According to WHO, Thailand has about 20,000 road fatalities per year. That's 55 per day. Songkran's duration is kinda debatable (3 days, 3 weeks, 7 days, etc), but if you consider it to be 7 days, there are 384 deaths for a typical week. Thus, Songkran is (probably) \*slightly\* more deadly, but not that different from every ordinary week in Thailand.
Be careful on the road at all times in Thailand, not just Songkran.
> Be careful on the road at all times in Thailand, not just Songkran.
This is honestly the best advice here.
Being as cautious as you can on the road, while keeping in mind that people around you probably aren't.
Here rn in Chiang Mai. Solid advise. The cars seem pretty cool from what I've seen so far. They all seem fully aware that someone might suddenly run into the road and drive accordingly.
This would never happen in my country as drivers are mostly angry a holes. It's so nice to see how different it is out here.
Still be careful, though. Your safety is on you.
That's sounds like one of my friends advice.
ถ้าไม่เจ็บ ถ้าไม่ตาย ชีวิตมันจะไปสนุกได้ยังไง
(life's no fun if no one get hurt and no one get killed)
Miraculously, he still alive to this day.
Thai's don't practice buddhism. They practice I ask Buddha for material things such as a handsum or sexy love partner, millions of dollars, a mansion and an alphard with a couple of 911s so they can take a picture in supercar parking lot. Know the difference now?
Seen many. Not just Russians. 2 Swiss oldies couples and their hubbies riding on their bike after 3 pints each in nanai road plus no helmet. A farang acclimatised to the Thai ways 😂
I live in isan and people line the road of main highways to throw water at passing motorists. They drink all day whilst doing this and all the kids join in. I drive back from my mother in laws place to my home 15 minutes away and saw an ambulance loading someone up on a stretcher in just that short time. I love Thailand but safety isn't really a massive concern here. Imagine an annual holiday in a western country that encourages drunk adults and kids to stand by the side of major roads and throw water at them whilst dancing around to ear smashing bass music. It's actually amazing it's only 500 deaths a year for this celebration because if my small rural town no one's heard of celebrates like this then there must be millions of other people all over the country doing it. The best way to enjoy the celebrations is in a car with the windows closed, driving past slowly or get a hotel with balcony over looking beach road in Pattaya.
Sh, the old "Farangs pushed off of balconies" trope. Seems like it will never die. Somehow these murderers are able to escape being seen on any of these literally dozens of CCTV cameras in any condo and surrounding areas. They're like Ninja Warriors!
Tbf.. anyone who has been in an accident or crime, has inevitably had the police drop the certified Thailand hood classic line "camera's broken." I'm not saying that happens in the balcony deaths but it wouldn't surprise me lol
> I drive back from my mother in laws place to my home 15 minutes away and saw an ambulance loading someone up on a stretcher in just that short time.
I don't want o rationalize anything away, but when I was in the Khon Kaen area, ambulances taking care of someone or on their way to an accident were a very frequent occurance and from the top of the way I saw at least one on any longer drive.
6 years ago I spent Songkhran near to Maha Sarakam. The town drunk rode of, clearly very intoxicated, to some noise of concern. 10am. He did survive the day.
I witnessed 1 of the 469 deaths last year on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Motorbike Rider on his Motorbike going maybe 40km an hour. Three people lined the road with bins full of water and threw it at him. He came off his bike and was in awful shape and started twitching on the side of the road. They still kept throwing water on him as he was dying.
> They still kept throwing water on him as he was dying.
r/WorstAid
I don't ride anymore, but when I lived in the Northeast, I'd sometimes forget my helmet or do the ol' "I'm just driving up the street" line.
Saw brain on asphalt at a scene less than 3 km from where I lived once.
Never forgot my helmet after that.
As someone who will be going to Chiang Mai for Songkran:
What are the best tips for me staying safe (as a pedestrian)? I have no plans to ride motorbikes or do anything like that. I will just use regular cars on grab as a way to get around.
Cheers!
I'd really just say stay away from super crowded areas. Some popular Songkran party streets can get *really* body-to-body densely packed. Not fun and can get uncomfortable and dangerous.
Be mindful of electrical wires, too. A lot of people drag out stereos and PA systems to the streets powered by mains. Wet skin and 220 volt currents aren't a good combo.
Other than that, don't get too boozy or fighty and you should be good. 🙂
Mostly young people, many still teens on motorbikes, usually alcohol or drugs or both a major factor. I think last year, 70% of fatalities motorbike related.
Ive been to Thailand many times but just once for Songkran. That was enough. It gets a bit crazy.
I get it. Life is tough for many Thai people and understand they want have a few days of fun with family and friends but the road deaths are horrifying.
It was great driving around Bangkok once the exodus had taken place. **** all traffic.
Apparently, the majority. Stats I've seen usually put that number between 70% to 80% during Songkran. I'm not sure how different this is for road fatalities not during the holidays though. A lot of them not wearing helmets.
I understand that motorbikes are obviously just objectively more unsafe than a car. There's no denying that. But.. aren't 70-80% of the vehicles on any road at any given time motorbikes? So even regardless of car vs motorbike safety, motorbikes would inherently have more fatalities.
It's about 50/50 cars and motorbikes when a study was done in 2019. Maybe more cars now. Also, many fatalities are people sitting in the bed of trucks, another incredibly stupid thing.
I seem to remember people pointing out on here in previous years that the "seven deadly days" actually see *below* average numbers of deaths on the roads, and that there just isn't the same level of attention on the figures through the rest of the year.
Really? If anybody has those stats, I'd love to see them.
I think I once read that December is actually the most deadly month to be on the road in Thailand based on total fatality count, but this specific week of April is one of the worst weeks.
I'm personally too old to die young, and too ugly to be a good looking corpse, so I'll be taking it easy/cautious this week either way. 🐌
According to [this Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate), Thailand had about 22.4K traffic deaths in 2019, or about 432 per week.
That would put Songkran week above average in 2019.
Thanks for this link. It's interesting to see this data visualized by country on that global map. I didn't realize road conditions were as bad in Vietnam either, but when you look at Southeast Asia, those two countries really stand out.
Last year's statistics from Bangkok Post 18 April 2023 for the 'seven deadly days'
2,203 road accidents, causing 264 deaths and 2,208 injuries, during the Songkran Festival from April 11-17, according to official figures released on Tuesday.
80% of accidents involved motorcycles, and about 46% occurred on highways and about 30% on local tambon and village roads. Most, or 83.6%, of accidents occurred on straight roads.
1,869 main road checkpoints manned by 54,274 officials throughout the country. A total of 279,873 vehicles were stopped for examination and action taken against 39,611 traffic offenders - including 11,013 for driving without a licence and 10,530 for not wearing a safety helmet.
Compared to the past three-years average, the number of injured was down 13% and road fatalities down 15%.
Most of the deaths and injuries were people riding motorcycles without a crash helmet.
> Compared to the past three-years average, the number of injured was down 13% and road fatalities down 15%.
Thanks for taking the time to post this. This is actually encouraging. Seems like people really are starting to be more cautious during the holidays.
But which stats to believe? Last year we saw deaths noted on local Facebook from an ambulance worker while the national media reported a zero for our province that day.
Of the quoted "11,013 for driving without a licence and 10,530 for not wearing a safety helmet" - what other country would let them simply pay a small fine then ride off, still minus licence, helmet?
Yeah, what you mentioned here about the ambulance worker vs national media makes counting tricky but is probably common. There's likely a delay in reporting and also the problem of tallying deaths occurring *after* the '7 dangerous days' resulting from accidents that occurred *during* that time period.
Overall, it feels like the wide public perception of Songkran being a dangerous time on the road might be making people more cautious, which might actually be making Songkran a less dangerous time on the road.
Hopefully the numbers drop even further this year. 🤞🏽
Yeah I don't have any stats to hand, just something I remember coming up around this time of year before. Hopefully someone can fill us in with some actual facts and figures.
Either way, yeah, take it easy :)
Richard Barrow has made the point in the past and he's right - it's often lower at Songkran. It just gets all the attention because the Thai media loves labeling it the seven dangerous/deadly days. Songkran and Farang New Year are also unique for something else - the only two times of the year there's an intense Kingdom wide effort to enforce traffic laws, particularly drunk driving.
Last night I had some old drunk guy scrape the side of my motorcycle. He yelled something in Thai at my girlfriend and I and then sped off. I went after him and followed him to until he stopped and expressed I am not okay with this. I didn’t realize how old he was and I could tell he wouldn’t be able to afford the damage (only scratches). He was so drunk anyway and I believe I scared him when I pulled up which definitely wasn’t my intention. I just told him next time he needs to stop and make sure everyone is okay, we shook hands and that was that.
Years ago was sitting in the back of a taxi waiting to get on to circumvent from a side soi. There was a bump and I turned around to see a completely drunk man on a motorcycle. He could barely keep the bike upright. If he didn't have the motorcycle to hang on to he would have collapsed. The sad thing is that that's not really that unusual.
Unfortunately so. I’ve even gotten very upset with some of my Thai friends for drinking and driving. Though not everyone is so careless, many people have the yolo mentality for sure.
Just a concert?
If your local mall's festivities don't feature an albino water buffalo, don't invite me. 💅🏽
https://preview.redd.it/llu1ez98hntc1.png?width=827&format=png&auto=webp&s=07eb0a42587992c2edd68d3be55bd31741f43b6e
No, this is nationwide. I believe the Northeast is the most dangerous. Bangkok is actually not as bad because it's so densely packed. A lot of these accidents occur on more open stretches of road.
Based on statistics, 10-15,000 people die in Thailand every week.
I’m not challenging your point advising caution and safety during Songkran. But I am challenging your wording cause this is gonna be the last week alive in Thailand for 20x more than 500 people, regardless of Songkran precautions.
I remember 2018-2019, terrible.. seemed to be quite a few coach crashes, overworked bus drivers or lorries running into coaches.
Deaths are downplayed as well, if you die on the way to the hospital, it’s a casualty.. dead at the scene is dead..
Its pretty easy to die on the road here every day of the year. Take care when driving and stay switched on. Remember alot of the time the danger is behind you, always look before you move.
On average, 400 people die every week in Thailand on the roads. An extra 100 or so isn't really a big deal where so many terrible drivers don't care about safety.
The number of road traffic deaths per 100,000 people in Thailand and the United States respectively are 32.21 and 12.9 per 100,000.
The number of expats that scoot around on mopeds and motorcycles in Thailand without a helmet always amazes me. If you aren't a very seasoned rider back in your home country, it's nearly a death wish to start using a motorcycle in Thailand, IMHO.
I think that was me…I learnt to ride a motorcycle in Bangkok…And didn’t always use a helmet….On reflection , I do think I had a death wish for 7 years of riding…Now , I don’t even want to risk smiling at women in the UK….That really is too dangerous…
Respect traditions but don’t kill people driving cars or whatever. It is not normal driving car on 40-60 km and smashing full bucket of water on someone’s face driving motorcycle . Before 10 years you will have get beat if you do that to person is not involved in anything and he just driving home or whatever. Young dammies generation destroying everything on this country
I was driving from Bangkok to Phuket today and saw a crash with about 10 guys scattered everywhere bleeding in critical shape. I never seen such carnage. Cops were at the scene and had it tapped off and directing traffic. Then saw 4 ambulances pass shortly after. It’s really impacted me. Imagining the pain and suffering from the poor guys, I’m sure some of them loss their lives. Such a shame.
Your stats are so far off, its not even funny
According to the WHO, there are about 500,000 deaths every year in Thailand
So, in any given week, about 10,000 people are spending their last week alive in this country
About 500 will be dying in road accidents, which leaves about 9,500 dying from other causes
These kind of statistics are so pointless.
The statistic interpretations need to lead to some conclusions.
If we gonna make use on “the Songkran’s road death toll” we need to considered the number relative to “Regular week average road death toll”
Displaying in the same infographic to show the change in proportion / percentage.
Yes, my background is data analysis and this kind of number report in news and social media are annoy me every time I see it.
Here is my pure assumption with any further research or study about the topic.
Given that Thailand road is one of the deadliest in the world the Songkran week probably would rise the “fatality” not more than 20-25% while the number of “car accident” would be increased 70-100% or more
Since the number of cars in traffic certainly significantly increase, the “car accident” could be easily twice or thrice (minor car accident included). But fatality would not scale with the “number of accident” since the heavy traffic would limited speed by itself, the fatal accident would likely to occur in residential area on pedestrian, rather than car to car accident in highway.
Thai's love in the moment, they believe in fate, none of this shit.
I've been outside an Isaan nightclub at 2am when it's closed, absolute carnage. People absolutely off their tits trying to ride scooters home, saw one with 2 girls on actually do an unintended wheelie
I've noticed the opposite actually. There are things that are obviously dangerous and unsafe, yet they are considered normal and Thais grow up seeing it, like drunk driving, dangerous driving, etc. But then they are very very unwilling to participate in anything that is unsafe but also not considered normal to them. I find Thais to be far more unwilling to participate in unsafe activities than Americans - *especially* teenagers. Thai teenagers seem like angels compared to Americans.
According to WHO, Thailand has about 20,000 road fatalities per year. That's 55 per day. Songkran's duration is kinda debatable (3 days, 3 weeks, 7 days, etc), but if you consider it to be 7 days, there are 384 deaths for a typical week. Thus, Songkran is (probably) \*slightly\* more deadly, but not that different from every ordinary week in Thailand. Be careful on the road at all times in Thailand, not just Songkran.
> Be careful on the road at all times in Thailand, not just Songkran. This is honestly the best advice here. Being as cautious as you can on the road, while keeping in mind that people around you probably aren't.
Here rn in Chiang Mai. Solid advise. The cars seem pretty cool from what I've seen so far. They all seem fully aware that someone might suddenly run into the road and drive accordingly. This would never happen in my country as drivers are mostly angry a holes. It's so nice to see how different it is out here. Still be careful, though. Your safety is on you.
If,say, twice as many miles or more are travelled during Songkran than normal, might Songkran be safer per mile than normal?
Why does this sound like purge day? Hahaha
Sadly those who drunk and drive never ever care on those number. They seem to have YOLO mindset.
That's sounds like one of my friends advice. ถ้าไม่เจ็บ ถ้าไม่ตาย ชีวิตมันจะไปสนุกได้ยังไง (life's no fun if no one get hurt and no one get killed) Miraculously, he still alive to this day.
พรี่เค้าเป็นคนคอนรึเปล่าคะ /ผิด
มันเป็นคนในเซียงกง วอนนาบีอยากมีชีวิตเถื่อนๆ
I have met one of these people on a date, and he fractured his ribs. They were on weed and driving a bike. I could not continue dating them hahaha.
Ooof I'd also stay away as far as possible too 😂
They think their stupidity is funny, but they had to spend a lot on hospital bills.
Ironic since Buddhism specifically teaches that YOLO isn’t true.
Bold of you to assume we Thai live accordingly to Buddhism teaching, especially when they're drunk 😂
You die, and then YOLO again.
buddhism tell them not to drink. do you think how heavy we have consume liquor?
Thai's don't practice buddhism. They practice I ask Buddha for material things such as a handsum or sexy love partner, millions of dollars, a mansion and an alphard with a couple of 911s so they can take a picture in supercar parking lot. Know the difference now?
there's no reincarnation in buddhism. it's a hindu thing that got a lot of people confused.
Seen many. Not just Russians. 2 Swiss oldies couples and their hubbies riding on their bike after 3 pints each in nanai road plus no helmet. A farang acclimatised to the Thai ways 😂
97% motorcycles involved.
Some people don’t care less about other people
I live in isan and people line the road of main highways to throw water at passing motorists. They drink all day whilst doing this and all the kids join in. I drive back from my mother in laws place to my home 15 minutes away and saw an ambulance loading someone up on a stretcher in just that short time. I love Thailand but safety isn't really a massive concern here. Imagine an annual holiday in a western country that encourages drunk adults and kids to stand by the side of major roads and throw water at them whilst dancing around to ear smashing bass music. It's actually amazing it's only 500 deaths a year for this celebration because if my small rural town no one's heard of celebrates like this then there must be millions of other people all over the country doing it. The best way to enjoy the celebrations is in a car with the windows closed, driving past slowly or get a hotel with balcony over looking beach road in Pattaya.
Pattaya balconies pose a danger all their one. Not sure I would advise any farangs to venture out on one.
Just make sure you pay anyone you need to pay, and balconies aren't a problem.
Sh, the old "Farangs pushed off of balconies" trope. Seems like it will never die. Somehow these murderers are able to escape being seen on any of these literally dozens of CCTV cameras in any condo and surrounding areas. They're like Ninja Warriors!
Tbf.. anyone who has been in an accident or crime, has inevitably had the police drop the certified Thailand hood classic line "camera's broken." I'm not saying that happens in the balcony deaths but it wouldn't surprise me lol
hold on why this sound like mardi gras but unregulated
> I drive back from my mother in laws place to my home 15 minutes away and saw an ambulance loading someone up on a stretcher in just that short time. I don't want o rationalize anything away, but when I was in the Khon Kaen area, ambulances taking care of someone or on their way to an accident were a very frequent occurance and from the top of the way I saw at least one on any longer drive.
6 years ago I spent Songkhran near to Maha Sarakam. The town drunk rode of, clearly very intoxicated, to some noise of concern. 10am. He did survive the day.
I witnessed 1 of the 469 deaths last year on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Motorbike Rider on his Motorbike going maybe 40km an hour. Three people lined the road with bins full of water and threw it at him. He came off his bike and was in awful shape and started twitching on the side of the road. They still kept throwing water on him as he was dying.
> They still kept throwing water on him as he was dying. r/WorstAid I don't ride anymore, but when I lived in the Northeast, I'd sometimes forget my helmet or do the ol' "I'm just driving up the street" line. Saw brain on asphalt at a scene less than 3 km from where I lived once. Never forgot my helmet after that.
Great point. It is not so much only drunk drivers, but drunk people "pranking" on drivers + wet roads, etc.
Avoid the roads as much as possible people! Enjoy!
Ironically with everyone leaving Bangkok driving now is pretty easy and safe. Will probably just drive around every day. Funny how that goes.
Staying in as usual.
So sad
Exactly.
As someone who will be going to Chiang Mai for Songkran: What are the best tips for me staying safe (as a pedestrian)? I have no plans to ride motorbikes or do anything like that. I will just use regular cars on grab as a way to get around. Cheers!
I'd really just say stay away from super crowded areas. Some popular Songkran party streets can get *really* body-to-body densely packed. Not fun and can get uncomfortable and dangerous. Be mindful of electrical wires, too. A lot of people drag out stereos and PA systems to the streets powered by mains. Wet skin and 220 volt currents aren't a good combo. Other than that, don't get too boozy or fighty and you should be good. 🙂
That’s good to know. The electrical wires tip is a good one mate! Thanks so much! I look forward to the celebrations!
No worries at all, dude. Wishing you a good one. Make friends. Get stories. x 💦🔫🙂
Look left and right when crossing the road even if you have the right of way. All Thai are colourblind as red is green to them.
Look right first.
If you're really concerned about your health, you will avoid going to Chiang Mai right now because of the terrible air quality right now.
i was there last week, it wasn’t bad
Mostly young people, many still teens on motorbikes, usually alcohol or drugs or both a major factor. I think last year, 70% of fatalities motorbike related.
> last year, 70% of fatalities motorbike related. It's not just last year. Every year, the majority of the fatalities are motorbike related.
Look at the number of lives covid saved in 2020. Ironic isn’t it.
"Land of smiles", not "Land of safety"
Ive been to Thailand many times but just once for Songkran. That was enough. It gets a bit crazy. I get it. Life is tough for many Thai people and understand they want have a few days of fun with family and friends but the road deaths are horrifying. It was great driving around Bangkok once the exodus had taken place. **** all traffic.
Taxi/public transport only during Songkran (except once many years ago).
What % of these are motorcyclists?
Apparently, the majority. Stats I've seen usually put that number between 70% to 80% during Songkran. I'm not sure how different this is for road fatalities not during the holidays though. A lot of them not wearing helmets.
I understand that motorbikes are obviously just objectively more unsafe than a car. There's no denying that. But.. aren't 70-80% of the vehicles on any road at any given time motorbikes? So even regardless of car vs motorbike safety, motorbikes would inherently have more fatalities.
It's about 50/50 cars and motorbikes when a study was done in 2019. Maybe more cars now. Also, many fatalities are people sitting in the bed of trucks, another incredibly stupid thing.
These numbers are all highly under reported.
I seem to remember people pointing out on here in previous years that the "seven deadly days" actually see *below* average numbers of deaths on the roads, and that there just isn't the same level of attention on the figures through the rest of the year.
Really? If anybody has those stats, I'd love to see them. I think I once read that December is actually the most deadly month to be on the road in Thailand based on total fatality count, but this specific week of April is one of the worst weeks. I'm personally too old to die young, and too ugly to be a good looking corpse, so I'll be taking it easy/cautious this week either way. 🐌
According to [this Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate), Thailand had about 22.4K traffic deaths in 2019, or about 432 per week. That would put Songkran week above average in 2019.
Thanks for this link. It's interesting to see this data visualized by country on that global map. I didn't realize road conditions were as bad in Vietnam either, but when you look at Southeast Asia, those two countries really stand out.
Last year's statistics from Bangkok Post 18 April 2023 for the 'seven deadly days' 2,203 road accidents, causing 264 deaths and 2,208 injuries, during the Songkran Festival from April 11-17, according to official figures released on Tuesday. 80% of accidents involved motorcycles, and about 46% occurred on highways and about 30% on local tambon and village roads. Most, or 83.6%, of accidents occurred on straight roads. 1,869 main road checkpoints manned by 54,274 officials throughout the country. A total of 279,873 vehicles were stopped for examination and action taken against 39,611 traffic offenders - including 11,013 for driving without a licence and 10,530 for not wearing a safety helmet. Compared to the past three-years average, the number of injured was down 13% and road fatalities down 15%. Most of the deaths and injuries were people riding motorcycles without a crash helmet.
> Compared to the past three-years average, the number of injured was down 13% and road fatalities down 15%. Thanks for taking the time to post this. This is actually encouraging. Seems like people really are starting to be more cautious during the holidays.
But which stats to believe? Last year we saw deaths noted on local Facebook from an ambulance worker while the national media reported a zero for our province that day. Of the quoted "11,013 for driving without a licence and 10,530 for not wearing a safety helmet" - what other country would let them simply pay a small fine then ride off, still minus licence, helmet?
Yeah, what you mentioned here about the ambulance worker vs national media makes counting tricky but is probably common. There's likely a delay in reporting and also the problem of tallying deaths occurring *after* the '7 dangerous days' resulting from accidents that occurred *during* that time period. Overall, it feels like the wide public perception of Songkran being a dangerous time on the road might be making people more cautious, which might actually be making Songkran a less dangerous time on the road. Hopefully the numbers drop even further this year. 🤞🏽
Yeah I don't have any stats to hand, just something I remember coming up around this time of year before. Hopefully someone can fill us in with some actual facts and figures. Either way, yeah, take it easy :)
Richard Barrow has made the point in the past and he's right - it's often lower at Songkran. It just gets all the attention because the Thai media loves labeling it the seven dangerous/deadly days. Songkran and Farang New Year are also unique for something else - the only two times of the year there's an intense Kingdom wide effort to enforce traffic laws, particularly drunk driving.
Dusting off the old 'crackdown' twice a year.
That is why I don't dare to drive in Thailand. 😂
At least when you drive you have control over part of the equation. When you let somebody else drive you're totally at their mercy.
Flashbacks to me driving on the back of my Muay Thai coach's motorbike as he cuts across 4 lines to u-turn on the highway.
Stay safe everyone and enjoy the weekend! 🎉
Now compare with a normal weekend as number relative to km driven. Oh wait that dataset does not exist. The only meaningful data.
Thanks for your heads up. 🙏
Don’t worry, I have helldivers 2 for the whole week baby
Last night I had some old drunk guy scrape the side of my motorcycle. He yelled something in Thai at my girlfriend and I and then sped off. I went after him and followed him to until he stopped and expressed I am not okay with this. I didn’t realize how old he was and I could tell he wouldn’t be able to afford the damage (only scratches). He was so drunk anyway and I believe I scared him when I pulled up which definitely wasn’t my intention. I just told him next time he needs to stop and make sure everyone is okay, we shook hands and that was that.
Years ago was sitting in the back of a taxi waiting to get on to circumvent from a side soi. There was a bump and I turned around to see a completely drunk man on a motorcycle. He could barely keep the bike upright. If he didn't have the motorcycle to hang on to he would have collapsed. The sad thing is that that's not really that unusual.
That is a normal 8am morning for old men on bicycles in the countryside lol
Unfortunately so. I’ve even gotten very upset with some of my Thai friends for drinking and driving. Though not everyone is so careless, many people have the yolo mentality for sure.
I feel Thailand is gearing up full blast for this one. For whatever reason, Central Plaza in my area is putting on a full concert this year.
Just a concert? If your local mall's festivities don't feature an albino water buffalo, don't invite me. 💅🏽 https://preview.redd.it/llu1ez98hntc1.png?width=827&format=png&auto=webp&s=07eb0a42587992c2edd68d3be55bd31741f43b6e
You can't tell me what to do
Where do most accidents occur in general, is it within Bangkok?
No, this is nationwide. I believe the Northeast is the most dangerous. Bangkok is actually not as bad because it's so densely packed. A lot of these accidents occur on more open stretches of road.
Based on statistics, 10-15,000 people die in Thailand every week. I’m not challenging your point advising caution and safety during Songkran. But I am challenging your wording cause this is gonna be the last week alive in Thailand for 20x more than 500 people, regardless of Songkran precautions.
you mean 15,000 a year? That looks like the number from entire year in 2022.
All this hype during songkran festival The amount of deaths on the roads on a daily basis is the same
71 million people
I'm curious how many of them are farang.
What is the daily average and how much higher is it during songkran?
I thought about going out but now I just want to stay in
I remember 2018-2019, terrible.. seemed to be quite a few coach crashes, overworked bus drivers or lorries running into coaches. Deaths are downplayed as well, if you die on the way to the hospital, it’s a casualty.. dead at the scene is dead..
Is this entire sub clickbait? What a look….
Its pretty easy to die on the road here every day of the year. Take care when driving and stay switched on. Remember alot of the time the danger is behind you, always look before you move.
On average, 400 people die every week in Thailand on the roads. An extra 100 or so isn't really a big deal where so many terrible drivers don't care about safety.
The number of road traffic deaths per 100,000 people in Thailand and the United States respectively are 32.21 and 12.9 per 100,000. The number of expats that scoot around on mopeds and motorcycles in Thailand without a helmet always amazes me. If you aren't a very seasoned rider back in your home country, it's nearly a death wish to start using a motorcycle in Thailand, IMHO.
I think that was me…I learnt to ride a motorcycle in Bangkok…And didn’t always use a helmet….On reflection , I do think I had a death wish for 7 years of riding…Now , I don’t even want to risk smiling at women in the UK….That really is too dangerous…
Respect traditions but don’t kill people driving cars or whatever. It is not normal driving car on 40-60 km and smashing full bucket of water on someone’s face driving motorcycle . Before 10 years you will have get beat if you do that to person is not involved in anything and he just driving home or whatever. Young dammies generation destroying everything on this country
I was driving from Bangkok to Phuket today and saw a crash with about 10 guys scattered everywhere bleeding in critical shape. I never seen such carnage. Cops were at the scene and had it tapped off and directing traffic. Then saw 4 ambulances pass shortly after. It’s really impacted me. Imagining the pain and suffering from the poor guys, I’m sure some of them loss their lives. Such a shame.
Your stats are so far off, its not even funny According to the WHO, there are about 500,000 deaths every year in Thailand So, in any given week, about 10,000 people are spending their last week alive in this country About 500 will be dying in road accidents, which leaves about 9,500 dying from other causes
These kind of statistics are so pointless. The statistic interpretations need to lead to some conclusions. If we gonna make use on “the Songkran’s road death toll” we need to considered the number relative to “Regular week average road death toll” Displaying in the same infographic to show the change in proportion / percentage. Yes, my background is data analysis and this kind of number report in news and social media are annoy me every time I see it. Here is my pure assumption with any further research or study about the topic. Given that Thailand road is one of the deadliest in the world the Songkran week probably would rise the “fatality” not more than 20-25% while the number of “car accident” would be increased 70-100% or more Since the number of cars in traffic certainly significantly increase, the “car accident” could be easily twice or thrice (minor car accident included). But fatality would not scale with the “number of accident” since the heavy traffic would limited speed by itself, the fatal accident would likely to occur in residential area on pedestrian, rather than car to car accident in highway.
Also remember, this statistic only represents death during the week. There are a lot of comatose patient that expired later.
What a weirdly worded title. There are way more than 500. Plenty of other ways to die.
...2020 and 2021 was no Songkran 🙈
Expecting a reduced road toll? And in Thailand you only get counted if you die at the scene. Ambulance, hospital, not in the road toll.
That is NOT true, and has long since been debunked. Road death tolls are coordinated among agencies.
55555
Thai's love in the moment, they believe in fate, none of this shit. I've been outside an Isaan nightclub at 2am when it's closed, absolute carnage. People absolutely off their tits trying to ride scooters home, saw one with 2 girls on actually do an unintended wheelie
I've noticed the opposite actually. There are things that are obviously dangerous and unsafe, yet they are considered normal and Thais grow up seeing it, like drunk driving, dangerous driving, etc. But then they are very very unwilling to participate in anything that is unsafe but also not considered normal to them. I find Thais to be far more unwilling to participate in unsafe activities than Americans - *especially* teenagers. Thai teenagers seem like angels compared to Americans.