More road deaths occur every week other than the ‘7 Songkran days’
The media always gush over road accidents and bloody corpses during Songkran; it spooks the hell out of me, making me barricade myself in the house during the holiday. Out of boredom, I did a little finding and found that Songkran is not that scary after all.
According to the World Health Organisation, Thailand’s yearly average road deaths is 36.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, translating to 24,254 deaths per year, or, 466 every seven-day period.
Please make a mental note of this number.
According to the Land Transport Department website, road fatalities during the 7-day period of Songkran from 2008 to 2016 are: 368, 373, 361, 271, 320, 321, 322, 364 and 442. Based on these figures, average road deaths during the “Seven dangerous days” is 349, way below yearly average death of 466! Surprised?
So, statistically, you are safer on the roads during Songkran than during non-Songkran. Happy and safe holiday!
Somsak Pola
