Alcohol crackdown in force
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As the excitement builds ahead of the New Year, authorities have busted more than 50 booze vendors over the past three days as part of the crackdown on alcohol sales at prohibited venues and during prohibited times to prevent accidents caused by drunk dri
Driving under the influence is the biggest cause of traffic accidents at 33 per cent, Narong Sahamethaphat, permanent secretary of the Public Health Ministry, told the Road Safety Centre’s daily press briefing yesterday.
Officials from the Disease Control Department have inspected 271 venues since Thursday and taken legal action against 53 of them for selling alcoholic drinks in prohibited places, including public parks, petrol stations, pharmacies and government offices.
Also, some of them had sold drinks during periods of the day when such transactions are banned.
Revellers were warned not to drink while driving or riding in a vehicle, as that would violate a PM’s Office directive.
Narong said the death toll had reached 148 in the first three of the “seven dangerous days” of the New Year break. During the period there were 1,362 injuries and 1,322 road accidents. All the figures were lower than last year’s 165 deaths, 1,782 injuries and 1,605 accidents.
Nakhon Pathom was the province with the most deaths at 11, while Chiang Mai had the most road accidents at 61 and injuries at 64.
Trat has been accident-free since Thursday. It was among the 20 provinces that have yet to report any traffic fatality.
Saturday alone saw 77 deaths and 536 injuries from 513 road accidents.
Half of the victims were rushed to hospitals by passers-by and this put them at risk of worse conditions and even death from improper first aid, Narong said. People should call the medical emergency hotline at 1669, he added.
