Phuket officials recognise three dead, 34 injured in Seven Days campaign for New Year

PHUKET: Phuket officials today recognised that three people had died in road accidents so far during the Seven Days of Danger safety campaign for New Year 2023, following an elderly couple being killed on the outskirts of Phuket Town early yesterday morning (Jan 3).

Veersin Bunthanaviraphat, 64, and his wife, Ms Orapawee, 63, residents of Soi Ton Pho in Phuket Town, were killed when a Honda sedan driven by Narongphat Makmee, 56, from Ubon Ratchathani, struck their motorbike with sidecar (saleng) from behind at speed near the Thepsrisin Bridge, near Saphan hin, at about 3:50am.

Mr and Mrs Bunthanaviraphat were on their way to a local market when they were killed.

According to Udomporn Kan, Head of the Phuket Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office (DDPM-Phuket), the deaths of Mr and Mrs Bunthanaviraphat brought the tally so far during this year’s Seven Days campaign for the New Year to three dead (two male, one female) and 34 injured (21 male, 13 female).

Across the island in total only 10 accidents occurred, Mr Kan said, adding that 10 people (seven male, three female) were admitted to hospital for their injuries during the 24 hours of yesterday.

Mr Kan’s report was presented at the daily briefing for the campaign at Phuket Provincial Hall this morning (Jan 4), chaired by Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Somprat Prabsongkram.

Of note, the standard daily report of the DDPM-Phuket itself posted earlier today marked two deaths and 76 people injured in road accidents on the island yesterday.

According to an official report of the meeting by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket), “The meeting discussed measures to prevent accidents, including finding ways to prevent accidents in Phuket as a whole.” No details were provided.

Unlike previous reports of the daily briefings for this year’s Seven Days safety campaign for the New Year, today’s official report did not even mention police.

Unlike previous years in announcing the results of the Seven Days safety campaign for the New Year, this year there have been no public reports of how many arrests police have made for any traffic violations at any of the checkpoints set up across the island.

The Seven Days of Danger safety campaign for New Year 2023 began last Thursday (Dec 29). The campaign will conclude at midnight tonight (Jan 4).

Their figures of # accidents island wide are a load of sh..... The only accidents they have counted are those where people were actually hospitalised. Guarantee there were also dozens of other minor ones where the people involved simply sorted it out themselves and were not badly harmed so didn't see any need to report them.