PPAO readies for Songkran Seven Days of Danger

The meeting was of the committee designated as the ‘Road and Marine Accident Prevention and Reduction Center Songkran Festival 2023’, chaired by Mueang District Chief Phairot Srilamul, the PPAO reported through a post online.

Mr Phairot also serves as Director of the ‘Road and Maritime Safety Operation Center for Mueang Phuket District’, the report noted.

PPAO President Rewat Areerob had assigned Jeerawut Thongtos, Head of the PPAO’s Public Health Promotion Department, Public Health Division, to join the meeting to help start drafting the measures to be taken during the campaign.

Among them will be checkpoints set up across the island from Tuesday (Apr 11) through Apr 17, the report noted.

As such, the report by the PPAO became the first by officials on the island to recognise the actual dates for the “enforcement” section of the road and water safety campaign during Songkran 2023.

The PPAO will assist in setting up the main checkpoints, service points and community checkpoints across the island during the seven days, the report noted.

The aim of the meeting was to start implementing measures and action plans to prevent and reduce road and sea accidents during the Songkran Festival 2023, the report said.

Last year Phuket officials recognised just four deaths and 28 people injured requiring hospital treatment in 32 accidents across the island during the Seven Days of Danger for the Songkran Thai New Year holidays.

There were no deaths or injuries officially recorded from marine accidents.

Police stopped and checked 12,525 vehicles at 10 checkpoints across the island during the seven days, with the top traffic violations being not wearing a helmet while riding a motorbike (2,047 people fined) and driving without a licence (1,733 people fined).

Of note, the Thailand Road Safety Committee (ThaiRSC) marked five deaths in road accidents in Phuket last year.

So far this year Phuket has suffered 37 deaths and 6,315 people injured in road accidents on the island since the start of the year, ThaiRSC reported as of yesterday (Apr 7).

Of those, 18 deaths and 3,419 injured were in Mueang District, with 13 deaths and 1,294 injured in Thalang District and six deaths and 1,591 injured in Kathu District.

Nationwide, so far this year 4,253 people have died and 219,504 people have been injured in road accidents in Thailand, reports ThaiRSC.