New Year road accidents kill 478, a 10-year high

Road accidents in Thailand have killed a total of 478 people and injured more than 4,000 others, between Dec. 31 and Jan. 4, officials said on Thursday.

This year’s casualty toll, at its highest level in 10 years, was recorded between Dec. 29, 2016 and Jan. 4, 2017 and is well over last year’s figures of 380 deaths and 3,505 injuries.

The highest number of casualties occurred in the city of Chonburi, 80 km South-East of Bangkok, Thailand’s Road Safety Directing Centre said.

Officials said that the main cause of the accidents was speeding, followed by drink-driving, and that most of the crashes involved motorcycles.

On Monday, 25 people were killed and two were injured, when a pickup truck and a passenger van burst into flames after crashing.

This year’s high number of casualties comes despite tougher monitoring of drink-driving offences by the authorities.

On Wednesday, police reported that they had seized over 4,200 vehicles from people found driving under the influence of alcohol during the seven-day period.

In 2015, a World Health Organisation report found that Thailand was second only to Libya for road deaths.

The UN agency estimated that as many as 36.2 people per 100,000 die on the country’s roadways, or around 24,237 people per year.