Road toll
- Thailand News
M81 motorway opens free for new year travel in Thailand
Bang Yai district in Nonthaburi and Kanchanaburi province will soon be connected by a new motorway, offering motorists a cost-free travel experience over the new year holiday period. This initiative comes as a gesture from the Department of Highways, which announced that the 96-kilometre route, designated as M81, will be open for free from December 26 to January 2. Since…
- Thailand News
Don Mueang Tollway projects revenue boost amid rising traffic
Don Mueang Tollway Public Company Limited (DMT) forecasts a bright performance for the third quarter of this year heading into the High Season of Q4. The surge in tourism, both foreign and domestic, is expected to boost passenger numbers and traffic on the elevated tollway. Sakda Phanwai, the Managing Director, expressed optimism as Thai AirAsia X relocated its flights back…
- Bangkok News
Toll fees on Bangkok expressways waived for Mother’s Day
Thailand’s Expressway Authority (EXAT) announced that toll fees will be waived on three major expressways tomorrow, August 11, in celebration of Mother’s Day. This initiative aims to ease travel and reduce expenses for the public. Starting from 12.01am to midnight, tolls will be free on the Chalerm Maha Nakhon Expressway (comprising 20 toll booths), the Si Rat Expressway (31 toll…
- Thailand News
New Bangkok tollgate sparks controversy
Bangkok’s new tollgate on the Chalerm Maha Nakhon Expressway in Pathum Wan district has officially opened, promising to improve the city’s traffic flow—but not without sparking a heated debate. The Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT) announced that the new Lumpini entrance will provide a crucial link from the Chalerm Maha Nakhon Expressway to Wireless Road. This strategic shortcut is set…
- Thailand News
Toll tales: Motorway myths debunked by Thailand’s collectors
Recent online discussions sparked curiosity about the daily lives of motorway toll collectors in Thailand, leading to a wave of speculation and myth-busting by the insiders themselves. The question that set the digital sphere abuzz came from a TikTok user called ummie..28. “Has anyone ever wondered how toll booth operators get to and from work?” The query ignited a flurry…
- Thailand News
Thailand waives tolls for Songkran festival to ease travel costs
The Thai Cabinet approved a toll exemption for vehicles on Motorway No. 7 and Motorway No. 9 during the seven-day Songkran festival period to alleviate traffic congestion and facilitate convenience for travellers. The exemption will be in effect from 12.01am on April 11 to midnight on April 17, in time for the country’s traditional new year celebrations. The decision was…
- Thailand News
Bangkok’s expressway toll fees skyrocket starting today
Toll fees along Bangkok’s Chalong Rat and Burapha Withi expressways are seeing a steep increase starting from today, March 1. The Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT) dropped this bombshell earlier this month, announcing a hefty hike in toll charges. For four-wheel vehicles traversing the Chalong Rat Expressway, be prepared to shell out an extra 5 baht, pushing the toll to…
- Thailand News
Toll-free treat: Thailand waives toll charges on major expressways for King Bhumibol Memorial Day
The upcoming holiday tomorrow, October 13, has led the Thailand Expressway Authority (TEA), under the Ministry of Transport, to waive toll charges on three major expressways, covering a total of 60 toll gates. The decision was made to facilitate travel on the anniversary of the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great, a public holiday as declared by…
- Road deaths
Drink drivers put on probation, 278 dead during ‘seven deadly days’ in Thailand
During the “seven deadly days” of the Songkran Holiday, between April 11 to 17, there were nearly 8,000 drivers who were arrested for drink driving or driving recklessly. The courts have already sentenced them to probation, according to director-general Witthawal Sunthornkachit of the Department of Probation. Drink driving has increased by over 1,000 cases this year compared to over 6,000…
- Songkran News
5 Thailand expressways waive tolls for motorists during Songkran holiday
Five expressways in Thailand will waive their tolls during the Songkran holiday, in order to encourage domestic tourism by helping people save money and speed up travel times back to their home provinces. From April 12 to April 18, the Bang Na-Chon Buri and Bang Phli-Suksawat expressways will be free of charge. The Chalerm Maha Nakhon, Si Rat and Udon…
- Covid-19 News
Thai government unleashes the fear machine for Songkran – OPINION
Today a popular English-language news outlet led with a story that quotes Dr Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, DG of the Department of Health, who claims the public health ministry is forecasting daily Covid infections could hit 100,000 after Songkran this year. The Thai public health ministry, headed up by Minister and deputy PM, Anutin Charnvirakul, has taken a random stab in the…
- Thailand video news
Thailand News Today | New study on Thai road deaths, scam suspect has a GoFundMe page | March 18
Thai roads are among the most deadly in the world and most of the fatal accidents involve motorcycles. We already know that, but a recent study now shows that 80% of motorcycle accidents are related to cars cutting in front of oncoming traffic. Honda and Yamaha partnered with the Thailand Accident Research Centre for the full report which reviewed 1,000…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today | Holiday road toll, protests tomorrow, GDP recovery | November 24
There’s been some heavy downpours around sections of Bangkok over the past few days. We start with some video of the flooded streets. Then, into the news… 139 killed, 653 injured, as Thailand’s holiday weekend sees surge in road accidents The Ministry of Transport has confirmed that hundreds of road traffic accidents have taken place over Thailand’s 4 day holiday…
- Road deaths
No “new normal” for Thailand’s deadly road toll
In what will come as no surprise to most, the death toll on Thailand’s roads has resumed its upward trend after a brief interruption during the Covid-19 lock-down. As restrictions are gradually lifted across the country, more people are back behind the wheel or the handlebars, and with that, the carnage returns on Thailand’s roads. In Phuket, a truck ploughed…
- Road deaths
Two men die after truck plows into power pole in Phuket
A Thai and Burmese man were killed after a work truck collided with a power pole on Kata hill, southern Phuket yesterday afternoon. The deputy chief of Karon police reported that the incident happened near the turn off onto Soi Suksan 1, on the Chalong side of the hill. The power pole crashed on top of the truck as it fell,…
- Covid-19 News
Lifting of alcohol ban sees resurgence in road carnage
With the alcohol ban lifted the carnage has resumed on Thailand’s roads. The national alcohol ban was lifted in all 76 of Thailand’s provinces, plus Bangkok, last Sunday. The sale and transport of alcohol was banned as part of the national state of emergency in order to stop people drinking and socialising during the Covid-19 crisis. A predictable, and welcome,…
- Road deaths
Biker killed, 5 injured in bike/van crash south of Bangkok
One man is dead and another 5 passengers injured after a big bike the man was driving slammed into a van making a U-turn along Old Sukhumvit road in the main business district. The incident occurred at about 8pm in tambon Bang Pu Mai, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, south of Bangkok. 32 year old Paveena Ratpipop, a…
- Road deaths
159 people dead after first three days of Thai holiday campaign
PHOTO: VOA 159 people have died in the first three days of the Christmas/New Year holiday 7 day safety campaign. During those three days there has been 1,504 crashes resulting in 1,549 injuries. The numbers take into account last Friday up to midnight Sunday night. The capital, Bangkok, has registered the highest death toll and the highest number of drink-driving…
- Road deaths
Thailand ramps up drink-driving campaign for new year break
Government, police and local agencies are launching their annual no-drink-driving campaign to raise driver awareness and, hopefully, reduce fatalities during the New Year holiday, designated for December 27 to January 2. Speaking in support of the campaign, Deputy national police chief Wirachai Songmetta announced 10 points of advice to drivers and bike riders in an effort to reduce road accidents…
- Hua Hin News
Four family members killed, 8 injured, after van driver falls asleep at the wheel in Prachuap Khiri Khan
PHOTO: sanook.com A horrific road accident has claimed the lives of four family members, and left eight other passengers with serious injuries after the van they were travelling in hit a tree in Prachuap Khiri Khan, central-southern Thailand. The incident happened as the van headed south on the Phetkasem Highway. The family were travelling from Ratchaburi in central Thailand to…
- Road deaths
Thailand road toll: 554 dead this month, 11,462 this year
PHOTO: U-Turn crash in Bangkok – Daily News Daily news reports fatalities at the scene of accidents yesterday claimed the lives of 21 people. Yesterday was a busy day on Thailand’s roads at the end of a long weekend. They say the numbers reported are only those that die at the scene. In reality, when hospital deaths and all regions…
- Phuket News
Phuket motorcycle crash leaves one tourist dead, another injured
PHOTO: Kamala Police The Phuket News reports that an Indian woman has been killed, and her male companion injured, following a motorcycle accident in Patong. The accident happened last night on the Patong to Kamala road. When police arrived on the scene shortly after 8.00pm, they found the tourists trapped under an SUV, with the 23 year old driver, Worachat…
- Road deaths
17 apprentice students killed in Samut Prakan crash, Thailand
Seventeen students have been killed after their overloaded pick-up truck crashed and overturned in the Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan, east of Bangkok. Police report the incident happened at 1am this morning. A taxi driver from Si Sa Ket has told Thai media that shortly before 1am he saw the pick-up travel out of a Soi “at high speed”…
- Northern Thailand News
Five killed in Sa Kaew passenger van crash
PHOTOS: Thai Rath A Thai van driver has been killed along with four Cambodian passengers after a car veered across a traffic median and crashed head-on into them. The accident occurred at 10.30am yesterday on the Aranyaprathet-bound Suwansorn road in Wattana Nakhon district of Sa Kaew, on the Cambodian border, east of Bangkok. Police report that a Cambodian girl and…
- Road deaths
Thailand aims to reduce road accidents by 50% in 2020
A laudable aim but probably unachievable. Thai transport authorities and police are aiming to reduce the rate of road accidents by half in 2020. They are aiming to meet the goal set by an international benchmark, participants of a national road safety convention held at Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre. The aim has been set in previous years as…
- Road deaths
Big bike rider decapitated in horror crash in Bangkok
PHOTOS: Sanook A motorbike rider has been decapitated after colliding with the side of the Klong Tan Flyover yesterday. He was riding a BMW S1000 RR big bike at the time. His body was taken to the Chulalongkorn Hospital for an autopsy to determine the presence of alcohol or drugs in his blood. Sanook reports that motorbikes are not allowed on…
- Health
Thailand’s ‘smoking toll’ is three times the annual road toll
Smoking kills more than 72,000 people a year in Thailand, three times the number of people that die on the local roads. Dr Roengrudee Patanavanich, from Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, speaking at a media conference yesterday, says… “Diseases associated with smoking such as lung cancer, emphysema, lung inflammation and tuberculosis are the main killers.” “Thailand had 10.7 million…
- Songkran News
Day Three: Songkran road deaths show a dramatic drop
There has been 1,665 traffic accidents, with 174 deaths and 1,728 people injured in the first three days of the Songkran ‘seven days of danger’ (Thursday, Friday, Saturday). This equates to a significant drop from the 2018 road toll and lower even than Thailand’s average daily road deaths throughout the year. According to the WHO an average 66 people die…
- Songkran News
Thai authorities target 10% fewer Songkran accidents
PHOTO: Daily News The chief of the communications ministry says that the Thai authorities are aiming for a 10% reduction in accidents on selected and particularly dangerous roads. They also want to see a 5% reduction in the country’s total number of road accidents. They have identified 111 roads around the country deemed as high risk for road fatalities that will…
- Thai Life
Deputy PM orders review of intercity and rural road speeds
Deputy PM, Defence Minister and also in charge of police affairs, General Prawit Wongsuwan has instructed police and related agencies to review and set appropriate speed limits for various vehicle types on intercity motorways and rural roads in order to boost road safety and reduce accidents. He has instructed the Royal Thai Police to coordinate with Interior and Transport ministries…
