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Home » News from Thailand » Short news » Seven dangerous days of Songkran: 59 road deaths!
Seven dangerous days of Songkran: 59 road deaths!
Songkran, for some a celebration for others a period of mourning. Before, after and during Songkran, Thailand's roads are crowded with Thais on vacation returning to their hometowns to celebrate the Thai New Year.
Every year, this population displacement causes an average of 300 deaths and 3.000 injuries. Usually caused by drunk drivers.
Every year the authorities promise to do something about these abuses, but hardly succeed. In the first of the 'seven dangerous days' on April 9, there were already 25 road deaths and 348 injuries. That is slightly less than last year when there were 41 deaths and 348 injuries.
Meanwhile, on the second day, the number of road deaths has risen to 59. A total of 765 people were injured in 723 traffic accidents.
Now just wait for the sad final balance of 2015.
Thailand is ranked number 2 in the world in terms of road deaths per year.
with 44 deaths per 100000 inhabitants. That is about 26400 deaths per year, 73 per day. So you could say that this Songkran holiday is less dangerous than normal days.
Regards, Dontejo.
I believe these are victims directly related to Songkran.
I don't know what criteria they use for that.
It's all in how you read it of course.
Suppose a country is at war.
On average, 70 people die every day in that country.
59 people were killed during a bombing.
Should we then come to the conclusion that it is better to continue bombing because then there will be fewer deaths... 😉
Ronny, it's only about road deaths. How do you distinguish the Songkran road deaths from "ordinary" road deaths. During these days, every dead person is a Songkran dead person. Besides, every road death is one too many and of course something has to be done about it. It should not stop with proposals alone.
Regards, Dontejo.
Depends what criteria they use to be counted as Songkrandode and I don't know. Any deaths that occur during the Songkran period are therefore not due to Songkran. And of course something must be done about it, but that should not be limited to the Songkran period.
When I write dead it means a dead in traffic but I hope this was clear.
According to the WHO, there are more than 25000 road deaths in Thailand every year.
Divided by 364, that should be about 70 deaths on average on an ordinary day.
A number of 59 deaths is even lower than on other days.
Or are only those who die on the spot counted and not those who later die in hospital?
Disinformation from the Thai government? What are the actual numbers?
Everyone knows that alcohol and driving don't mix
Moreover, the infrastructure of the roads in Thailand and the traffic rules and the observance of them are not what they should be
These factors together plus the fact that the Thai is a bad driver will not change that much, I'm afraid. And to be honest, the Songkran is not what it used to be in some places and we Westerners who travel more and more every year for this are certainly also to blame
Eugene,
Indeed, only those people who die on the spot are counted. The government is not interested in what happened to the seriously injured, who later die.
I wonder if the government is doing something sensible to prevent accidents. Maybe at most for the shape in the Bangkok area. In 14 years I have never noticed that.
In Chiang Mai, half of the U-turns are again closed. Costs a few extra kilometers to drive, but it is a measure to prevent accidents.
I know that the U turns in Cm also bring a lot of accidents.
Accidents regularly occur at Makro Hang Dong, because through traffic doesn't even bother to slow down. Same a few km further for the airport. No one cares that with a little slowing down the others can use the U turn and not like there are long lines waiting on the other side that are also sometimes driven into.
I have noticed that the last 2 days in and around Hua hin there are major alcohol checks.
These are also not in the places where there is normally a lot of control, but also where they are not expected and at constantly changing times.
So you can normally have a party, but if you go with 1 drink too much, ask the owner for a reliable carrier who can take you to the destination.
Don't think it won't happen to me, the time you wake up you will pat yourself on the back with the thoughts behind it.
I did well!
Normally you can only go on the road in Thailand when you are drunk. If you are sober and use your brain, you do not go on the road in Thailand yourself. . (smile).
All joking aside. thanks pim.
Even as a pedestrian you are not safe on the ZEBRA eg in Hua Hin. Most Thais see these white stripes as a road decoration but not as a reason to stop for you.
Driving at an appropriate speed is a sentence that you cannot translate into Thai. no Thai understands what you mean. In other words, he cannot convert this in his brain in such a way that he understands what that could mean for him when he gets behind the wheel.
The Thai authorities and the WHO use a different method of counting the number of road deaths that die each year as a result of a road accident. The Thai only count the number of deaths that die on the spot of the accident, while the WHO also counts the deaths that die in the 30 days after the accident.
There are several reasons for the large number of road deaths.
Alcohol is a cause. Excessive fatigue and falling asleep at the wheel too. The more than idiotic driving behavior of many Thais also plays a major role. Many Thais cannot drive because they have never taken driving lessons. Many Thais have a complete lack of respect for other road users. Driving is much too fast and too close together. Tailgating seems to be normal here. And so on.
Police failure is a major factor in the high number of road deaths.
The government also appears to be unable to improve traffic discipline.
So a failing police and a failing government in combination with the mentality of Thai road users who really don't care about everything, is in short the core of the problem. Just as with corruption, people appear unable or unwilling to drastically improve road safety.
Completely agree with you. Besides the mentality (only with very heavy penalties), you can control the rest. Special agents at intersections pay attention to who drives on red lights and who would help them on the verge. Especially if you make these people wait on site with their car for a few hours before they are allowed to continue driving. Perhaps this loss of time is affecting their brains? During this time you can immediately check their cart and, if they lack good tires and working lights, for example, pull them completely out of traffic until the defects have been resolved or they are completely sober again.
And as always, we all know better, can drive better, know better how to behave during the Songkran. It's about time the Thai government hires people to translate this blog into Thai. Maybe someone will get a work permit and start working for the Ministry of Transport and sort things out for a while…
Anyway, those who get it wrong won't write here: “yeah but tailgating is fun and I never watch out in traffic. And it's no fault of the others, but I'm one of those drunk behind the wheel, having shot a few bikers off their iron horses with my supersoaker during the day…”
I'm going tomorrow with my girlfriend, a barrel of water and two water bowls on the sidecar of our motorcycle to Hua Hin and hope to have a nice day..... Who knows, this is my last comment on Thailandblog??? In any case, I will be careful and not drive too fast. We can hardly fall over with our tricycle. We are now dependent on the behavior of other drivers… Sometimes, to get out of the daily grind, you have to take a risk. Otherwise, you can dig in and feel like a victim of circumstances.
It will be like this every year and improvement is not in sight. It is only the Thai police who can do something about this. But they are not interested at all. not visible at those points where it keeps popping. And those are mainly the traffic lights on the highways where many motorists pass, partly by even waiting through the roadside at the normal at red. Driving through a red light is a national sport. Decently waiting for the green to turn a strange one. Learning that this is wrong is not part of the Thai concept of good behavior on the road. I hope that the deaths that fall are always and only those Thais who have no respect for the other road users. But it is usually the normal driving people who fall victim to reckless driving and drunk Thais