The public health permanent secretary on Tuesday asked parents in Ayutthaya and Nakhon Sawan to warn their children after the 1669 medical emergency hotline in the provinces had been flooded with prank calls made by teenagers.
Narong Sahamethaphat said the hotline could have received the usually high number of emergency calls for road accidents during Songkran had it not been for the prank phone calls that blocked the line from callers in need of urgent medical services.
This could mean life or death for them, he said.
The number of phone calls made to the emergency communications centres at Sawan Pracharak Hospital in Nakhon Sawan and Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Hospital had increased by 70% in the first four days of Songkran. Each centre can respond to 5-10 emergency calls simultaneously.
But half of the calls, or about 40-50, were prank calls made by local youngsters.
They contacted the 1669 hotline to order fast food, report false emergencies or make obscene conversations with female operators, Dr Narong said.
He asked the parents in the provinces to warn their children of the consequences of such calls and help raise awareness of public safety and patient needs.