Imagine this: a versatile, multi-purpose juggernaut of a vehicle barreling down the road, it’s journey abruptly brought to a halt as it kisses a tree, the result of a sudden impact with a pickup whose driver, it seems, was visiting the land of nod. This rather cinematic incident unfolded in the Kabin Buri district of Prachin Buri province on a Wednesday that certainly shook up the usual mid-week humdrum. (Snapped for posterity by the keen lens of Manit Sanubboon)
Now, let’s weave into the tapestry of the holiday season, a period when joy is often tainted by the not-so-jolly statistics of traffic accidents. From December 29th to January 3rd, Thailand was an asphalt jungle of 2,083 traffic altercations. The tally was bleaker than any New Year’s hangover: 256 lives lost, 2,106 injured souls. The drama unfolded as Suthep Kaengsanthia, the unshakeable permanent secretary for education, delivered these grim figures from the holiday script like a seasoned actor in the theatre of public announcements.
But wait, there’s more – Kanchanaburi province emerged as an unfortunate front-runner with a staggering 77 collisions and 83 wounded in action, while Bangkok claimed a macabre victory with a death count of 17, toppling previous records with the efficiency of a morbid accountant.
In a surprising twist of fate, amidst the chaos, a beacon of hope shined as 11 provinces, out of a cast of 77, boasted a scoreboard at the enviable score of zero in the fatalities column.
Let’s zoom in on the Wednesday that stood out — 239 traffic scuffles, 35 journeys met their end, and 250 beings got a detour into tribulation. The most notorious villain? Speeding, guilty for a villainous 37.66% of these highway skirmishes. Hot on its heels, the infamous act of cutting others off in traffic — responsible for 21.76% of incidents. And let us not forget the villainous sidekick, drunk driving, zigzagging its way into culpability for 14.64% of the disorder, Mr. Suthep narrated with a statistician’s precision.
So there we have it – a story of the New Year painted on a canvas that begs for prudence. The thrills of holiday travel, entrancing as they may be, come with a tag that reads: “handle with care.” Here’s to hoping that next year, the statistics will echo good times, and our tree-hugging multi-purpose vehicle can carry on without any unscheduled arboreal meetups.
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