Heavy traffic is seen in Nang Rong district of Buri Ram province as New Year revellers start to return to Bangkok. (Photo: Bangkok Post)Bangkok (VNA) – A total of 373 people died in 3,421 traffic accidents on roads in Thailand during the New Year holiday from December 22, 2019 to January 2, 2020, down 19.4 percent the same period last year.
This is the lowest death toll for the period over the past five years. The capital city of Bangkok had the highest New Year death toll with 15.
Drink driving and speeding are the two major causes of road accidents.
Deputy Interior Minister Niphon Bunyamanee said decreases were seen in both the number of road accidents and fatalities as well as in the number of injuries.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said he was not satisfied with the decreases because the death toll remained high. He urged relevant agencies to seek measures to further reduce the number of persons killed in traffic accidents during the Songkran festival in April this year.
Thailand has one of the highest death tolls due to traffic accidents in ASEAN and the world, with an average 60 killed each day or over 21,000 a year./.
VNA
