New Year “7 dangerous days”: 54 deaths on Day 3
New Year road safety campaign reported 54 deaths on Day 3 (Jan 2, 2026), with 326 crashes and speeding the top cause
Thailand’s Road Safety Centre reported 54 deaths on the third day of the New Year “seven dangerous days” road-safety campaign, with speeding cited as the leading cause of crashes.
At 10.15am on January 2, 2026, at the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), Jirapong Theppitak, deputy permanent secretary of the Transport Ministry, chaired a briefing on the centre’s operations.
He said DDPM and partner agencies recorded 326 road crashes on January 2, 2026, the third day of the “Drive safely: reduce speed, reduce accidents” campaign. The crashes left 317 people injured and 54 dead.
The leading causes were speeding (40.18%) and drink-driving (29.45%). Motorcycles were involved in 76.92% of crashes. Most incidents occurred on straight roads (78.22%). By road type, highways accounted for 36.81% and roads under subdistrict administrative organisations and village routes for 29.75%.
The peak time for crashes was 12.01am–3.00am (25.15%). The highest share of the injured and deceased were aged 20–29 (22.91%).
By province, Phuket recorded the most crashes (16) and the most injured (18). Bangkok recorded the highest number of deaths (7).
Over the first three days of the campaign (December 30, 2025 to January 1, 2026), totals reached 798 crashes, 769 injuries and 145 deaths. Phuket had the highest cumulative number of crashes (34) and injuries (38), while Bangkok had the highest cumulative death toll (12).
