Prawit orders agencies to cooperate to reduce Songkran death toll
A campaign to reduce the road-death toll during the Songkran holidays will be rolled out as relevant government agencies join forces under the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan.
The Interior Ministry has been told to cooperate with other agencies to find and implement measures to reduce road accidents during the period, said ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich.
The Cabinet on Tuesday gave the green light for the five-day “Songkran Festival” holiday from April 12 to 16.
To accommodate people travelling up-country to visit their hometowns, and to stimulate nationwide tourism, the Cabinet designated Thursday, April 12 as an additional holiday on top of the April 13 to 16 usual holiday time.
Kongcheep said
Prawit told the agencies to learn from past statistics to identify accident causes and try to minimise them, said Kongcheep.
He said the authorities would also launch awareness campaigns about drunk driving, use of safety belts and wearing helmets.
Manu Thais travel to see family and friend during the long Songkran holidays as they celebrate the traditional Thai New Year and enjoy the water-splashing festival.
There were 3,690 road accidents during the April 11 to 17 Songkran period last year, killing 390 people and injuring 3,808 others.
The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said the death toll was down 11.76 per cent from 2016.