Over 18,000 motorists were sent to court on drink-driving charges from Dec 27 to 31, according to the Office of the Judiciary.
Suriyan Hongvilai, spokesman of the Office, said courts had been flooded by drink-driving cases during the "Seven Dangerous Days" of the New Year period from Dec 27 to Tuesday.
The period has seen 18,314 people found guilty of drink driving, according to Mr Suriyan. On New Year's Eve alone, 8,744 drink drivers were arrested and sent to court. The two other charges keeping courts busy over the holiday period were driving without a licence (2,947 cases) and driving under the influence of drugs (259), he said.
Vittawan Sunthornkajit, director–general of the Department of Probation, said provinces with the highest rate of drink driving from Dec 27-31 were Khon Kaen, Bangkok and Maha Sarakham.
Despite a campaign to deter drivers, drink driving was once again a prime culprit in the holiday road carnage, accounting for 32.29% of all accidents. This was followed by speeding (29.5%), and cutting off other motorists (15.6%), according to the Road Safety Directing Centre (RSDC), a task force created by the government.
Veera Khengkasikarn, a Ministry of Education inspector and RSDC president, said motorcycle riders and elderly drivers were the hardest hit.
Motorcycles were involved in 80.9% of crashes, while road users aged over 50 accounted for 25% of victims. The peak time for traffic accidents was 4pm-8pm.
Mr Veera warned traffic on main roads would now increase as revellers returned to Bangkok.
The accumulated death toll was 256 as of Tuesday, the fifth of the "seven dangerous days'', with Bangkok hardest hit.
A total of 256 were killed and 2,588 injured in 2,529 road accidents nationwide from Dec 27 to 31, Mr Veera said yesterday. On Dec 31 alone, 42 people were killed and 567 injured in 542 road accidents.
The New Year death toll fell slightly from last year, while injuries were significantly lower than on an average day, according to Mr Veera.
Road accidents killed 45 people and injured 2,523 each day on average from January to October 2019, according to the accident claims company, Road Accident Victims Protection Co.
Over the Dec 27-31 period, Bangkok had the highest number of deaths at 12, while Chiang Mai recorded the highest number of injuries and road accidents at 77 and 76 respectively.
