Death toll hits 181 on third of ‘seven dangerous days’

Army and police have also reported that 64,310 motorists were found driving under the influence of alcohol over the past five days. Of these, some 30,000 drunk drivers (including 19,577 motorcyclists) face prosecution and as many as 1,565 vehicles (including 1,182 motorcycles) have been seized, National Council for Peace and Order deputy spokesperson Colonel Sirichan Ngathong said.

At a press conference held by the Road Safety Directing Centre yesterday, Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said that on Wednesday alone there were 754 accidents killing 65 people and wounding 796 others. 

Drunk driving and speeding were still main factors linked to 40 and 33 per cent of accidents respectively, while most crashes involved two-wheelers (83 per cent) followed by pick-up trucks (7 per cent). On the same day, officials at 2,129 checkpoints arrested 111,629 motorists – most of whom (32,278) were caught for not wearing a helmet, while 30,625 were unable to produce driving licences. 

As people continued to celebrate Songkran by splashing with water and drinking alcohol, Kobkarn said officials manning checkpoints had been told to get tougher with motorcyclists who are not wearing helmets and speeding pick-up trucks loaded with water tanks to splash revellers. 

So far, Chiang Mai has had the highest number of total accidents at 74 and the highest number of injuries at 80, while Buri Ram province had the highest number of fatalities with 10 deaths. 

Meanwhile, in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district, a speeding Honda Jazz sedan overturned after crashing into a tree past midnight yesterday, killing four people and wounding six others. At 6am, a brake malfunction caused a city garbage to crash into four taxis and a parked motorbike near the entrance of Royal City Avenue. It resulted in six injuries, with a taxi driver in critical condition, officers from the Makkasan Police Station said. 

Deputy National Police chief Pongsapat Pongcharoen yesterday inspected some houses in Bang Khen district placed under police protection from last Tuesday until Monday. He said the protection scheme has been operating for 15 years and the number of homeowners seeking protection for their property rose to about 5,500 nationwide this year. 

He said Bangkok had more than 2,000 homes added to the scheme, while Chokchai Police Station alone had to look after 100 homes. He added that police kept homeowners posted with updates on the situation every two hours via the LINE chat application.