varies from place to place, and many offenders receive light fines or suspended penalties.
That uneven enforcement is exactly what safety groups want fixed.
What Anti-Alcohol Networks Want the Government to Do
Several groups, including the Alcohol Prevention Network, Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation, Social Synergy Network Foundation, Life Quality Development Network, and Youth Health Promotion Network, recently held a seminar called “Expanding Drinking Zones vs Increased Risks During Songkran.”
Their message was direct. The government needs to act before the festival starts, not after the deaths are counted.
The groups want officials to move now by taking several steps:
- Increase inspections and tighten enforcement against illegal and mobile alcohol sellers in and around Songkran celebration areas
- Confiscate alcohol from unlicensed vendors so it cannot be sold again during the holiday period
- Speed up public information campaigns that explain where, when, and to whom alcohol can legally be sold
- Let community networks help monitor violations, send tips, and report illegal sellers across the country during the Seven Dangerous Days.
- Strictly enforce bans on sales to minors and visibly drunk customers, with real penalties for sellers who break the law
They also called on local officials to watch stores that sell alcohol outside legal hours or to underage buyers. In cases where a shop sells alcohol to a minor who later causes a crash, criminal charges could follow.
Growing Concern Over the Government’s Direction
What worries many of these groups is not only weak enforcement. They also believe the current policy may be moving in the wrong direction by making alcohol easier to access.
In March 2025, the Thai government proposed allowing alcohol sales on five major Buddhist holidays at selected venues. These included international airports, nightlife businesses, hotels, tourist spots, and national event sites.
Wisanu Sritawong, chairman of the Social Synergy Network Foundation, warned that Songkran could face weaker alcohol controls because the government is heavily promoting the festival through its “Amazing Thailand Grand Tourism and Sport Year 2025” campaign.
Dr. Udomsak Saengow from Walailak University’s School of Medicine raised a similar concern. He said wider alcohol access reflects weak law enforcement and could damage Thailand’s image as a safe and welcoming place for tourists.
Research from other countries supports that concern. In Western Australia, hotels with longer alcohol sales hours saw reports of physical assault triple. In Norway, extending alcohol sales by one hour led to a 13 to 22 percent rise in assaults across 18 cities.
Public Opinion Favors Stronger Controls
Public concern is also easy to see. A nationwide survey of 2,552 people in March 2025 found that 70 percent were worried about the government’s move to expand alcohol availability.
Another survey, carried out in 20 provinces, found that 81 percent supported a Songkran alcohol ban to help reduce violent crime. At the same time, 87 percent said such a ban would lower the risk of sexual harassment.
Even so, many civil society groups are not calling for a total ban. Most understand that such a move may not be politically realistic. Instead, they want the government to apply the laws already on the books in a steady, visible, and believable way. In their view, Thailand already has the legal tools. What it lacks is steady action.
One of the clearest proposals from these groups is to give community networks a formal role during the Seven Dangerous Days.
Thailand has already used parts of this approach. During last year’s Songkran on Silom Road, officials put in place stronger safety steps, including emergency lanes and clearer responsibility for private businesses tied to alcohol-related incidents. Advocates say that the model should spread nationwide.
If trained community volunteers could document and report illegal sellers, roaming vendors, and cases where alcohol is sold to minors or visibly drunk people, enforcement would stretch much further than police can manage alone. It would also give officials a real-time map of where illegal sales are happening, so they could respond faster.
For that reason, the groups want the government to create a formal hotline or digital reporting system linked directly to enforcement teams during Songkran.
Thailand Has Updated Its Alcohol Law, But Enforcement Still Matters Most
Thailand also changed its alcohol laws later in 2025. On September 9, 2025, amendments to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act were published in the Royal Gazette. The changes took effect on November 8, 2025. They included broader limits on alcohol advertising and promotions, stronger alcohol treatment measures, and tougher penalties for violations.
At the same time, the amendments did not relax restricted retail sales hours for ordinary stores. The stated goal remained the same: reducing harm tied to late-night drinking and related social problems.
Still, civil society groups say tougher laws on paper will not stop a roadside seller from handing beer to a teenager during Songkran. That only changes when enforcement is visible on the ground and when local communities have clear ways to report violations.
Songkran is one of Thailand’s most meaningful celebrations. The family visits, the street water fights, and the sense of renewal all matter. Those traditions deserve protection. Yet the Seven Dangerous Days have taken thousands of lives over the years, often hitting young people and vulnerable communities the hardest.
Deputy Interior Ministry permanent secretary Kajohn Srichavanotai said that many accidents during the opening days of Songkran 2025 involved motorcycles. He also pointed to drunk driving and failure to wear helmets as key reasons why so many people were injured or killed.
Anti-alcohol groups and community safety networks are not trying to shut down Songkran. They want people to get through it alive.
Their requests are plain and practical: enforce the law, stop illegal vendors, protect minors, and give communities a real role in reporting abuse. After the 2025 Songkran death toll, that message is hard to ignore.
