There were eight accidents recognised by officials ‒ four in Muang District, one in Thalang and three in Kathu District ‒ In which nine people (four men, five women) were admitted to hospital for injuries sustained.
The ‘intensive control period’ of this year’s annual safety campaign, focussing mainly on road accidents, began last Friday (Dec 29) and will continue through this Thursday (Jan 4).
The total for the three days of the campaign so far was 21 people admitted to hospital for injuries, but no deaths, Pol Col Chaikiat Viriyasathitkul, Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police, was told at a briefing held at the Phuket Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office (DDPM-Phuket) at Phuket Provincial Hall.
Joining the meeting was DDPM-Phuket Chief Udomphon Kan and representatives from relevant government agencies.
Of note, according to national road-safety agency ThaiRSC, 75 people were injured, but no people killed, in Phuket road accidents yesterday.
According to ThaiRSC, at last report 135 people were killed in road accidents in Phuket so last year, with another 22,129 people injured.
So far already this year 53 people have been injured in road accidents in Phuket (as of 1:30pm today), ThaiRSC reported.
Phuket officials this morning reported that among the main contributing factors for road accidents yesterday were risky driving behavior, drunk driving and speeding.
The most common vehicle involved in road accidents were motorbikes.
There are a total of 30 police checkpoints across the island, comprising 11 main checkpoints and 19 community checkpoints, repeated a report of this morning’s meeting by the Phuket branch of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket).
Like the PR Phuket report yesterday, the report of the meeting today did not confirm the number of fines issued for traffic violations during the 24 hours of Dec 31.
BOAT ACCIDENT
As the ‘Seven Days of Family Happiness’ safety campaign for the New Year includes marine accidents as well as road safety, Phuket officials this morning were called on to update Royal Thai Police Deputy Commissioner Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn on the speedboat accident at Koh Maithon yesterday that killed a 5-year-old Russian girl and seriously injured several others, including the boat captain.
Wichit Police are responsible for the police investigation into the accident, Pol Gen Surachet was told.
The aim of the investigation is to gather evidence and determine the cause of the accident to determine concrete guidelines for prevention of further similar incidents, said an official report of the meeting.
The speedboat, Apirak 89’, was covered by insurance that covered medical expenses not exceeding B15,000 per person and B100,000 in the event of death, it was explained.
Phuket officials were “working in coordination with consuls and related agencies to take care of and provide relief to those affected by such events”, the report said.