Two people died and one woman was injured in three accidents during the Day 7, the final day of the campaign, from midnight to midnight yesterday (Apr 17), the Phuket office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket) reported this morning (Apr 18).
In total, five people died and 34 people were injured in 33 road accidents throughout the seven days, which began last Thursday (Apr 11) and concluded at midnight last night.
Of the two deaths recorded yesterday, one was that of 68-year-old Filipino Rigoberto Ignacio, who died after his motorbike was hit by a car at the intersection of Kwang Rd and Chao Fa West Rd in Wichit in the early hours of yesterday morning. (See story here.)
However, 14-year-old Thai boy Methasit Maneeman became the final fatality within the 24-hour period of the final day of the campaign after he was crushed under the wheels of a “Po Thong” bus on Wichit Songkram Rd in Phuket Town at 2:50pm, the DDPM reported.
Methasit was a passenger on a motorbike that collided with another motorbike, causing Methasit to fall onto the road, the DDPM noted in its report.
He died at the scene, the report added.
Of the people injured yesterday, the most serious was that of Waraporn Chaisriha, 25, who suffered serious head injuries after she fell from her motorbike on Soi Bangyang in Moo 6, Srisoonthorn at 2:30pm, the DDPM reported.
Ms Waraporn was allegedly drunk and weaving among traffic on the road when the accident happened, the DDPM report said.
She apparently was also driving unlicenced.
Ms Waraporn, disoriented and unable to recall the accident, was taken to Thalang Hospital and later transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital.
Meanwhile, Phuket police reported issuing 2,192 fines for moving violations during the 24-hour period, as follows:
• 63 fined for operating an unsafe/illegally modified motorcycle
• 152 fined for not wearing seatbelts
• 607 fined for driving without a licence
• 79 fined for speeding
• 60 fined for ignoring traffic signals
• 75 fined for ghost driving (driving opposite traffic flow)
• 43 fined for dangerously cutting off other motorists in traffic
• 55 fined for using mobile phones while driving.
• 46 people were arrested for drunk driving during the period.
• 1,012 people fined for not wearing helmets
During the entire seven days, police reported checking 15,736 vehicles and issuing fines or taking more serious legal action for moving violations, as follows:
• 493 fined for operating an unsafe/illegally modified motorcycle
• 1,092 fined for not wearing seatbelts
• 4,566 fined for driving without a licence
• 328 fined for speeding
• 471 fined for ignoring traffic signals
• 533 fined for ghost driving (driving opposite traffic flow)
• 325 fined for dangerously cutting off other motorists in traffic
• 472 fined for using mobile phones while driving.
• 501 people were arrested for drunk driving during the period.
• 6,955 people fined for not wearing helmets
The DDPM this morning noted that the death and accident tally for this year’s Songkran Seven Days campaign was the worst for three years.
However, The Phuket News confirms from previous reports that this year is the worst Songkran Seven Days tally for at least six years, as follows:
- 2018: 1 dead, 49 injured in 47 accidents
- 2017: 4 dead, 70 injured in 67 accidents
- 2016: 3 dead, 62 injured in 57 accidents
- 2015: 0 dead, 58 injured in 57 accidents
- 2014: 1 dead, 22 injured in 22 accidents
- 2013: 0 dead (according to official reports, but one man died from injuries sustained in an accident outside the Seven Days time period recognised).
The Governor and other high-ranking officials responsible for holding the campaign have yet to comment on this year’s failure to contain the carnage on Phuket’s roads over the Songkran holidays.