80 lives lost every day: Why are Thailand’s roads so dangerous?

[yuiyoshida]

A Thai police officer takes photograph of the charred wreckage of a passenger van that crashed in Chanthaburi province last year killin eight people and injuring 13 more. Pic: AP

Another week in Thailand, and with it another spell of fatal traffic accidents: Three Chinese tourists died after a bus plunged down a hill in Phuket on March 25, and seven migrant workers from Burma (Myanmar) were killed the day before when the truck carrying them was hit by a train in Chiang Mai. These were the headline-making accidents, on average around 80 people died each day on Thailand’s roads last year. Road tragedies are something we expect to hear about in Thailand on a regular basis, shocking stories made slightly less shocking due to their certain frequency.

Thailand is ranked second in the world in terms of traffic fatalities, with 44 deaths per 100,000 people (5.1 percent of Thailand’s overall deaths), according to statistics from the World Health Organization and The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute in the United States.

Perhaps an indicator of just how dangerous Thailand’s roads are is the fact three visitors to the country, who were all attempting to cycle around the world, and were on the final leg of their journeys, were killed after being hit by vehicles in Thailand. Chilean national Juan Francisco Guillermo was killed when he was hit by a truck in north-east Thailand in February this year, and British couple Peter Root and Mary Thompson, were killed when they were hit by a truck in Chachoengsao Province, east of Bangkok, almost exactly one year before. The three cyclists had covered most of the globe before their endeavors were cut short on Thailand’s brutal roads. In the latter case the driver, Worapong Sangkhawat, told police he had been bending down looking for a hat when he hit the pair. He was given a suspended two-year prison sentence and fined around $30.

Another week in Thailand, and with it another spell of fatal traffic accidents: Three Chinese tourists died after a bus plunged down a hill in Phuket on March 25, and seven migrant workers from Burma (Myanmar) were killed the day before when the truck carrying them was hit by a train in Chiang Mai. These were the headline-making accidents, on average around 80 people died each day on Thailand’s roads last year. Road tragedies are something we expect to hear about in Thailand on a regular basis, shocking stories made slightly less shocking due to their certain frequency.



more..
http://asiancorrespondent.com/131679/thailand-road-deaths/

[cascadiance]

1. Perhaps a number of accidents with snakes?...

When I lived in Bangkok as a kid, I personally saw, when a passenger in my folks car, a big truck running over a huge snake just like this one crossing the road. A smaller vehicle probably would have not been able to just "drive over it" like the truck did that I saw.



And both motorized and pedal power "samlor" vehicles there are probably more prone to injury-related accidents too. There were a TON of these vehicles on the road when I lived there then.

[snooper2]

2. Roads there are actually in pretty good shape, simple problem- zero fucks given