Songkran Festival, Thailand’s traditional New Year celebrated every April, is popularly associated with water events, family reunions, and various festivities across the country. But it is also the period when road accidents shoot up that it is referred to by the police as the ‘Seven Dangerous Days’ of the New Year.
The government often campaigns for a ‘Zero Death Songkran’ but it has never succeeded. This year, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is hoping that the holiday period would be ‘Seven Happy Days’ with minimal road tragedies.
But so far, more than 850 accidents were already registered in the past two days of the Songkran Festival. According to reports, these accidents led to 102 deaths and 893 injuries. The first two days were as dangerous as the previous years….
