Drunk driving make up the majority of violations during Songkran
A total of 4,132 traffic violations were reported to the Department of Probation during the five days of the Songkran Festival (April 11-15), the department said on Tuesday, adding that most of them (96.15%), or 3,973 cases, involved drunk driving.
Thousands of Thais travel upcountry during the Songkran and New Year breaks every year, and heavy traffic, speeding and inebriation inevitably result in a spike in road accidents during this period.
Department director-general Ruangsak Suwaree said that the number of drunk driving cases dropped by 32.3% from last year. There were 5,869 drunk driving cases reported during the same period in 2023.
Meanwhile, 156 cases handled by the department this year involved driving under the influence of intoxicating substances other than alcohol, and three cases involved reckless driving.
Bangkok was the province with the highest number of drunk driving cases reported at 446, followed by Nonthaburi (238) and Samut Prakan (214).
Ruangsak said the department set up 162 checkpoints on main routes nationwide during Songkran to screen traffic violations and hand out free drinking water to motorists. A total of 4,167 officials and volunteers have been working at these checkpoints in the past five days.
Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Interior’s Road Safety Centre, 1,259 traffic accidents, with 162 people killed and 1,279 injured, were recorded between April 11 and 14.
