Thailand’s annual road deaths on par with 2 years of coronavirus – Hundreds predicted to die during Songkran
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Travelling between provinces to attend Songkran celebrations (April 13-15) is officially allowed this year after two years of muted celebrations and restrictions on inter-provincial travel but hundreds of deaths are predicted during the Thai new year on the country’s notoriously dangerous roads.
There are usually thousands of accidents and injuries and hundreds of deaths on the roads in just one week, mostly as a result of drunk driving, speeding and erratic lane changing.
The period has been branded “Seven Days of Danger” in national safety campaigns seeking to reduce the number of casualties with fluctuating success. In fact, with travel restrictions in place last year, there was an almost 30% reduction in road deaths compared to previous years.
When life was “normal” in 2019, there were a total of 3,338 accidents during the New Year break, resulting in 3,442 injuries and 386 deaths.
Hundreds of lives saved by lockdowns?
Last year, with fewer people travelling and a halt ordered on mass gatherings for Songkran celebrations, the number of accidents over the break dropped by about a thousand to 2,365, resulting in 2,357 injuries and 277 deaths – about a hundred fewer fatalities than previous years but still contributing to making Thailand’s roads among the most dangerous in the world.
Motorcycle accidents are by far the top cause of fatalities (about 80%), followed by accidents involving pick-up trucks a distant second at less than 10 percent. About 15 per cent of the fatalities are teenagers aged 15-19.
Less likely to die with coronavirus than on the roads
Thailand has recorded more than 23,000 deaths related to coronavirus since January 2020 with 90 to 100% of them being elderly patients with underlying diseases, including obesity.
The country’s campaigns, in lockstep with the other nations to usher in a ‘new normal’, have been widely adopted by the Thai public with little or no resistance to mask-wearing mandates and inter-provincial travel restrictions compared to countries such as Britain, Australia and Canada, where millions have taken to the streets in protest vaccine mandates to work and travel.
The financial impact of covid measures is massive. According to an Impact Assessment by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, 90% of Thailand’s small firms have lost more than half their usual revenue, forcing many to close.
Manufacturing production has dropped by a staggering 80% – the lowest production figures since the 1987 financial crisis – putting an estimated 8.4 million people out of work.
According to a Reuters report, a total of 124,328,055 covid vaccine doses have been administered in Thailand, which is enough to get almost 90 per cent of the population double jabbed. However, with frequent reports in Thai media of deaths and disabilities from the jabs, many are refusing to get jabbed a third or fourth time.
Road deaths a more pressing health crisis for youngsters
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Thailand has the first highest road traffic death rate in ASEAN and ranks 9th in the world. Road traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 29, says the report. Source.
Compared to the 23,000 deaths of aged and infirm individuals that happened to test positive for the common cold on their deathbeds, a total of 22,000 people died in road accidents in 2019 alone, most of them youngsters aged between 10 and 19 years old.
Road accidents in Thailand are expected to kill between 19,000 and 20,000 individuals each year over the next six years. That means that in just two years, the same period we’ve been ‘living with’ corona colds, twice as many people will die on the roads.
Financial losses due to accidents were estimated to have cost Thailand about three per cent of gross domestic product, equal to about 500 billion baht.
Ironically, even though the high possibility of death by traffic accident is a stark reality seen by any road user, especially when riding motorbikes, very few riders wear crash helmets, despite laws requiring them. On the other hand, helmetless families five-up on a motorbike but each wearing a face mask is a common sight.
