This year's Songkran holidays might have been a bit livelier with return of at least some fanfare and a trickle of foreign tourists, but one thing certainly has continued to put a damper on the festive mood -- the government's grim, if not misguided, obsession with counting road accidents and deaths throughout the holiday period.
As of yesterday, according to data from the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, at least 204 people have died in the 1,470 traffic-related accidents reported throughout the Thai New Year holiday since counting began on April 10. The figures, as per usual, were accompanied by a litany of excuses that the public has heard time and time again, at least twice a year -- authorities were quick to point out the majority of the accidents were caused by drunk-driving, driver fatigue and/or speeding.
While those factors without a doubt did contribute to the accidents, nowhere in their bi-annual report did authorities ever acknowledge the fact that these incidents could have been easily prevented with pro-active action on their part.
