Road deaths usher in Songkran holiday

Road deaths usher in Songkran holiday

At least 13 people were killed and around 80 others injured on Friday morning in a bad start to the seven day road safety campaign for the Songkran festival.

At least 300 people die every year in road accidents during what is known as the "seven dangerous days" of Songkran. Authorities again launched a road safety campaign this year, hoping to reduce the annual carnage.

The prime minister said she would prefer the holiday period be known as "seven days of happiness".

The holiday count began on Friday morning and continues until Thursday.

 A recent study found that 70% of people who died on the road during the the annual New Year and Songkran holidays had extremely high alcohol levels in their blood. 

The smouldering wreckage of the passenger van that crashed into a tree and burst into flames in  Chanthaburi Friday morning, killing eight Cambodians returning home for Songkran and seriously injuring another 12 people. (Photo from Chanthaburi rescue team)

The worst accident was in Chanthaburi where a van crashed on a curve in Tha Mai district of, killing eight Cambodian passengers and injuring 11 more and the driver.

The van was taking 19 Cambodians from Rayong to Ban Laem border checkpoint in Phong Namron district when it crashed on Sukhumvit Road in tambon Thung Benja of Tha Mai district around 7.10am.

It left the road on a curve and hit a tree, then the gas fuel cylinders exploded, causing a fire. Many passengers trapped inside the van were killed by the fire, Suchart Khwanchai, chief of rescue at Sawang Katanyu Foundation, said. 

The rescue team delivered a total of 12 people to three hospitals, four of them in critical condition.

The police suspect the driver fell asleep at the wheel.  

In Ranong, a double-decker bus ran over a sidecar motorcycle around 6am, killing the motorcycle driver and her passenger, and 47 passengers on the bus were injured when it then crashed off the road. The bus was travelling from Phuket to Bangkok.

Boonsong Phetarwut, 50, was found dead, crushed  in the motorcycle wreckage. Sayan Sangthong, 37, was found alive beneath the motorcycle and later died in hospital.

Radom Katanya, 60, the bus driver, was slightly injured. He told the police that he was roundig a curve and he could not see the road clearly due to fog . The bus ran over the motorcycle and then went plunged off the road. He was charged with careless driving causing death.

Even earlier, around 1am, a pickup truck rammed into the back of a 10-wheeler fully loaded with sugar cane in Dan Chang district of Suphanburi province, klilling three young people  and injuring six more.

Rescuers reported the pickup truck was crushed under the back of the 10-wheeler. The three deceased were identified as Chainarond Chanthorn, 22, Nisarat Khamphuon, 15, and Kornkanok Korakong, 17.

The six injured are Prachaya Kaewsasaen, 18; Nattapong Khunpengme, 15; Surapong Chanthorn, 25; Precha Chanthorn, 25; Santi Changkwiendi, 22; and Athit Phanwong, 20. All of the victims are from Ban Rai district in Uthai Thani. They were returning home from a show in Dan Chang.

One of the injured said Chainarong drove the pickup truck at high speed on the dark road and did not see the truck in time to avoid it because its tail light was obscured by the pile of cane. The driver of the sugarcane truck fled the scene after the accident. 

In Ayutthaya, a bus taking employees of Minibea Thai from Lop Buri plant on a field trip went off the road and into a ditch between the inbound and outbound lanes of the Asia Highway in tambon Thanu of Uthai district about 8.30am, sliding for about 50 metres before coming to a halt. Police said about 15 passengers were hurt.

Rerscuers had to help the passengers out through the windows and as the side with the doors was on the ground. 

Watthan Pasawas, 29, the bus driver, said he was taking the workers from Lop Buri to Rangsit market when he lost control of the bus. Some passengers said the driver felt asleep at the wheel. 

Meanwhile, Bangkok's Dusit District Court will start using electronic-monitoring ankle bracelets on drunk-driving and street racing defendants on Sunday.

An offender cannot leave his residence from 10pm to 4am for 7-15 days, or any period the judges deem appropriate.


A bus taking workers from Minibea factory in Lop Buri slid off the road in Ayutthaya, injuring 15. (Photo by Suthorn Pongpao)

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