More than 230 people died, more than 2,000 people were injured during the 2023 Water Festival – an event that the country’s media called ‘seven dangerous days’.
According to statistics on the occasion of Songkran in Thailand, there were more than 2,000 accidents, more than 2,000 people were injured, 236 people died, including tourists and locals. Bangkok is the place with the most casualties in the country. The province with the most traffic accidents is Kanchanaburi. Chumphon province had the highest number of injured people.
The number of injured people increased by 18%, the number of accidents increased by 16% compared to last year. However, the number of deaths decreased by 4.45%. The number of deaths on this occasion in 2019 was 386 and more than 3,300 traffic accidents.
“Never drive or ride a motorbike on Songkran” is the advice that tourists hear the most when participating in the water festival in Thailand.
This is one of the occasions with the most traffic accidents in the country, because people, tourists are drunk and driving, leading to incidents. The media also called Thailand during Songkran “the most dangerous place on earth to drive”. That’s why, the Thai New Year is also known by the nickname – “7 days of danger or 7 days of death”. Number of deaths, accidents are updated every day.
Authorities have set up nearly 1,900 checkpoints, more than 54,000 people on duty to coordinate traffic, to prevent accidents. More than 322,000 vehicles were handled, more than 48,000 cases prosecuted. More than 14,100 people were fined for not having a driver’s license, more than 13,000 people were not wearing helmets.
Songkran is a Thai New Year event, with the activities of going to the temple to pray for good luck, paying tribute to parents and splashing water for good luck. Songkran takes place on 3 official days (April 13-15), but side events have already begun.
This year’s festival helped Thailand attract more than 300,000 international visitors and generated more than 18 billion baht (nearly $537 million) in revenue, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). This number increased by 525% over the same period last year, equal to 58% compared to before the epidemic, with nearly 600,000 international arrivals. This year, Thailand is expected to welcome 25 million international visitors, reaching more than 60% compared to 2019.
1 comment
♥️ heavy price to pay for pleasure.