Booze ban: Far less die on the Thai roads on Tuesday’s Buddhist holiday

Those who say that banning alcohol would have a dramatic effect on lessening the carnage on Thai roads might feel their opinion is vindicated after stats showed far less than average died on Tuesday – a Buddhist holiday when sales of alcohol were banned. 

While Monday showed that 71 perished on the roads only 24 deaths were reported on Tuesday.

The average for the month is about 42 per day. 

Only on one day – February 2nd that was a Saturday and not an alcohol free day – had less deaths with 23 fatalities reported. 

Earlier in the week the Road Safety Academic Center claimed that on Buddhist holidays around half the usual fatalities were reported. And the booze ban saw a dramatic reduction in injuries too.

The latest figures from Daily News – who made no correlation with driving and alcohol – said that 2,213 had died on the roads since the start of 2019.

Some 800 had perished so far in February.

They stressed that the figures are unofficial meaning that they are likely to rise when deaths at hospitals are added to those that happen at the scene. 

In their latest report they showed the death of a motorcyclist in Lampang who failed to negotiate a bend and smacked into a campaign poster nailed to a roadside tree. 

And in a video a motorcyclist was seen coming off a bike in front of an approaching car after being side-swiped by a pick-up truck. 

Daily News publish the figures daily in an ongoing campaign to raise awareness about the carnage on the Thai roads that has seen them named as some of the most dangerous in the world. 

Thai Visa / Daily News

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