Songkran 2010: Two teens dead on Phuket roads

PHUKET: This year’s Songkran celebrations were marred by the deaths of two teenage boys in road accidents, according to the Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office (DDPM-Phuket).

From April 12 to 15 there were 38 accidents resulting in the two deaths and 42 injuries, DDPM-Phuket said.

On Monday around 11:30am a 14-year-old boy was killed when the motorbike he was sharing with two others collided with a pickup on Pa Khlok Road in Thalang District.

Two days later a 17-year-old was killed in a suspected case of drunk driving, also in Thalang. He died after driving his bike into a tree on Thepkrasattri Road around 1:30am. He was not wearing a helmet.

Around 70 percent of the accidents involved drunk motorcyclists driving too fast and not wearing helmets. Most took place between 8pm and midnight in Muang District.

About a quarter of the injured were foreigners, and most were men.

The annual ‘Seven Days of Danger Campaign’, which runs until Sunday, has seen police erect 24-hour checkpoints across the island.

So far officers have inspected 41,835 drivers, with 3,299 arrested or fined.

The most common violation in the arrests was driving without a license (1,739 cases). Next was riding a motorcycle without a helmet (1,192 cases), followed by riding in the front seat of a car without using a safety belt (144 cases) and operating a non-roadworthy vehicle (60 cases).

— Kitima Pornmongkhonwat