Thailand records 264 deaths in '7 dangerous days' of Songkran this year
This year’s “7 dangerous days” of Songkran wrapped up on Monday with an accumulated total of 2,203 road accidents, 2,208 injuries and 264 deaths. However, a senior official said on Tuesday that though the number of accidents was higher, the number of deaths was 5% less than last year.
Chotenarin Kerdsom, deputy permanent secretary for the Interior Ministry, met the press at the Road Safety Centre to announce data on road accidents and casualties collected during the period.
Monday, the last day of the monitoring period, saw 183 road accidents with 16 deaths and 202 people being injured, Chotenarin said.
He added that the biggest cause for the accidents on Monday was speeding (45.36%), with 80.10% of the accidents involving motorcycles. Most of the accidents (45.90%) reportedly took place on highways.
Meanwhile, Kanchanaburi saw the highest number of road accidents on Monday at 11, with the greatest number of people being injured (13), he said.
Chotenarin said Nakhon Pathom, Nan, Ratchaburi and Lamphun recorded the highest number of deaths at two each on Monday.
He added that 54,274 officials had been deployed to man 1,868 checkpoints on Monday, as roads were busy with motorists driving back from their hometowns after the long Songkran break.
Separately, Chiang Rai recorded the highest number of accidents during the seven days at 68, while Bangkok recorded the highest number of deaths at 22, he said.
The highest number of injured people was recorded in Nakhon Si Thammarat at 70, while Phatthalung and Phang Nga were the only two provinces with no road toll.
Buntham Lertsukhikasem, director-general of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said that though the accumulated number of accidents this year was higher than last year, the total death toll was lower. This period last year saw 278 people being killed in road accidents compared with this year’s 264.
Buntham added that compared to the mean data over the past three years, the number of road accidents during the seven-day period had on average dropped by 13% and deaths had dropped by 15%.
He said speeding and drunk driving were still the main causes of road accidents during Songkran, so the Road Safety Centre will launch awareness campaigns throughout the year to promote road safety.
