BANGKOK, Jan 4 – Thailand’s death toll from road accidents nationwide during the New Year’s celebration period has risen to 314, with 3,116 injured in 2,856 road accidents in the first six days of the “seven high risk travel days” during the New Year holiday season, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.
Pol Gen Boriharn Siang-arom, an assistant to the national police chief for the agency’s Road Safety Centre told a press conference that on Tuesday alone, there were 312 accidents with 32 fatalities and 333 injuries. He said most of the accidents were caused by drunk driving, followed by speeding.
Most accidents involved motorcycles and mainly occurred in late afternoon and early evening, from 4-8 pm.
Most victims, whether fatalities or injured, were of working age. Most deaths –four– were reported in the northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom and most accidents of 18 occurred in Chiang Mai.
The cumulative number of road accidents from Dec 29 to Jan 3 was 2,856, a decrease by 371 from last year accident while the total number of deaths–314–increased by 11 with total injuries dropping by 337 to 3,116 year-on-year. The most fatalities–18– were recorded in the northeastern province Buri Ram and the highest number of accidents occurred in Nakhon Sawan with 104, along with highest number of injuries at 110.
Ten provinces reported no fatalities–Satun, Nonthaburi, Nong Khai, Udon Thani, Si Sa Ket, Yala, Trat, Sukhothai, Tak and Pattani.
The government launched its “Seven High Risk Travel Days” campaign from Dec 29-Jan 4 in a bid to reduce road accidents over the long holiday. The campaign is aimed at cutting casualties among New Year revellers.
