BANGKOK, 15 April 2015 – 251 persons were killed and 2,532 injured by road accidents over the course of five days, from April 9-13, despite authorities’ efforts to minimize losses incurred from the accidents during the Songkran travel period.
2,406 road accidents have been reported during the past five days. The main causes of the accidents were driving under the influence and over speeding. Roi Et province currently has the most fatalities from road accidents, at 11 deaths. Nakhon Si Thammarat has seen the highest number of accidents, at 94, and also the highest number of injuries, at 98.
The government’s road accidents prevention and mitigation center has told local administrative organizations to maintain their ‘community checkpoints’ that have been erected to encourage safe driving among locals within communities, despite the Songkran holidays coming to an end and many holidaymakers having already started journeying back to Bangkok.
Officials manning community checkpoints and regular checkpoints on roads have been told to stringently enforce laws associated with drunken driving, speeding and failure to wear helmets. This year, state officials and civil servants are to face disciplinary action for failure to observe traffic law, in addition to normal penalties.
