Thailand’s road crashes spike, tragically, at times of festivity, including the Songkran new year festival. Photo by Tatsuya Fukata/Flickr
Too many of us have been personally touched by tragic road crashes that have maimed or killed a loved one. For far too many, Songkran – Thailand’s festival to celebrate the traditional new year – will be a moment not for merriment but for mourning. Thailand has among the highest rates of road fatalities in the world, ranking top in the region. More people die in Thailand from road crashes
in two days than have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. And the numbers, tragically, always spike at times of festivity, including Songkran, when many people are traveling to see family and the traditional dousing of passersby with water causes many crashes.