More casualties slated in Thailand's Songkran holidays 2016

BANGKOK, April 18 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Interior has closed its ad-hoc Road Safety Directing Centre for this year's Songkran Festival, with a report on more road accidents and casualties nationwide, compared to last year's. Thai Interior Minister General Anupong Paojinda said while presiding a ceremony to close the ad-hoc centre on Monday that there were a total of 3,447 road accidents across the country during April 11–17, in which a total of 442 people died and 3,656 others were injured. General Anupong quoted the centre's statistics during the so-called "Seven Dangerous Days" of this year’s Songkran Festival that Chiang Mai Province in the Thai North recorded the highest road accidents and injuries of 168 and 175 respectively during the period, while Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima Province in the Thai Northeast slated the highest fatalities of 19 each. The minister stated that most road accidents during this year's Songkran Festival were, like previous years, caused by drunk driving, followed by overspeeding by motorcyclists. During last year's Songkran Festival in Thailand, 364 people died and 3,559 others were injured in 3,373 road accidents. Meanwhile, Colonel Nga-thong Sirichan, Deputy Spokeswoman of the Thai army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), told journalists that NCPO personnel seized a total of 6,613 vehicles nationwide for drunk driving during April 9-17, while a total of 277,055 drivers were convicted for drunk driving and 17,449 driver licenses were confiscated. (TNA)