Songkran vacationers returning to Bangkok

BANGKOK, April 17 (TNA) - Songkran travelers have been returning to Bangkok, but the number of road accidents during this year's Songkran or Traditional Thai New Year Festival was reportedly higher than last year. Highway Police Commander Police Major General Pongsit Saengphet told journalists of the updates on Thursday, noting, however, that traffic flows on main highways in the northern, the northeastern and the southern Thai regions were returning to normal, as vacationers were returning from provincial areas to Bangkok. The highway police commander assessed that some people have extended their holidays and will return to Bangkok this weekend, saying that highway police have, therefore, been prepared to serve the group of travelers by facilitating their traffic. The Road Safety Directing Center, meanwhile, reported that during the seven-day dangerous period of the Songkran holidays this year, set from April 11-16, there was a total of 2,754 road accidents, higher than last year's festival, which killed 277 people and injured 2,926 others. The highest number of road accidents and the injured were recorded in Chiang Mai Province in the Thai North, while the highest death toll from road accidents was reported in Nakhon Ratchasima Province in the Thai Northeast. According to the Road Safety Directing Center, seven Thai provinces were free from road accident death, including Amnat Charoen, Chai Nat and Phetchaburi. Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol, Director-General of the Ministry of Justice's Department of Probation, told reporters, in the meantime, that during the first six Songkran holidays, there were 1,924 cases of drunk drivers put on probation, the lion's share of which was in Bangkok, and that it was the first time courts have ordered 11 drunk drivers to wear ankle monitors for seven days to discourage them from repeating the offense.(TNA)